GRANVILLE, Ohio (December 3, 2021) – No. 4 Denison University men's swimming & diving built its lead to 101 points over second-place and No. 3 nationally-ranked Emory University after the second day of competition at the 2021 Denison Invitational. With a team total of 1,498.5 points, the Big Red sit ahead of Emory at 1,397.5 points, third-place and No. 6 nationally-ranked Washington University-St. Louis at 931 points, and fourth-place and No. 11 nationally-ranked Franklin & Marshall College at 515 points.

The Big Red added 18 more NCAA Division III National "B" cut swims in the finals on Friday after finishing with 15 during the finals on Thursday.

The night opened with a splash as Denison's "A" group of Liam Picozzi, Richie Kurlich, Ethan Bevill and Trey Ike finished second in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:27.74, breaking Denison's varsity record in the event.

Meanwhile, the Denison "B" team of Chris Luus, Noah Houskeeper, Michael Arpasi and Nicholas Czepukaitis was fifth with a time of 1:29.60, making it a pair of National "B" cut times for the Big Red in the 200 medley relay.

The Big Red's highest National "B" cut count of the evening came in the first individual swim of the night, the 400 IM, where Lucas Conrads (3:54.87) was third overall while Lukas Gately (3:59.23) won the B finals and was 10th overall, Connor Brown (4:00.42) was 12th overall, Christian Narcelles (4:01.32) was 13th overall, and Max Soja (4:01.48) was 14th overall, giving all five men a National "B" cut.

In the 100 butterfly, Denison earned three more National "B" cuts as Kurlich (48.57 seconds) was second, Ethan Bevill (48.94) was seventh and Eric Chimes (49.22) was eighth.

Kyle Verstandig earned a National "B" cut in the 200 freestyle with a fifth-place finish and a time of 1:38.95; and then in the 100 breaststroke, Denison took each of the third, fourth and fifth place spots as Kurlich (54.58 seconds) was third, Houskeeper (55.21) was fourth and Gavin Jones (55.85) was fifth, all three of which were again National "B" cuts.

In the final individual swim of the night, the 100 backstroke, Denison received three more National "B" cuts as Picozzi (48.23) gave the Big Red their first event win of the night, Ike (48.96) was second, and Luus (49.38) was fourth.

Denison then closed out the second night of competition with one more National "B" cut and a third-place finish and time of 6:40.29 from Conrads, Ryan Foreback, Patrick Daly and Verstandig in the 800 freestyle relay.

No diving took place on the men's side during the second day of competition.

The Big Red men's team will look to secure its third straight Denison Invitational title on Saturday, December 4, with preliminaries scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., followed by finals at 6 p.m. Men's 1-meter diving will start at 12:30 p.m.
 
NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Liam Picozzi, Richie Kurlich, Ethan Bevill and Trey Ike – 200 medley relay finals – 1:27.74
Chris Luus, Noah Houskeeper, Michael Arpasi and Nicholas Czepukaitis – 200 medley relay finals – 1:29.60
Lucas Conrads – 400 IM finals – 3:54.87
Lucas Conrads – 400 IM prelims – 3:56.31
Lukas Gately – 400 IM finals – 3:59.23
Connor Brown – 400 IM finals – 4:00.42
Christian Narcelles – 400 IM finals – 4:01.32
Christian Narcelles – 400 IM prelims – 4:01.23
Max Soja – 400 IM finals – 4:01.48
Richie Kurlich – 100 butterfly finals – 48.27
Richie Kurlich – 100 butterfly prelims – 48.33
Ethan Bevill – 100 butterfly finals – 48.94
Ethan Bevill – 100 butterfly prelims – 48.73
Eric Chimes – 100 butterfly finals – 49.22
Eric Chimes – 100 butterfly prelims – 49.02
Kyle Verstandig – 200 freestyle finals – 1:38.95
Kyle Verstandig – 200 freestyle prelims – 1:39.44
Richie Kurlich – 100 breaststroke finals – 54.58
Richie Kurlich – 100 breaststroke prelims – 55.65
Noah Houskeeper – 100 breaststroke finals – 55.21
Noah Houskeeper – 100 breaststroke prelims – 55.66
Gavin Jones – 100 breaststroke finals – 55.85
Liam Picozzi – 100 backstroke finals – 48.23
Liam Picozzi – 100 backstroke prelims – 48.69
Trey Ike – 100 backstroke finals – 48.96
Trey Ike – 100 backstroke prelims – 48.63
Chris Luus – 100 backstroke finals – 49.38
Chris Luus – 100 backstroke prelims – 49.38
Lucas Conrads, Ryan Foreback, Patrick Daly and Kyle Verstandig – 800 medley relay finals – 6:40.29
 
Day Two Results