GRANVILLE, Ohio (February 10, 2022) – The No. 3 nationally-ranked Denison University women's swimming & diving team had an outstanding second night and jumped up to second place at the 2022 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships. Denison has totaled 610 points through seven of 21 events while No. 1 Kenyon College sits in first place with 614 points. Third place belongs to DePauw University with 351 points while the College of Wooster sits in fourth at 306 points.

The 200 freestyle relay started off the night as Denison's team of Tara Culibrk, Lauren Richner, Grace Kadlecik and Annalise Cheshire finished second with an NCAA Division III National "B" cut time of 1:33.57. Kenyon finished first with a time of 1:31.04.

In the first individual swimming final of this year's championship, the 500 freestyle, Tara Witkowski (4:51.39) won the conference title while she, Alix O'Brien (4:53.13) and Taryn Wisner (4:54.92) swept the top three spots with three National "B" cut times to help move the Big Red all the way from seventh place in the team standings to third place.

Esme Wright led DU with its lone all-conference performance in the 200 IM as she placed third with a time of 2:03.76. Savannah Sargent was fifth with a time of 2:05.57 and Christina Crane was sixth at 2:06.00. All three times were National "B" cuts for the Big Red, who moved into second place following the 200 IM and pulled to within 30 points of Kenyon (366-336).

In the 50 freestyle, four Denison simmers would place in the top-seven, led by Richner with an all-conference nod in third place and a National "B" cut time of 23.51 seconds. Cheshire followed in fourth place with a time of 23.53 seconds and Kadlecik was sixth at 23.64 seconds, both of which were also National "B' cut times, and Natalie English was seventh at 23.77 seconds.

After the 50 freestyle, Denison took over first place in the team standings with 487 points compared to 460 for Kenyon.

On the 1-meter diving board, Denison earned a pair of all-conference honors and National "B" cut marks as Kerstyn Johnson posted an 11-dive score of 424.05 points to take a second place and Maggie Seftenberg took third with 418.30 points. Wittenberg's Emma Hellman won the event with a final score of 460.40 points.

Entering the final event of the night with a narrow four-point lead (548-544) over Kenyon, Denison's team of Cheshire, Wright, Emma Pritchett and Annie Pfeufer finished second with a National "B" cut time of 3:43.83 in the 400 medley relay. Kenyon won it with a time of 3:40.65 to flip the script and take a four-point edge over the Big Red heading into Day 3 on Friday.

Denison returns to the Trumbull Aquatics Center on Friday, February 11, for Day 3 of the 2022 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships with preliminaries starting at 9:30 a.m. followed by finals at 6 p.m. Day 3 of the conference meet will feature the 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke.
 
NCAC Championships:
Tara Witkowski – 500 freestyle – 4:51.39
 
All-NCAC Performances (Top-3):
Tara Culibrk, Lauren Richner, Grace Kadlecik, Annalise Cheshire – second place in the 200 freestyle relay – 1:33.57
Tara Witkowski – first place in the 500 freestyle – 4:51.39
Alix O'Brien – second place in the 500 freestyle – 4:53.13
Taryn Wisner – third place in the 500 freestyle – 4:54.92
Esme Wright – third place in the 200 IM – 2:03.76
Lauren Richner – third place in the 50 freestyle – 23.51
Kerstyn Johnson – second place in 1-meter diving – 424.05
Maggie Seftenberg – third place in 1-meter diving – 418.30
Annalise Cheshire, Esme Wright, Emma Pritchett, Annie Pfeufer – second place in the 400 medley relay – 3:43.83
 
NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Tara Culibrk, Lauren Richner, Grace Kadlecik, Annalise Cheshire – 200 freestyle relay – 1:33.57
Tara Witkowski – 500 freestyle finals – 4:51.39
Tara Witkowski – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:53.38
Alix O'Brien – 500 freestyle finals – 4:53.13
Alix O'Brien – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:56.42
Taryn Wisner – 500 freestyle finals – 4:54.92
Taryn Wisner – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:56.72
Esme Wright – 500 freestyle finals – 2:03.76
Esme Wright – 200 IM prelims – 2:05.32
Savannah Sargent – 200 IM finals – 2:05.57
Savannah Sargent – 200 IM prelims – 2:05.77
Christina Crane – 200 IM finals – 2:06.00
Christina Crane – 200 IM prelims – 2:05.96
Lauren Richner – 50 freestyle finals – 23.51
Lauren Richner – 50 freestyle prelims – 23.51
Annalise Cheshire – 50 freestyle finals – 23.53
Annalise Cheshire – 50 freestyle prelims – 23.60
Grace Kadlecik – 50 freestyle finals – 23.64
Grace Kadlecik – 50 freestyle prelims – 23.63
Kerstyn Johnson – 1-meter diving finals – 424.05
Kerstyn Johnson – 1-meter diving prelims – 404.95
Maggie Seftenberg – 1-meter diving finals – 418.30
Maggie Seftenberg – 1-meter diving prelims – 413.70
Annalise Cheshire, Esme Wright, Emma Pritchett, Annie Pfeufer – 400 medley relay – 3:43.83

Day Two Results