GRANVILLE, Ohio (January 28, 2023) – The No. 4 Denison University women's swimming & diving team earned a first-place finish in all 14 events in the pool to take down both Ohio Wesleyan University (254-34) and Youngstown State University (223-77) in dominating fashion during their double dual meet on Senior Day at the Trumbull Aquatics Center. Denison also earned seven NCAA Division III National "B" cut times by seven different athletes, and swept the top-three spots in 10 different events.

Senior Tara Culibrk led Denison with individual wins in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle to go along with wins in both relay events. Amber Croonquist earned the win in both the 50 butterfly and the 100 butterfly, Claire Moody was first in both the 50 backstroke and the 100 backstroke, Drue Thielking won both the 50 breaststroke and the 100 breaststroke, and Quinn Brown won both the 300 freestyle and the 500 freestyle.

Denison started off the meet by taking each of the top-three spots in the 100 medley relay as the Big Red "A" team of Christina Crane, Thielking, Phoebe Ferguson and Culibrk finished in first place with a time of 47.33 seconds. They were followed by the Denison "B" team (Moody, Esme Wright, Croonquist, Grace Kadlecik) taking second at 47.55 seconds and the "D" team (Sophie Kannee, Savannah Sargent, Emma Berdelman, Lauren Young) in third at 48.22 seconds.

The Big Red then swept the top-three spots in the first individual event as well, the 500 freestyle, as Brown took home the win with a "B" cut time of 4:56.08 and was followed by Tara Witkowski with a "B" cut time herself at 4:59.41 while Nikki Barnas was third at 5:14.85.

Denison continued its hot start by taking each of the top-four positions in the 200 freestyle, led by Taryn Wisner in first place with a "B" cut time of 1:51.49 and followed by Annie Pfeufer (1:52.87) in second, Ali Burns (1:54.51) in third and Lucy Hardart (1:56.02) in fourth.

Moody (26.93 seconds) and Crane (27.19 seconds) finished back-to-back in first and second place in the 50 backstroke, while Kannee (27.47 seconds) and Lauren Richner (27.55 seconds) finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Thielking won the 50 breaststroke with a first-place time of 29.73 seconds while Zoe Barclay (30.49 seconds) was fourth and Sargent (30.54 seconds) was fifth.

The Big Red racked up each of the top-four and six of the top-seven spots in the 100 butterfly as Croonquist was first with a "B" cut time of 55.38 seconds while Emma Pritchett was second and earned a "B" cut as well at 55.81 seconds. Next was Ferguson (56.69 seconds) in third, Berdelman (56.94 seconds) in fourth, Maria Mrosko (57.71 seconds) in sixth and Caroline Cavalier (57.89 seconds) in seventh place.

In the 50 freestyle, Culibrk was the winner with a time of 23.47 seconds and was followed by Kadlecik (23.73 seconds), Natalie English (24.00 seconds), Maja Palmroos (24.03 seconds) and Young (24.15 seconds) as Denison swept each of the top-five positions.

In the 100 freestyle, Culibrk (50.67 seconds) was first again with a "B" cut, followed by English (53.04 seconds) in second, Pfeufer (53.17 seconds) in third and Young (53.67 seconds) in fourth.

Moody won the 100 backstroke with a "B' cut time of 56.30 seconds while Richner (58.91 seconds) was third and Burns (58.92 seconds) was fourth.

Thielking won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.77 while Sargent (1:05.79) was third, Barclay (1:06.59) was fifth and Wright (1:07.39) was sixth.

The 300 freestyle was won by Brown (2:52.15), who led a group of five Big Red swimmers in the top-six as Wisner (2:52.65) was second, Witkowski (2:55.73) was third, Hardart (3:01.98) was fifth and Barnas (3:02.24) was sixth.

In the 50 butterfly, Croonquist (25.14 seconds) took home the win while Ferguson (25.40 seconds) was second, Palmroos (25.50 seconds) was third, Pritchett (26.18 seconds) was tied for fifth, Cavalier (26.44 seconds) was seventh and Kayla Tehrani (26.48 seconds) was eighth.

In the final individual event in the pool, the 100 IM, Sargent (59.33 seconds) took home the win while Wright (59.54 seconds) was second, Berdelman (59.55 seconds) was third, Rebecca Martin (59.68 seconds) was fourth, Mrosko (1:00.76) was sixth, Tehrani (1:01.28) was seventh and Thielking (1:01.66) was ninth.

The Big Red took each of the top-four spots in the 100 freestyle relay, led by the Denison "A" team consisting of Culibrk, Kadlecik, Ferguson and Croonquist with a time of 42.46 seconds. Next was the "B" team of English, Young, Pfeufer and Wright in second with a time of 43.40 seconds, followed by the "C" team of Brown, Palmroos, Richner and Berdelman in third at 43.79 seconds and the "E" team of Cavalier, Burns, Mrosko and Tehrani in fourth at 44.97 seconds.

On the diving boards, Kerstyn Johnson (259.20) and LuSi Minnich (251.40) finished back-to-back in second and third place, respectively, in the 3-meter dive, while in the 1-meter dive, Johnson took third with a score of 244.95.

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:

Emma Berdelman is a four-year team member and senior captain from Edina, Minnesota. She earned All-American honors in the 200 IM in 2021 and was a Denison national team member in 2022. Berdelman was a 2021 CSCAA Scholar All-American as well as a 2021-22 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee. She is also a member of Denison's Mission34 chapter.

Christina Crane is a three-year team member and senior captain from Evergreen, Colorado. She earned four All-American honors in 2022 and was a three-time All-NCAC performer and Denison national team member in 2022. Crane is a two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American and a two-time member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll, and was also a 2021-22 Denison Chi-Alpha Sigma inductee.

Tara Culibrk is a four-year team member and senior captain from Belgrade, Serbia. She is a nine-time All-American, including twice in the 100 free, 200 free and the 500 free. Culibrk is a five-time All-NCAC performer, including twice in the 200 free, and earned a conference championship in the 800 free relay in 2020. She was a 2020 and 2022 Denison national team member, is a two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American and a two-time member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll, and was a 2021-22 Denison Chi-Alpha Sigma inductee.

Savannah Sargent is a four-year team member and senior captain from Victor, New York. She is a three-time All-American, including twice in the 400 IM in 2020 and 2021. Sargent was a Denison national team member in both 2020 and 2022, is a two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American and a two-time member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll, and was also a 2021-22 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee.

Taylor Trapp is a four-year team member and diver from Lexington, Kentucky. She was chosen by the HESS department to receive the R.J. Mullen Sports Medicine Scholarship Award.

Lauren Young is a three-year team member from Chantilly, Virginia. She was a member of the Denison national team and was also a CSCAA Scholar All-American in 2022. Young was also a 2021-22 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee and is a two-time member of the NCAC Honor Roll.
 
NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Quinn Brown – 500 freestyle – 4:56.08
Tara Witkowski – 500 freestyle – 4:59.41
Taryn Wisner – 200 freestyle – 1:51.49
Amber Croonquist – 100 butterfly – 55.38
Emma Pritchett – 100 butterfly – 55.81
Tara Culibrk – 100 freestyle – 50.67
Claire Moody – 100 backstroke – 56.30
 
Final Results