GRANVILLE, Ohio (November 4, 2023) – The No. 7-ranked Denison University men's swimming & diving team got four event wins, including two from Liam Nelson in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 breaststroke, but it was not enough to hold off No. 2 Kenyon College as the Owls put together a furious comeback at the end and pulled out the win on the final event. In the end, the Owls earned a very close 151-147 win over the Big Red in the two team's annual dual meet on Saturday inside the Trumbull Aquatics Center.

Denison started things off with three of the top-four times in the 200 medley relay as the group of Nicholas Settembrine, Elijah Venos, Christian Narcelles and Richie Stewart finished second with a time of 1:33.39. Following was Emmett Harmon, Nelson, Max Soja and Luke Dauer in third with a time of 1:34.37 while Devin Testin, Teak Rommaneekochchakorn, Dylan Escano and Patrick Daly were fourth at 1:34.80.

Then in the first individual event, Denison took four of the top-five spots as Lucas Conrads picked up with win with a time of 9:41.94 while Sam Myaard (9:44.88) was second, Luke Landis (9:52.85) was fourth and Tyler Distenfeld (9:55.51) was fifth.

That gave Denison its first lead at 21-15, and then the Big Red finished 2-4 in the 200 freestyle as Christian McIntire (1:42.85) was second, Cameron Noble (1:43.25) was third and Narcelles (1:44.81) was fourth.

Settembrine (52.11), Testin (52.28), Harmon (53.67) and Luke Swiggett (53.88) finished in order between second and fifth place, respectively, in the 100 backstroke.

Following the 100 breaststroke in which Denison took each of the top-four times, the Big Red opened up a 17-point lead (55-38) over the Owls. Nelson won the event with a time of 56.37 seconds while Venos was second at 57.89 seconds, Rommaneekochchakorn was third at 58.15 seconds, and Gavin Jones was fourth at 58.21 seconds.

Max Lough and Escano finished back-to-back in second and third place with times of 1:54.47 and 1:54.60, respectively, in the 200 butterfly while Soja added a fifth-place time at 1:55.73 and Connor Brown was sixth at 1:59.51.

In the 50 freestyle, Stewart took second with a time of 21.63 seconds while Daly was fourth at 21.75 seconds.

Brendan Stanley took second place in the 3-meter dive with a score of 279.98 while Nick Fogle was third at 275.70, helping Denison maintain a seven-point lead (78-71) for the second event in a row.

After a swim break, the two teams got back into the pool for the 100 freestyle as Kenyon was able to tie the meet up at 89-89. For Denison, Noble was second in the 100 freestyle at 47.24 seconds while Daly was fourth at 47.52 seconds.

The Owls then took a 96-91 lead following the 200 backstroke as Testin was second at 1:54.64, Settembrine was fourth at 1:57.18 and Swiggett was fifth at 1:58.55.

Denison was able to retake the lead at 106-100 as Nelson won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:04.91 while Rommaneekochchakorn was second at 2:06.59 and Venos was fourth at 2:07.41.

The Big Red grew their lead to 13 points (119-106) as McIntire won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:39.84 while Myaard was third at 4:44.33, Landis was fifth at 4:47.32, and Distenfeld was sixth at 4:48.09.

Stewart (51.74), Escano (51.80) and Lough (52.08) finished in order between second and fourth place in the 100 butterfly.

Then in the 1-meter dive, Fogle was second with a score of 304.50 while Kristian Kowalski was third at 292.20 and Stanley was fourth at 290.33. All three scores were good for an NCAA Division III provisional regional qualifying score.

In the final individual swim, the 400 IM, Conrads was third with a time of 4:06.13 while Jones was fourth at 4:09.40 and Soja was fifth at 4:11.82. With the top-two spots in the event, Kenyon was able to cut Denison's lead to just five points (143-138) heading into the final event.

Kenyon was able to win the meet on the final event as the Owls won the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:02.92 while Denison's group of Daly, Venos, Stewart and Noble were second at 3:07.25.

The Big Red will return to the pool on Friday, November 10, at Ohio State University.

NCAA Division III Provisional Regional Qualifying Scores (Diving):
Nick Fogle – 1-meter dive – 304.50
Kristian Kowalski – 1-meter dive – 292.20
Brendan Stanley – 1-meter dive – 290.33

Final Results