GRANVILLE, Ohio (February 11, 2022) – No. 6 Denison University logged two event wins on Friday at the 2022 North Coast Athletic Conference Championship. Through 14 of 21 events, Denison sits in second place with 1,334.5 points. No. 2-ranked Kenyon College is first with 1,368.5 points while positions three and four are occupied by Wabash College (716) and DePauw University (617).

After helping Denison win both the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay on Thursday night, Liam Picozzi won the 100 backstroke and was a part of a win in the 200 medley relay on Friday night.

The Big Red began the day on Friday with a 164-point lead (732-568) over Kenyon in the overall standings, and increased their lead through each of the first two events of the night.

Denison's first win of the night came in the 200 medley relay as Picozzi, Elijah Venos, Ethan Bevill and Trey Ike streaked into an NCAA Division III National "B" cut time of 1:28.01 while Kenyon was second with a time of 1:29.68.

Three swimmers from Denison placed in the top-six of the 400 IM standings, led by an all-conference second-place finish by Eric Chimes, who swam a National "B" cut time of 3:57.13 but was behind Kenyon's Bryan Fitzgerald, who broke his own pool and conference record with a time of 3:51.20. Connor Brown finished fifth with a time of 4:03.22 while Lucas Conrads finished in sixth with a time of 4:03.67.

In the 100 butterfly, Richie Kurlich and Bevill finished in third and fourth place, respectively. Kurlich earned an all-conference certificate with a National "B" cut time of 48.48 seconds while Bevill swam a National "B" cut time of 48.56 seconds himself. Kenyon, meanwhile, put six swimmers in the top-eight of the event to cut Denison's lead down from 194 points (888-694) to 81 points (947-866).

In the 200 freestyle, Sam Myaard tied with Kenyon's Spencer Pruett for an all-conference mark in third place with a time of 1:39.78. Ryan Foreback (1:39.89) and Kyle Verstandig (1:40.02) followed in fifth and sixth place, respectively, making it three Big Red swimmers in the top-six, each with National "B" cuts in the event. Although it was Kenyon that had four of the top-seven finishers in the event, it was Denison's which saw its lead increase ever so slightly to 86 points (1,073.5-987.5).

Despite breaking the previous NCAC record, Noah Houskeeper was the runner-up in the 100 breaststroke, finishing with a National "B" cut time of 54.36 seconds, only .01 seconds behind Kenyon's Luis Weekes with his second straight conference title in the event and the new conference record of 54.35 seconds. Venos (55.39 seconds) also swam a National "B" cut time and earned an all-conference certificate in third place. The Big Red then put three swimmers in the top-five as Patrick Daly was fifth at 56.19 seconds, and put four in the top-eight as Gavin Jones was eighth in 56.81 seconds.

Denison's lone individual event title of the day came from Picozzi, who earned his second consecutive conference title in the 100 backstroke. He logged a National "B" cut time of 48.56 seconds, beating out Kenyon's Spencer Pruett in second with a time of 48.69 seconds. Ike also earned a National "B" cut time of 49.16 seconds to finish in fifth place.

The Big Red led by 83 points (1,187.5-1,104.5) entering the 100 backstroke, but then fell behind by 22 points (1,272.5-1,250.5) after Kenyon put six swimmers in the top-eight.

Then in one of the most exciting and competitive events of the meet so far, the 1-meter diving board, Kenyon took the top three spots while Denison finished 4-6. Liam Simmons (461.80) was fourth, Brendan Downey (458.60) was fifth and Kristian Kowalski (445.95) was sixth, all three with National "B" cuts.

The 2022 NCAC Championship will close out on Saturday with seven events. Preliminaries begin at 9:30 a.m. followed by finals at 6 p.m. The Big Red return to the water for finals in the 1,650 freestyle, 100 IM, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and the 400 freestyle relay. The Denison men are seeking their 13th NCAC championship and 12th since 2009.
 
NCAC Championships:
Liam Picozzi, Elijah Venos, Ethan Bevill, Trey Ike – 200 medley relay – 1:28.01
Liam Picozzi – 100 backstroke – 48.56
 
All-NCAC Performances (Top-3):
Liam Picozzi, Elijah Venos, Ethan Bevill, Trey Ike – first place in the 200 medley relay – 1:28.01
Eric Chimes – second place in the 400 IM – 3:57.13
Richie Kurlich – third place in the 100 butterfly – 48.48
Sam Myaard – tied for third place in the 200 freestyle – 1:39.78
Noah Houskeeper – second place in the 100 breaststroke – 54.36
Elijah Venos – third place in the 100 breaststroke – 55.39
Liam Picozzi – first place in the 100 backstroke – 48.56
 
NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Liam Picozzi, Elijah Venos, Ethan Bevill, Trey Ike – 200 medley relay – 1:28.01
Eric Chimes – 400 IM finals – 3:57.13
Richie Kurlich – 100 butterfly finals – 48.48
Richie Kurlich – 100 butterfly prelims – 49.09
Ethan Bevill – 100 butterfly finals – 48.56
Sam Myaard – 200 freestyle finals – 1:39.78
Ryan Foreback – 200 freestyle finals – 1:39.89
Kyle Verstandig – 200 freestyle finals – 1:40.02
Kyle Verstandig – 200 freestyle prelims – 1:39.40
Noah Houskeeper – 100 breaststroke finals – 54.36
Noah Houskeeper – 100 breaststroke prelims – 55.12
Elijah Venos – 100 breaststroke finals – 55.39
Elijah Venos – 100 breaststroke prelims – 55.74
Liam Picozzi – 100 backstroke finals – 48.56
Liam Picozzi – 100 backstroke prelims – 49.04
Trey Ike – 1—backstroke finals – 49.16
Trey Ike – 100 backstroke prelims – 49.79
Liam Simmons – 1-meter diving finals – 461.80
Liam Simmons – 1-meter diving prelims – 467.70
Brendan Downey – 1-meter diving finals – 458.60
Brendan Downey – 1-meter diving prelims – 449.20
Kristian Kowalski – 1-meter diving finals – 445.95
Kristian Kowalski – 1-meter diving prelims – 445.60
 
Day Three Results