GRANVILLE, Ohio (November 30, 2023) – No. 2 Denison University women's swimming currently sits atop the leaderboard following the first day of action at the Fifth Annual Denison Invitational hosted at the Trumbull Aquatics Center in Granville.

The Big Red finished day one with wins in the 200 freestyle relay and the 50 freestyle and totaled 26 NCAA Division III National "B" cuts between both the prelims and the finals en route to putting together a first-day total of 603.5 points. The University of Indianapolis, the No. 3 nationally-ranked team in NCAA Division II, sits in second place with 419.5 points while Emory University, the No. 1-ranked team in Division III, is third with 398.5 points. NCAA Division I Eastern Michigan University is fourth with 303.5 points, followed by the No. 17-ranked team in Division III, Washington University in St. Louis, in fifth place with 206 points and Emroy & Henry College in sixth with 82 points.

Phoebe Ferguson, Amber Croonquist, Maja Palmroos and Esme Wright finished first in the 200 freestyle relay prelims with an NCAA Division III National "B" cut time of 1:33.49. Then in the finals, it was Croonquist, Grace Kadlecik, Ferguson and Wright combining to win the event with a "B" cut time of 1:33.18. In addition, Olivia Morse, Palmroos, Natalie English and Liv Chow finished in fourth place in the finals with a "B" cut time of their own at 1:34.74.

Denison took each of the top-four spots in the 500 freestyle prelims as Quinn Brown (4:54.09) was first, Taryn Wisner (4:56.10) was second, Tara Witkowski (4:56.28) was third and Emily Harris (4:56.99) was fourth. However, in the finals, Witkowski came in second place with a time of 4:53.33 while Brown was third at 4:53.84, Harris was fifth at 4:56.18 and Wisner was seventh at 4:57.92. All eight times were good for a National "B" cut. The winner from UIndy was Andrea Gomez Espinosa with a time of 4:52.79, but the Big Red still led 223-161 over the Greyhounds after two events.

Denison earned five of the top-six finishers in the 200 IM prelims as Chow (2:04.25) was second, Wright (2:04.52) was third, Jassy Park (2:05.13) was fourth, Ferguson (2:05.53) was fifth and Drue Thielking (2:06.30) was sixth. The Big Red proceeded to pick up some big points in the finals with four of the top-five finishers as Chow was second at 2:02.59 while Wright was third at 2:03.58 and Ferguson was fourth at 2:05.16. Each of those three times were good for a National "B" cut. Also for Denison, Thielking was fifth at 2:05.90 and Park was eighth at 2:07.02 while the winner from UIndy was Celina Schmidt with a time of 2:01.01. Denison's lead grew to 416-280.5 over Emory while UIndy dropped to third place with 207 points despite picking up the win in each of the first two individual events of the meet.

Then in the third and final individual event of day one, Kadlecik finished first in the 50 freestyle prelims with a "B" cut time of 23.19 seconds before keeping it going with a win in the finals and another "B" cut time of 23.29 seconds. Croonquist tied for third place in the finals with a "B" cut of 23.54 seconds while Palmroos was eighth at 23.86 seconds. That expanded Denison's lead to 192 points (541.5-349.5) over UIndy heading into the final event of day one.

After Park, Riley Tofflemire, Emma Pritchett and English finished second in the 400 medley relay prelims with a "B" cut time of 3:48.19, the group of Park, Tofflemire, Croonquist and Wright again finished second in the finals, this time with another "B" cut time of 3:44.46.

Denison returns to the Trumbull Aquatics Center on Friday, December 1, for preliminaries at 10 a.m. followed by finals at 6 p.m.
 
NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Amber Croonquist, Grace Kadlecik, Phoebe Ferguson and Esme Wright – 200 freestyle relay finals – 1:33.18
Olivia Morse, Maja Palmroos, Natalie English, Liv Chow – 200 freestyle relay finals – 1:34.74
Phoebe Ferguson, Amber Croonquist, Maja Palmroos and Esme Wright – 200 freestyle relay prelims – 1:33.49
Jassy Park, Liv Chow, Natalie English and Olivia Morse – 200 freestyle relay prelims – 1:34.67
Tara Witkowski – 500 freestyle finals – 4:53.33
Tara Witkowski – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:56.28
Quinn Brown – 500 freestyle finals – 4:53.84
Quinn Brown – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:54.09
Emily Harris – 500 freestyle finals – 4:56.18
Emily Harris – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:56.99
Taryn Wisner – 500 freestyle finals – 4:57.92
Taryn Wisner – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:56.10
Annie Pfeufer – 500 freestyle finals – 4:59.87
Liv Chow – 200 IM finals – 2:02.59
Liv Chow – 200 IM prelims – 2:04.25
Esme Wright – 200 IM finals – 2:03.58
Esme Wright – 200 IM prelims – 2:04.52
Phoebe Ferguson – 200 IM finals – 2:05.16
Phoebe Ferguson – 200 IM prelims – 2:05.53
Jassy Park – 200 IM prelims – 2:05.13
Grace Kadlecik – 50 freestyle finals – 23.29
Grace Kadlecik – 50 freestyle prelims – 23.19
Amber Croonquist – 50 freestyle finals – 23.54
Amber Croonquist – 50 freestyle prelims – 23.53
Jassy Park, Riley Tofflemire, Amber Croonquist and Esme Wright – 400 medley relay finals – 3:44.46
Jassy Park, Riley Tofflemire, Emma Pritchett and Natalie English – 400 medley relay prelims – 3:48.19
 
Fifth Annual Denison Invitational Thursday Final Results
Fifth Annual Denison Invitational Thursday Prelim Results