GRANVILLE, Ohio (December 1, 2022) – Denison University's No. 5 nationally-ranked women's swimming and diving team is in the lead after the first day of the Fourth Annual Denison Invitational. The Big Red totaled 665 points on Thursday, giving them an 81-point advantage over second-place and NCAA Division I Eastern Michigan University with 584 points. No. 2 nationally-ranked Emory University is third with 519 points, followed by No. 6 Johns Hopkins University (315) and No. 20 Washington University-St. Louis (162).

Competing against some of the top teams in NCAA Division III this weekend, along with a strong team from Eastern Michigan, the Big Red opened the competition with 13 NCAA Division III national cut times during the first round of finals.

For the second year in a row, sophomore Taryn Wisner and junior Tara Witkowski both earned an NCAA Division III National "B" cut in the 500 freestyle while junior Esme Wright did so in the 200 IM and junior Natalie English did it in the 50 freestyle.

The 3-meter diving preliminaries and finals took place in the afternoon, and sophomore Kerstyn Johnson (259.65), junior Maggie Seftenberg (248.75) and freshman Anya Ferner (212.45) each qualified for the finals before finishing in order between sixth and eighth place. Eastern Michigan led the Big Red 217-97 after the 3-meter dive kicked off the scoring for the meet.

Then in the first swimming final of the invitational, Denison's A team of English, sophomore Grace Kadlecik, freshman Phoebe Ferguson and senior Tara Culibrk earned an NCAA Division III National "B" cut while finishing in second place in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:32.31. In addition, senior Lauren Young, sophomore Amber Croonquist, sophomore Maja Palmroos and Wright also earned a National "B" cut and finished in fifth place with a time of 1:34.57. That allowed the Big Red to pull to within 275-159 of EMU in the standings while Emory entered the standings in third place with 70 points, followed by Johns Hopkins with 60 and WashU with 50.

Then in the first individual final of the meet, the 500 freestyle, Denison earned three National "B" cuts as freshman Quinn Brown finished third with a time of 4:53.92 while Witkowski (4:56.45) was right behind her in fourth place and Wisner (5:00.28) was sixth. That allowed Denison to continue to close the gap on EMU (383-302) while Emory remained in third place with 161 points.

Denison then went on to take four of the top-six spots in the 200 IM, each with a National "B" cut, as senior Savannah Sargent went on to earn Denison's first win of the meet with a time of 2:03.79. She was followed by Ferguson (2:03.92) in third place, Wright (2:04.63) in fourth and senior Christina Crane (2:05.18) in sixth, which helped give Denison's its first lead of the meet as well with 464 points compared to 443 points for EMU and 314 points for Emory.

In the 50 freestyle, Culibrk (23.25) took third place and English (23.62) finished in sixth, both with "B" cuts, as Denison extended its lead to 605-522 over EMU.

The 400 medley relay closed out the night's finals as Denison's A team of sophomore Claire Moody, freshman Drue Thielking, Ferguson and Culibrk finished third and earned a National "B" cut with a time of 3:47.17. Right behind them in fourth place and also with a National "B" cut was sophomore Sophie Kannee, Crane, Palmroos and English (3:47.71).

Denison returns to the Trumbull Aquatics Center on Friday, December 2, for preliminaries at 10 a.m. followed by finals at 6 p.m.
 
NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Natalie English, Grace Kadlecik, Phoebe Ferguson and Tara Culibrk – 200 freestyle relay finals – 1:32.31
Lauren Young, Amber Croonquist, Maja Palmroos and Esme Wright – 200 freestyle relay finals – 1:34.57
Christina Crane, Esme Wright, Phoebe Ferguson and Tara Culibrk – 200 freestyle relay prelims – 1:34.09
Natalie English, Maja Palmroos, Avery Vogen and Claire Moody – 200 freestyle relay prelims – 1:35.18
Quinn Brown – 500 freestyle relay finals – 4:53.92
Quinn Brown – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:55.54
Taryn Wisner – 500 freestyle finals – 5:00.28
Taryn Wisner – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:57.57
Tara Witkowski – 500 freestyle finals – 4:56.45
Tara Witkowski – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:57.97
Emily Harris – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:59.79
Savannah Sargent – 200 IM finals – 2:03.79
Savannah Sargent – 200 IM prelims – 2:04.29
Phoebe Ferguson – 200 IM finals – 2:03.92
Phoebe Ferguson – 200 IM prelims – 2:05.32
Esme Wright – 200 IM finals – 2:04.63
Esme Wright – 200 IM prelims – 2:05.63
Christina Crane – 200 IM finals – 2:05.18
Christina Crane – 200 IM prelims – 2:05.85
Grace Kadlecik – 50 freestyle prelims – 23.48
Tara Culibrk – 50 freestyle finals – 23.25
Tara Culibrk – 50 freestyle prelims – 23.49
Natalie English – 50 freestyle finals – 23.62
Natalie English – 50 freestyle prelims – 23.63
Claire Moody, Drue Thielking, Phoebe Ferguson and Tara Culibrk – 400 medley relay finals – 3:47.17
Sophie Kannee, Christina Crane, Maja Palmroos and Natalie English – 400 medley relay finals – 3:47.71
Claire Moody, Drue Thielking, Caroline Cavalier and Amber Croonquist – 400 medley relay prelims – 3:50.33
 
Fourth Annual Denison Invitational Day One Results