GRANVILLE, Ohio (January 28, 2023) – Thanks to 11 wins across 16 events in the pool and on the diving boards, the No. 9 Denison University men's swimming & diving team took down both Ohio Wesleyan University and Youngstown State University in a double dual meet on Senior Day at the Trumbull Aquatics Center. The Big Red handed OWU a 257-45 defeat and topped YSU 202-107.

Sophomore Elijah Venos led Denison with individual wins in both the 50 breaststroke and the 100 breaststroke to go along with wins in both relay races. Christian Narcelles earned the win in both the 100 freestyle and the 200 freestyle while Richie Kurlich was first in both the 100 butterfly and the 100 IM.

Denison's "A" team of Nick Settembrine, Venos, Josh Song and Kurlich got the Big Red started off on the right foot with a win and a time of 41.00 seconds in the 100 medley relay.

In the first individual event, the 500 freestyle, Sam Myaard (4:32.49), Lucas Conrads (4:35.24) and Tyler Distenfeld (4:36.89) finished in order between second and fourth place.

The Big Red then brought home the top-four spots in the 200 freestyle as Narcelles took first with a time of 1:40.59 and was followed by Patrick Daly (1:40.71) in second, Ryan Foreback (1:42.18) in third and Christian McIntire (1:43.41) in fourth.

Denison took four of the top-five spots in the 50 backstroke as Settembrine (23.76 seconds) was first, Aidan Lane (23.83 seconds) was second, Gavin Jones (24.14 seconds) was fourth and Shea Card (24.15 seconds) was fifth.

In the 50 breaststroke, Venos claimed the top mark with a time of 25.32 seconds while Riccardo Ricciardi (26.10 seconds) was third and Franceso Assalone (26.24 seconds) was fourth.

In the 100 butterfly, Kurlich claimed first place with an NCAA Division III National "B" cut time of 47.87 seconds while Song was third at 49.74 seconds, Eric Chimes was fourth at 49.99 seconds and Max Soja was fifth at 50.04 seconds.

Owen Leary and Richie Stewart finished back-to-back in second and third place in the 50 freestyle with times of 21.19 seconds and 21.24 seconds, respectively.

Narcelles took home the win in the 100 freestyle with a winning-time of 46.43 seconds while behind him, Foreback (46.72 seconds), Stewart (47.09 seconds), George Wang (47.25 seconds), Leary (47.35 seconds) and Owen Dy (48.79 seconds) finished in order between third and seventh place.

In the 100 backstroke, Lane (50.80 seconds), Settembrine (50.96 seconds), Card (51.93 seconds), James Pastore (52.08 seconds), McIntire (52.70 seconds) and Connor Brown (53.55 seconds) finished in order between second and seventh place.

Venos earned the win with a time of 55.22 seconds in the 100 breaststroke, and was followed by Assalone (56.70 seconds) in third, Jones (57.17 seconds) in fourth, Ricciardi (57.32 seconds) in fifth and Josh Thomas (58.28 seconds) in seventh.

For the 300 freestyle, Conrads (2:40.08) finished second, Distenfeld (2:41.37) finished third, Patrick Madden (2:41.48) finished fourth, Myaard (2:41.53) finished fifth, Luke Landis (2:48.34) finished seventh, Max Hutson-Comeaux (2:49.09) finished eighth and Thomas (2:49.44) finished ninth.

Song won the 50 butterfly with a finish of 22.49 seconds.

Then in the 100 IM, Kurlich (49.54 seconds) picked up his second individual win of the day while Daly (50.50 seconds) was second, Soja (52.16 seconds) was fourth, Conrads (52.75 seconds) was sixth, Chimes (52.77 seconds) was seventh and Madden (53.03 seconds) was ninth.

Denison finished things up in the pool by sweeping the top-three positions in the 100 freestyle relay. The Big Red "B" team of Leary, Narcelles, Venos and Foreback finished first with a time of 37.60 seconds while the "A" team of Stewart, Lane, Daly and Kurlich was second at 37.75 seconds and the "D" team of McIntire, Assalone, Song and Soja was third at 39.30 seconds.

Nick Fogle won the 1-meter diving competition with a provisional regional qualifying score of 280.05 while Kristian Kowalski was third at 271.20. Then in the 3-meter dive, Brendan Stanley (298.35) earned a provisional regional qualifying score while he and Kowalski (283.43) finished back-to-back in second and third place, respectively.

Denison returns to action at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 8, with the first of four days at the 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference Championship at the Trumbull Aquatics Center.
 

Senior Day Recap:

Eric Chimes is a four-year team member from Broadview Heights, Ohio. He is a six-time All-American, a three-time All-NCAC performer, including twice in the 400 IM in 2020 and 2022, and earned a conference championship in the 200 fly in 2022 as well. Chimes was a 2020 and 2022 Denison national team member, and was a 2022 CSCAA Scholar All-American.

Brendan Downey is a five-year team member, diver and senior captain from Avon, Connecticut. In 2022, Downey was a NCAA Diving Regional qualifier and a Denison national team member before earning All-American honors in the 1-meter dive with a score of 415.60 at the NCAA National Championship. Following Denison's season-opener this year, Downey earned NCAC Athlete of the Week honors for the first time in his career after sweeping both of the diving events at the Akron Zips Classic. He is also a member of the Denison's Sports Career Exploration Club.

Kristian Kowalski is a two-year team member and diver from Mansfield, Ohio. He was a 2022 NCAA Diving Regional qualifier and placed 10th with a score of 421.45 in the 1-meter dive.

Richie Kurlich is a five-year team member and senior captain from Kent, Ohio. He is a 16-time All-American, including four times in the 200 breast, and is a six-time All-NCAC performer, including twice in the 200 breast. He earned three conference championship in 2022, doing so in the 100 IM, the 200 breast and the 400 medley relay. Kurlich has earned four NCAC Athlete of the Week awards in his career, including doing so this season after his performance at the Denison Invitational. He has been a Denison national team member in 2019, 2020 & 2022, and was a 2021 & 2022 CSCAA Scholar All-American.

Luke Landis is a three-year team member and senior captain from Upper Arlington, Ohio. He earned All-American honors in the 500 free and the 1,650 free in 2021, was all-conference in both events in 2022, and earned an NCAC Championship in the 1,650 free last year as well before going on compete with the Big Red at nationals. On campus, Landis is a member of Denison's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (DSAAC) and Mission34 Chapter.

Aidan Lane is a four-year team member and senior captain from Barrington, Rhode Island. He was a 2022 CSCAA Scholar All-American and a 2021-22 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee. He was also named a Denison Top-50 Scholar-Athlete and a member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in both 2019-20 and 2021-22.

Patrick Madden is a four-year team member from Richmond, Virginia. He earned four All-American honors in 2021 and was also a 2021 CSCAA Scholar All-American. At the 2020 NCAC Championship, Patrick finished in third place to earn all-conference honors in the 200 back with a time of 1:49.52. On campus, he works for Denison's on-campus radio station, the Doobie, is a Writing Center Consultant, and is also a CA for the Residential Community.

David Niehaus is a four-year team member from Milford, Ohio. He is the swim ambassador for Mission34 who also does breast cancer research for the Denison biology department and recently received the Biology Department's Annual Research Award.
 

NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Richie Kurlich – 100 butterfly – 47.87
Nick Fogle – 1-meter diving – 280.05
Brendan Stanley – 3-meter diving – 298.35
 
Final Results