The Denison men's swimming & diving team went wire-to-wire, successfully defending their crown at the three-day Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio. Denison totaled 2,314.5 points, outscoring second-place Cincinnati by 184 points. Third place belonged to Wright State with 1,553 points while Emory checked in fourth with 1,451 points. Miami University would finish fifth with 1,254 while Urbana rounded out the standings in sixth place.
The Big Red's final day was highlighted in morning preliminaries when sophomore Gus Evans broke the Denison varsity record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:59.86. That eclipsed Damon Rosenburg's record time of 2:01.37 that was set last season. It also would have placed him second in last year's NCAA Division III Championship.
In the 200 breast finals, Evans would log a time of 2:01.81 to place fourth. The Big Red had seven scorers in the 200 breast as Al Nennig won the B-Final with a 'B' cut time of 2:04.66. Brendan Howley also hit his 'B' cut with a 15th place finish and time of 2:06.23. Joe Brunk (16th), Rosenburg (17th), Alex Caprara (18th) and Jake von der Lippe (26th).
In the 3-meter dive, Connor Dignan and Max Levy went 1-2 while Ben Lewis finished fourth followed by Nathan Lightman (11th) and Brian Allen (12th). Dignan totaled 329.50 on his six-dives while Levy amassed 305.70. Lewis' total that landed him fourth was 287.55.
The Big Red's sprint free depth was on full display in the 100 free as nine individuals scored by placing in the top-27. In the A-Final, Ryan Fleming placed second with a time of 44.90. In prelims he posted his best time of the season with a time of 44.66. Conrad Wuorinen would touch in fifth place with a 'B' cut time of 45.23 while Stuart Hohm ended ninth in the championship heat with a time of 46.97. Andrew Rich (46.80), Kevin Brinegar (46.97), and Max Howes (47.31) went 16-18, respectively while Cam Clerici (21st), Victor Lowe (23rd) and Franz Kabelka (27th) rounded out the scoring in the event.
It was a similar story in the 200 backstroke where eight DU swimmers would finish in the top-23. Jack Lindell was the runner-up in the event with a season-best time of 1:47.61. Alec Carlson put up a provisional qualifying time in prelims, touching in 1:51.33. He would place seventh in the final in 1:51.87. Thomas Locke would place eighth in 1:57.28 and Max Howes hit his 'B' cut in 1:51.57 to take 11th. Fifteenth place went to Kevin Benson (1:53.28) while Garrett Procunier took 19th in 1:53.80. Jason Wesseling (1:55.06) and Henry Homans (1:58.39) went 21st and 23rd, respectively.
The night was kicked off with five 'B' cuts in the 1650 freestyle as Aaron Saccurato led the way with a fifth-place finish and time of 15:55.63. Hohm would place eighth in 15:56.40 and Ben Burdick was ninth in 15:57.96. Eleventh place was held down by Nathan Thorne (16:04.29) and Conner Downard finished 13th in 16:08.26.
Rich led DU in the 200 butterfly by placing fifth in 1:52.15. Saccurato placed 10th in 1:52.42. Sam Strosnider took 13th in 1:53.29 and Brinegar took 14th with a time of 1:53.62. Tim Smith (1:54.46) and Dan Hellman (1:54.61) would take 16th and 17th to round out the event. DU's top four finishers in the event would all earn 'B' cuts.
The Big Red would close out the Miami Invitational with a third-place and sixth-place finish in the 400 free relay. DU's third-place relay touched in 3:02.09 and was made up of Fleming, Wuorinen, Lindell and Clerici. The sixth-place relay, comprised of Lowe, Rich, Hohm and Brinegar hit the wall in 3:05.21.
Denison will return to competition on January 10 when they host DePauw University in a dual meet from the Trumbull Aquatics Center.
