GRANVILLE, Ohio (December 3, 2021) – The No. 3 Denison University women's swimming & diving team increased its lead during the second day of competition at the 2021 Denison Invitational at the Trumbull Aquatics Center. Totaling 1,472 points through two days of competition, the Big Red currently hold a 202-point lead over second-place and No. 2 nationally-ranked Emory University with 1,270 points. NCAA Division I Eastern Michigan University sits not far behind Emory with 1,226 points while No. 13 Washington University-St. Louis rounds out the field with 721 points.

The 1-meter diving preliminaries and finals took place in the afternoon, and Kerstyn Johnson finished seventh overall with 379.30 points.

Then, the night opened with a pair of NCAA Division III National "B" cut times from Denison's 200 medley relay squads as Denison's "A" group of Annalise Cheshire, Olivia Lantry, Emma Pritchett and Natalie English finished fourth with a time of 1:44.00 while the Denison "B" team of Lauren Richner, Christina Crane, Maja Palmroos and Grace Kadlecik was fifth with a time of 1:44.33.

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 Denison earned six National "B" cuts. Alix O'Brien (4:22.91) was third overall, Esme Wright (4:24.90) was fourth overall, Savannah Sargent (4:27.20) was eighth overall, Rebecca Martin (4:30.02) was ninth overall, Tara Witkowski (4:26.53) won the B finals and was 10th overall, and Grace Kacmarek (4:27.05) was second in the B finals and 11th overall.

In Denison's first event victory of the night, Pritchett won the 100 butterfly with an NCAA Division III National "B" cut time of 54.87 seconds.

In the 200 freestyle, Tara Culibrk (1:50.73) and Taryn Wisner (1:51.47) both earned National "B" cuts after finishing in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Crane was fifth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.68 while Devin Javens with seventh at 1:05.00; and then in the final individual swim of the night, the 100 backstroke, Cheshire earned a National "B" cut and was sixth with a time of 56.55 seconds.

Denison's second victory of the night came in the 800 freestyle relay as the group of O'Brien, Wright, Culibrk and Wisner won the event with a time of 7:23.83 and earned yet another National "B" cut.

In all, the Big Red added 13 more NCAA Division III National "B" cut swims in the finals on Friday after finishing with seven during the finals on Thursday.

Denison will close out the Invitational on Saturday, December 4, will preliminaries scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., followed by finals at 6 p.m. Women's 3-meter diving will start at 12:30 p.m.
 
NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Annalise Cheshire, Olivia Lantry, Emma Pritchett and Natalie English – 200 medley relay finals – 1:44.00
Lauren Richner, Christina Crane, Maja Palmroos and Grace Kadlecik – 200 medley relay finals – 1:44.33
Alix O'Brien – 400 IM finals – 4:22.91
Alix O'Brien – 400 IM prelims – 4:25.79
Esme Wright – 400 IM finals – 4:24.90
Esme Wright – 400 IM prelims – 4:27.73
Savannah Sargent – 400 IM finals – 4:27.20
Savannah Sargent – 400 IM prelims – 4:28.72
Rebecca Martin – 400 IM finals – 4:30.02
Tara Witkowski – 400 IM finals – 4:26.53
Grace Kacmarek – 400 IM finals – 4:27.05
Emma Pritchett – 100 butterfly finals – 54.87
Emma Pritchett – 100 butterfly prelims – 54.78
Tara Culibrk – 200 freestyle finals – 1:50.73
Tara Culibrk – 200 freestyle prelims – 1:50.49
Taryn Wisner – 200 freestyle finals – 1:51.47
Annie Pfeufer – 200 freestyle prelims – 1:51.86
Annalise Cheshire – 100 backstroke finals – 56.55
Annalise Cheshire – 100 backstroke prelims – 56.75
Alix O'Brien, Esme Wright, Tara Culibrk and Taryn Wisner – 800 freestyle relay finals – 7:23.83
 
Day Two Results