The Denison women lead the 2015 North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championship by 19 points heading into the weekend. Denison has totaled 598 points while Kenyon sits in second with 579 through six events.
Denison's night got off to a blistering start as the 200 free relay and the 500 free saw new meet records and school records turned in by the Big Red. Denison also won the 200 individual medley for the 11th time in program history.
The opening race was the 200 free relay and it featured Rima Jurjus, Carolyn Kane, Ashley Yearwood and Mary Van Leuven. The foursome came very close to a new national record with their time of 1:31.98. It was good enough to break the program mark set in 2009. It also shattered the NCAC record set by Denison in 2011. This the DU's eighth consecutive win in the 200 free relay at the NCAC Championship.
The points continued to roll in as Campbell Costley and Taylor Johns went 1-2 in the 500 freestyle, respectively. Costley set the NCAC and Denison record by touching in 4:49.85. Johns finished in 4:50.43 while Alex Elizeus (4:58.50) and Elizabeth Flaherty (5:04.00) placed fifth and ninth, respectively.
There was a first-time winner in the 200 individual medley as Halli Garza won in 2:04.33, besting her teammate Michelle Howell, who hit the wall in 2:04.84 to finish second. Marissa Bednarek would end in fourth with a time of 2:05.31. The Big Red have won this event five out of the last six years and 11 times overall.
In the 50 freestyle, Denison's sprint depth was on display as four swimmers placed in the top-five. Carolyn Kane was the runner-up in 23.40 seconds. Jurjus and Van Leuven tied for third in 23.52 while Yearwood ended up fifth in 23.59.
The night was closed out by the second-place 400 medley relay team of Molly Willingham, Bednarek, Krysta Garbarino and Kane. They combined for a time of 3:48.08.
Denison will be back for Friday's preliminaries from the Trumbull Aquatics Center at 10 a.m.
