Denison finished off its annual midseason three-day meet with a fourth-place finish at the Miami Invitational. The Big Red totaled 1,451.5 points and trailed third-place Toledo by only 119.5 points. Defending Division III national champion, Emory University placed second with 1,590 points while the team title went to the host Redhawks with 2,240.5 points.
Denison was led by Carolyn Kane and Halli Garza who posted individual event victories on Saturday night. In the 100 freestyle, Kane was the winner with a season-best time of 50.69. Mary Van Leuven took sixth in 51.28 while Ashley Yearwood took ninth in 51.64 and Kate Wright landed in 14th after a time of 51.97.
Garza's win came in the 200 butterfly where she trimmed nearly two seconds off her time in prelims with a winning-time of 2:01.35 in the finals. That finish came close to her own varsity record time of 2:01.09 set last year. Emily Eiben would follow with a 'B' cut time of 2:06.40 in prelims and a 13th place finish in 2:06.99 in the finals.
In the 200 breaststroke, Marissa Bednarek took fourth place in 2:17.50.
The 1,650 freestyle saw Taylor Johns lead a trio of DU swimmers to 'B' cuts. After finishing third at last year's NCAA Division III Championship, Johns took second with a time of 16:45.75. Fourth place was held down by Campbell Costley in 16:53.21 while ninth place was secured by Alex Elizeus in 17:21.04.
The Invitational was closed out by the 400 freestyle relay team of Kane, Costley, Wright and Van Leuven. The foursome would finish second after hitting the wall in 3:24.66.
Denison's next intercollegiate competition will be on Jan. 8 when they host Ohio University at 5 p.m.
