GRANVILLE, Ohio-- The Denison men hold a 117.5 point lead heading into the final day of competition at the 2019 North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championship. The Big Red won two more events on Friday night and logged eight top-3 finishes. They sit in first place with 1,276 points while Kenyon trails in second place with 1,158.5 points.
The 200 medley relay team of Carson Clear, Kenny Fox, Colin MacMillan, and Kymani Senior set a new varsity record and broke their own NCAC record with a season-best time of 1:27.99. The previous Denison record was set last year by Clear, Tiernan Foster-Smith, Fox and Senior. The prior conference mark was 1:28.97 set by the Big Red in 2013. This marked the seventh-straight 200 medley relay win for Denison and the program's 12th title, all-time.
In the 400 IM, sophomore John Stauffer logged his first conference championship with a winning time of 3:55.55. This was also the fourth-straight win by a Denison swimmer in the 400 IM. Francis Biagioli placed third with a season-best 'B' cut time of 3:58.15 and Lukas Gately took sixth in 4:08.35.
The 100 fly saw Senior, MacMillan, and Fox go fourth, fifth and eighth, respectively. Senior's time of 48.86 led the squad but MacMillan posted a season-best time of 49.03 in the event.
Ryan Stevenson and Nick Froemming placed second and third respectively to earn all-conference accolades. Stevenson touched in 1:39.43 and Froemming finished in 1:39.66. There was a tie for fourth place as James Baker and Matt McHugh hit the wall in 1:40.19. Piotr Kurleto rounded out the Denison top-finishers with a sixth-place showing and a time of 1:40.52.
First-year Noah Houskeeper posted a season-best 'B' cut time of 55.50 in prelims of the 100 breast. He touched in 55.70 in the finals to take home third place. Fox followed in seventh place in 56.73.
The night was rounded out by a pair of top-3 finishes from Clear and Liam Picozzi in the 100 back. Clear took second in 48.40 while Picozzi was third in 49.06.
The Big Red returns on Saturday for finals in the 1,650 free, 100 IM, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 3-meter dive, and the 400 free relay. Denison is seeking its 11th straight NCAC Men's Swimming & Diving Championship.
