Denison first-year Michelle Howell (pictured below) led Denison with a third-place finish in the 200 butterfly and Natalie Lugg won the consolation heat of the 100 breaststroke to highlight Friday night's finals at the 2012 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championship. 

The Big Red sit in third-place with 309 points through 14 of 20 events.  They trail only Williams College (354 points) and first-place Emory who is in control with 436 points.  Kenyon sits in fourth-place with 278 points.

In the 200 fly, Howell posted a time of 2:02.78 and was joined on the podium by Sarah DiNardo who touched in eighth-place in 2:04.78.  In the consolation heat, Laurel Brabson took third to finish 11th overall in 2:04.59.

Lugg's ninth-place finish in the 100 breast came from a heat-winning time of 1:03.59 which also earned nine points for the Big Red.  Her finish also pulled DU to within 35 points of second-place Williams in the standings.

Two more Big Red swimmers earned points in the consolation heat of the 100 backstroke as Victoria Masney became an All-American for the sixth time in her career after a 12th place finish and a time of 56.62.  Lindsay Zeberlein followed in 15th place with a time of 56.99.

Denison would close out the third night of competition with a fourth-place showing in the 800 freestyle relay.  The team of Emily Schroeder, Howell, Molly Willingham and Hilary Callen covered the distance relay in 7:26.52.  Callen's anchor split of 1:50.41 highlighted the relay for DU.

The Big Red will look to improve its standing on Saturday when they compete in the 1650 freestyle, the 100 freestyle, the 200 backstroke, the 200 breaststroke, the 400 free relay and the women's 3-meter dive. Preliminaries start at 10 a.m. and the finals begin at 6 p.m. from IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind.

Photos by Gemma Rosenburg and Dave Thurston