GRANVILLE, Ohio (March 8, 2022) – The Denison University women's swimming & diving team has been ranked as the No. 3 team in NCAA Division III throughout the season, and the Big Red have high hopes for the upcoming national championship in Indianapolis, Indiana. The NCAA announced is qualifiers for this year's championship, and the Big Red are tied with No. 1-ranked Emory for the most qualified competitors in the nation with 18.

The Denison women are currently ranked No. 3 in the latest CSCAA Division III Poll, and are coming off a second-place finish at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championship won by the other team ranked No. 1 in the poll, Kenyon. In the end, the Big Red won four events by four different athletes at the conference championship.

The Big Red had logged 12 consecutive top-four finishes at nationals, and are looking to both continue and improve upon that number this time around. Denison's last national championship on the women's side occurred in 2001. It was the University's very first national title.

Women's National Team Roster: Denison's national team roster is comprised of three seniors, five juniors, three sophomores, and seven freshmen. It is a young team as two of their four NCAC Championships were won by freshmen, with the other two being won by sophomores.

Representing Denison at nationals will be seniors Annalise Cheshire, Devin Javens and Grace Kacmarek along with juniors Emma Berdelman, Christina Crane, Tara Culibrk, Savannah Sargent and Lauren Young; sophomores Natalie English, Tara Witkowski and Esme Wright; and freshmen Kerstyn Johnson, Grace Kadlecik, Alix O'Brien, Annie Pfeufer, Emma Pritchett, Lauren Richner and Taryn Wisner.

Cheshire will compete in seven different events, including the 200 medley, 200 freestyle, 400 medley and 400 freestyle relays, while Wright and Cluibrk will both compete in five total events and O'Brien, Pritchett, Richner and Wisner will all compete in four.

Below are which events each member of Denison's women's national team roster will be competing in:
Emma Berdelman: 200 butterfly
Annalise Cheshire: 50 freestyle, 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay, 400 medley relay, 100 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 400 freestyle relay
Christina Crane: 200 medley relay, 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke
Tara Culibrk: 200 freestyle relay, 200 freestyle, 800 freestyle relay, 100 freestyle
Natalie English: 400 freestyle relay
Devin Javens: 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke
Kerstyn Johnson: 1-meter diving, 3-meter diving
Grace Kacmarek: 400 IM
Grace Kadlecik: 200 freestyle relay
Alix O'Brien: 500 freestyle, 400 IM, 800 freestyle relay, 1,650 freestyle
Annie Pfeufer: 200 freestyle, 400 medley relay, 800 freestyle relay
Emma Pritchett: 200 medley relay, 100 butterfly, 400 medley relay, 200 butterfly
Lauren Richner: 50 freestyle, 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay, 100 backstroke
Savannah Sargent: 200 IM, 400 IM
Taryn Wisner: 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 800 freestyle relay, 1,650 freestyle
Tara Witkowski: 500 freestyle, 400 IM, 1,650 freestyle
Esme Wright: 200 IM, 400 IM, 400 medley relay, 200 breaststroke, 400 freestyle relay
Lauren Young: 50 freestyle

Seedings: In the relay races, Denison is seeded in the top-5 in three of them and is top-6 in all five of them. The Big Red check in seeded second in the 800 freestyle relay (7:22.84), fourth in the 400 freestyle relay (3:23.39), fifth in the 400 medley relay (3:43.83), and are sixth in both the 200 medley relay (1:42.15) and the 200 freestyle relay (1:33.57).

In the 500 freestyle, Denison owns the top spot and three of the top-5 seeds as Wisner (4:51.21) is seeded first, followed by NCAC Champ Witkowski (4:51.39) in third and O'Brien in fifth (4:53.13).

After winning the NCAC title in the 200 freestyle last month, Wisner now leads a group of three Big Red swimmers seeded in the top-16 of the event headed into nationals. Wisner (1:49.36) is seeded third while Culibrk (1:50.24) is 10th and Pfeufer (1:51.01) is 16th.

In the 1,650 freestyle, Denison boasts three of the top-4 swimmers as O'Brien (16:47.31), Wisner (16:48.85) and Witkowski (16:48.89) are seeded 2-4. At the NCAC Championship, it was O'Brien who came out on top to claim her first career conference title.

In the 400 IM, O'Brien (4:22.91) and NCAC Champ Wright (4:23.09) are seeded fourth and fifth, respectively, while Sargent (4:25.04) is seeded 14th.

Lastly, Pritchett (54.57) is seeded fourth in the 100 butterfly, and Cheshire (55.16) is seeded fifth in the 100 backstroke.

In all, Wisner is seeded in the top-3 in three different individual events while O'Brien is seeded in the top-5 in three events and Witkowski is top-4 in two events.

NCAA Diving Regionals: At the NCAA Division III Diving Regional hosted by Calvin College on February 25-26, Johnson finished in sixth place on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards.

To view the complete list of participating individuals and teams, please see the Official Psych Sheet below.

The 2022 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships will take place March 16-19 at IUPUI's IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Franklin College and the Indiana Sports Corp will serve as hosts. Live video and results will be provided by the NCAA throughout the championship. Follow DenisonBigRed.com for daily recaps.
 
2022 NCAC Swimming & Diving Championship Links:
2022 Denison Championship Central
Live Video
Psych Sheet
Schedule