AKRON, Ohio (October 14, 2023) – Denison University women's swimming & diving closed out the season-opening Akron Zips Classic in fifth place. Denison was the only non-Division I program invited to compete against the likes of Akron, Youngstown State, Xavier, and Bowling Green. Denison totaled 390 points, just eight points behind Youngstown State University with 398 points.

Session 2 - Saturday, Oct. 14 - 10 a.m.

In the 200 freestyle relay, junior Grace Kadlecik, fellow-junior Amber Croonquist, sophomore Phoebe Ferguson and junior Avery Vogen finished in eighth place with a time of 1:38.19. Freshman Liv Chow, junior Maja Palmroos, freshman Olivia Morse and fellow-freshman Jassy Park were 14th at 1:39.37 while senior Natalie English, junior Lauren Richner, fellow-junior Claire Moody and freshman Courtney McKeown were 17th at 1:41.18.

Then in the first individual swimming event of the day, the 400 IM, Chow and senior Esme Wright finished back-to-back in 11th and 12th place with times of 4:35.79 and 4:37.65, respectively. In addition, junior Maria Mrosko (4:42.92) and freshman Erika Schraber (4:43.70) were back-to-back in 19th and 20th place while sophomore Drue Thielking (4:51.22) and senior Rebecca Martin (4:54.27) ended back-to-back in 24th and 25th.

Sophomore Phoebe Ferguson (57.98) and Croonquist (58.00) finished in 17th and 18th place, respectively, in the 100 butterfly while junior Emma Pritchett (58.48) was 22nd.

Sophomore Emily Harris (1:55.63), junior Annie Pfeufer (1:56.35) and sophomore Quinn Brown (1:56.89) finished in order between ninth and 11th place in the 200 freestyle while junior Taryn Wisner (1:58.84) tied for 18th.

In the 100 breaststroke, Thielking had Denison's best finish of the morning session with a seventh-place time of 1:05.64 while freshman Riley Tofflemire was 13th at 1:06.92 and junior Zoe Barclay was 19th at 1:08.71.

In the final swimming event of the morning session, Chow took ninth place with a time of 58.09 seconds in the 100 backstroke while Park (59.62), Kadlecik (59.91) and Moody (59.99) finished in order between 19th and 21st place.

Then in the 3-meter dive (six dives), junior Alexis Radhakrishnan took sixth with a score of 230.30 while fellow-junior Kerstyn Johnson (210.20) added a ninth-place finish and sophomore Lu-Si Minnich (198.50) was top-12.

Session 3 - Saturday, Oct. 14 - 5 p.m.

The final session started with the 200 medley relay as Chow, Thielking, Ferguson and Kadlecik finished eighth with a time of 1:46.64 while right behind them was Park, Tofflemire, Croonquist and Wright in ninth at 1:47.48.

Brown led the Big Red with a seventh-place time of 17:37.22 in the 1650 freestyle while senior Tara Witkowski (17:54.88) was 12th, Schraber (18:18.55) was 16th and sophomore Lucy Hardart (18:23.85) was 17th.

Then in the 200 backstroke, Chow was 11th with a time of 2:06.75 while Moody was 16th at 2:08.27 and Wisner was 18th at 2:09.43.

The 100 freestyle saw Ferguson (53.67) take 14th place while Wright (53.86) was 17th and Pfeufer (54.40) was 23rd.

Thielking was strong in the 200 breaststroke, finishing sixth with a time of 2:22.64 while Barclay was 18th at 2:29.49 and Tofflemire was 21st at 2:30.02.

In the 200 butterfly, Harris (2:08.41) was 10th, Mrosko (2:10.52) was 13th, senior Nikki Barnas (2:10.60) was 14th, senior Kelly Derasmo (2:11.09) was 17th and Pritchett and Croonquist tied for 19th at 2:12.60.

In the final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay, Wright, Ferguson, Vogen and Pfeufer led the Big Red with a 12th-place time of 3:36.16. Next was Chow, Kadlecik, Morse and Brown in 14th at 3:37.79 while Moody, Park, Palmroos and Harris were 17th at 3:40.62.

Denison returns to action in two weeks to host its first home meet of the 2022-23 season against Xavier University. The action will start at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 28, inside the Trumbull Aquatics Center.
 
Akron Zips Classic Final Results: