The Denison women's swimmers and divers splashed down for its first dual meet since early November, Friday afternoon. The women posted five event wins against Division I Eastern Michigan but suffered a 181-118 setback to the Eagles.
First-year Carolyn Kane led DU with three victories. She touched first in the 50 freestyle, the 100 free, and was a part of the winning 400 freestyle relay with Ashley Yearwood, Tully Bradford and Molly Willingham. The foursome clocked in at 3:32.28.
Denison's other two victories came in the distance freestyle events as Campbell Costley and Taylor Johns flip-flopped in the standings in each event. Costley took first-place in the 500 freestyle after a time of 5:02.66 while Johns followed in second at 5:03.17. In the 1,000 freestyle, Johns won with a time of 10:17.89, while Costley took runner-up honors in 10:24.25.
While Yearwood, Bradford and Willingham were all a part of the winning 400 freestyle relay, all three would go on to post runner-up swims in individual events. Yearwood took second in the 100 free and the 50 free, placing behind Kane in both events. Willingham's second-place finish came in the 200 backstroke where she turned in a time of 2:08.57. Bednarek's silver would follow in the 200 breaststroke after a time of 2:25.28.
Meanwhile, Kane, Yearwood, Willingham, and Natalie Lugg were all a part of the second-place 200 medley relay that kicked off the meet in 1:47.68.
In the diving events, Sarah Lopez posted a score of 200.93 in the 1-meter board which landed her in fourth place. Teammate Carrie Bookheimer followed with a sixth place finish in the 1-meter after a score of 164.03. Bookheimer would place fifth in the 3-meter dive totaling 172.20.
Denison's top finishers were rounded out by Michelle Howell's third-place time of 2:12.55 in the 200 IM, Lugg's third-place finish in the 100 breast in 1:07.28, and Libby Dalziel's third-place showing in the 100 backstroke.
In addition to an afternoon dual with EMU, Denison sent a partial squad to Wittenberg for an North Coast Athletic Conference dual meet. The Big Red locked up a 1-1 mark with a 157-73 win over the Tigers.
DU had six athletes win two events on Friday night in Springfield. Denison opened the night with a win in the 200 medley relay. The foursome of Alexandria Nickles, Andi Scarcello, Mary Van Leuven and Rima Jurjus combined for a time of 1:54.30. Scarcello, Van Leuven and Jurjus also picked up individual titles, while Nickles posted a second relay win. Scarcello won the 200 IM (2:18.90), while Van Leuven and Jurjus finished first in the 200 free (1:57.53) and 50 free (25.43) events, respectively.
Nickles teammed up with Allie Bacon, Mary Cullen and Madison Taylor to win the 200 free relay with a time of 1:46.89. Cullen and Taylor rounded out the multiple winners for Denison. Cullen won the 1,000 freestyle after touching in at 10:56.86, while Taylor clocked in at 5:22.94 in the 500 free.
The DU women return to the pool on Saturday when they host another Division I foe, the Bobcats of Ohio University, at 1 p.m.
