AKRON, Ohio-- Denison men's swimming & diving opens the season as the No. 1 ranked team in Division III and they sit in second place after one of three sessions at the Akron Zips Classic from the Ocasek Natatorium. The Big Red totaled 237 points on Friday night. Miami University sits in first place with 332 points. Cleveland State is third at 188 followed by Xavier in fourth with 180.
Denison was led by a second-place finish from the 800 free relay team of Drake Horton, Eric Gerlach, James Baker, and Bebe Wang who posted a time of 6:53.14.
Five individuals picked up points in the 200 IM, led by Richie Kurlich's third-place finish of 1:53.75. Bebe Wang was sixth in 1:54.57 and John Stauffer placed eighth in 1:54.86. Ethan Bevill (11th – 1:56.17) and Max Sternberg (13th – 1:57.14) closed out the scoring in the 200 IM for DU.
Four swimmers scored in the 50 free paced by Kyle Verstandig's sixth-place finish in 21.24. Kymani Senior was seventh in 21.26 and Horton touched in ninth at 21.29. First-year Trey Ike was right behind in 11th after touching in 21.39.
The 500 freestyle saw Baker lead DU with a third-place time of 4:36.33. Dayen Wilson was seventh in 4:39.02 while Lukas Gately (12th – 4:48.43) and Jacob Edwards (16th – 4:51.32) closed out the scoring.
The first event of the night was the 400 medley relay and the team of Liam Picozzi, Kurlich, Senior and Horton finished third in 3:24.00.
Denison will close out the Akron Zips Classic on Saturday with two sessions beginning at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
