AKRON, Ohio (October 16, 2021) – The first meet of the 2021-22 season for the Denison University women's swimming team is in the books as the Big Red finished in second place out of four teams at the Akron Zips Classic. Denison finished with 849 points across the two-day event while Akron University took home the title with 1,542.5 points. Xavier University was third with 535.5 points and Youngstown State University was fourth with 503 points.

Denison competed in six events in the morning session on Saturday before coming back for seven events in the evening session.

Session 2 - Saturday, Oct. 16 - 10 a.m.

In the only relay of the morning session, Denison finished in fifth, sixth and seventh place in the 200 freestyle relay. In fifth was junior Tara Culibrk, freshman Grace Kadlecik, freshman Avery Vogen and senior Annalise Cheshire with a time of 1:36.48. In sixth was freshman Claire Moody, freshman Lauren Richner, freshman Amber Croonquist and sophomore Natalie English with a time of 1:38.03. In seventh was freshman Maja Palmroos, freshman Sophie Kannee, freshman Annie Pfeufer and junior Christina Crane with a time of 1:38.23.

The Big Red picked up NCAA Division III National "B" cuts in both the 400 IM and the 100 butterfly as sophomore Esme Wright took third in the 400 IM with a time of 4:30.25, and freshman Emma Pritchett took fourth in the 100 butterfly with a time of 55.54 seconds.

Culibrk took third place in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.60, and Crane took sixth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.65.

In the final event of the morning session, the 100 backstroke, Kannee (58.75 seconds) and Pritchett (58.89 seconds) finished ninth and 10th, respectively.

By the end of the morning session, Denison was still in second place with 508 points, behind Akron (942.5 points) in first but ahead of Xavier (323.5 points) in third.

Session 3 - Saturday, Oct. 16 - 5 p.m.

The final session started with Denison's group of Kadlecik, Crane, Pritchett and Culibrk finishing fourth in the 200 medley relay with a National "B" cut time of 1:44.93.

Then in the 1650 freestyle, freshman Alix O'Brien won first place with a National "B" cut time of 16:58.93.

In the 200 backstroke, Moody and senior Grace Kacmarek finished eighth and ninth, respectively, with time of 2:06.50 and 2:08.69.

Culibrk finished sixth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.15 seconds.

In the 200 breaststroke, Crane finished sixth with a National "B" cut time of 2:21.81 and was followed by Wright (2:22.48) in seventh, senior Olivia Lantry (2:24.45) in eighth and senior Devin Javens (2:24.54) in ninth.

In the final individual race of the meet, Pritchett finished fourth in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:05.88.

In the final relay of the meet, Denison's group of Wright, Kadlecik, Vogen and Culibrk finished fifth with a time of 3:30.76 in the 400 freestyle relay.

In all, the Big Red earned seven NCAA Division III National "B" cuts throughout the three sessions on Friday and Saturday.

Denison returns to action in two weeks when they host their first meet of the 2021-22 season against Xavier University at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 30, inside the Trumbull Aquatics Center.

NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Esme Wright – 400 IM – 4:30.25
Emma Pritchett – 100 butterfly – 55.54
Grace Kadlecik, Christina Crane, Emma Pritchett and Tara Culibrk – 200 medley relay – 1:44.93
Alix O'Brien – 1650 freestyle – 16:58.93
Christina Crane – 200 breaststroke – 2:21.81

Akron Zips Classic Final Results