INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (March 18, 2022) – Denison University will enter the final day of the 2022 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championship in second place with 257 points. They trail first-place Emory (338) by 81 points and lead third-place Johns Hopkins (248) by nine points.

Denison began the day on Friday with a strong start in the 200 butterfly prelims, qualifying two swimmers for the A Final and one for the B Final. Richie Kurlich (1:47.19) was third, Noah Houskeeper (1:47.24) was fourth and Eric Chimes (1:48.69) was 12th.

Then in the finals of the 200 butterfly, the big point scoring opportunity for Denison paid off as Kurlich took the bronze in third place with a time of 1:46.06 while Houskeeper was right behind him in fourth at 1:46.68. Additionally, Chimes swam a great race in the B Final, finishing second (10th overall) with a time of 1:47.57.

The collection of 38 points after the 200 butterfly allowed the Big Red to pull within 40 points of Emory at 249-209 while separating from third-place Johns Hopkins (184 points) by 25 points.

In the 100 backstroke prelims, Trey Ike (48.61 seconds; 14th place) and Liam Picozzi (48.46 seconds; 16th place) both qualified for the B Final and helped the Big Red add five points after Ike finished fifth (13th overall) with a time of 48.15 seconds while Picozzi stayed in eighth (16th overall) at 48.42 seconds.

Housekeeper qualified for his second finals of the day after finishing 15th in the 100 breaststroke prelims with a time of 54.93 seconds. The senior from North Brunswick, New Jersey, then took fourth (12th overall) in the B final with an improved time of 54.63 seconds.

On the 1-meter diving board, Liam Simmons (449.35 points) finished in eighth place in the prelims to qualify for the A Final while Brendan Downey (448.35 points) was right behind him in ninth to make the B Final, where he was fifth (13th overall) with a score of 415.60 points. In the A Final, Simmons moved up one spot to take seventh with a total of 464.25 points.

In the 800 freestyle relay, Kyle Verstandig, Picozzi, Patrick Daly and Kurlich finished eighth with a time of 6:35.42.

Denison will close out the 2022 NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday with finals in the 1,650 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke and the 400 freestyle relay. Preliminaries will start at 10 a.m. followed by finals at 6 p.m.
 
All-Americans (Top-8):
Richie Kurlich – 3rd place in the 200 butterfly – 1:46.06
Noah Houskeeper – 4th place in the 200 butterfly – 1:46.68
Liam Simmons – 7th place on the 1-meter diving board – 464.25
Kyle Verstandig, Liam Picozzi, Patrick Daly, Richie Kurlich – 8th place in the 800 freestyle relay – 6:35.42
 
Honorable Mention All-Americans (Top-16):
Eric Chimes – 10th place in the 200 butterfly – 1:47.57
Trey Ike – 13th place in the 100 backstroke – 48.15
Liam Picozzi – 16th place in the 100 backstroke – 48.42
Noah Houskeeper – 12th place in the 100 breaststroke – 54.63
Brendan Downey – 13th place on the 1-meter diving board – 415.60
 
Day Three Results