After two of four days at the 2016 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championship from the Greensboro Aquatic Center, Denison sits in a tie for third place in the team standings with 182 points. Williams College joins them at 182 while Kenyon trails first-place Emory by only two points. The Ladies enter day three with 268 points while Emory has 270.
Denison's night got off to an outstanding start as the 200 freestyle relay team of Carolyn Kane, Ashley Yearwood, Kate Wright and Mary Van Leuven posted a national runner-up finish with a Denison varsity record time of 1:31.79. DU was only edged out by Emory who broke the Big Red's national record time, touching in 1:31.42. Leading off, Kane got Denison out in front with a 23.11 split and Yearwood held in 22.80. A 22.69 split by Emory's Megan Taylor in the three-hole helped the Eagles take the lead and hold off the Big Red down the stretch.
Kane would return in the 100 butterfly where she tied her 2015 finish, placing sixth overall in 55.58. That marked the 16th All-American swim of her career and her fourth of the meet.
DU placed two swimmers in the finals of the 200 freestyle. Junior Campbell Costley qualified for the Championship final after a prelim time of 1:50.68 and Alex Elizeus posted a swim of 1:51.19 allowing her to enter finals ranked 11th. In the finals, Costley would place seventh in 1:50.57 while Elizeus logged her third career All-American swim with a 14th place finish and a time of 1:52.11.
In the consolation heat of the 400 IM, Halli Garza matched her performance from a year ago by winning the heat and finishing ninth after a time of 4:24.85. She trimmed 2.52 seconds off her prelim time to win the race. This is the third All-American performance for Garza. The win went to Megan Pierce of Williams in 4:20.77.
The night was capped off by the 400 medley relay team of Yearwood, Marissa Bednarek, Kane and Van Leuven that logged a third-place finish in 3:43.93. Denison entered the meet seeded fifth and was second after a preliminary time of 3:44.68. In the final, Van Leuven recorded the second-fastest 100 free split, closing out the race in 50.23. Last year's 400 medley relay champ, Emory, repeated in 3:42.76.
Denison will return to the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Friday for preliminaries and finals in the 200 fly, 100 back, 100 breaststroke and the 800 free relay. In the 200 fly, Garza is seeded second in 2:01.35. She finished sixth at last year's national meet. In the 100 breaststroke, Bednarek owns the eighth fastest time in 1:03.28. She took seventh in 2015. The 800 free relay team is seeded third. Denison has won that event three times, with the last national title coming in 2011.
