GRANVILLE, Ohio – The 2020 North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championship got underway with the finals in the men's and women's 800 freestyle and the men's 3-meter dive on Wednesday night at the Trumbull Aquatics Center.
In the opening event of the night, Denison's foursome of Drake Horton, Matt McHugh, PJ Desmet, and Eric Gerlach captured the first conference title of the week in the 800 free relay when they placed first overall with a new pool and NCAC record time of 6:32.10. The final mark also clocked in as a season-best 'B' cut time for the quartet.
On the women's side, DU's Mia Chiappe, Tara Culibrk, Caroline Colville, and Hannah Rusinko also claimed an NCAC title in the 800 free relay with a season-best 'B' cut time of 7:23.41, edging out Kenyon's squad by .02 seconds.
In the men's 3-meter dive, sophomore Liam Simmons competed as an exhibition for the Big Red where he posted an 11-dive provisional qualifying score of 455.60, which finished as the highest score through the preliminary round.
Through two events on the men's side, Denison is in sixth place with 70 points. Through one event on the women's side, the Big Red has an eight-point lead with 70 total points.
The Big Red will return to action tomorrow, Feb. 13, when they compete in the 200 free relay, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 400 medley relay, and the women's 1-meter dive. Prelims will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the finals to follow at 6 p.m.
