GRANVILLE, Ohio (February 11, 2023) – The Denison University men's swimming & diving team won four events on Saturday night at the 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference Championship and placed second in the team standings with 1,912.5 points. Kenyon College took home the team title with 2,029.5 points.

The final night started off with a victory by Lucas Conrads in the 1,650 freestyle with an NCAA Division III National "B" cut time of 15:29.90. Sam Myaard earned his second straight third-place finish in the event with a National "B" cut time of 15:40.02 and Tyler Distenfeld finished in sixth place with a "B" cut time of 15:58.56.

The big splash of the night then came in the 100 IM as Richie Kurlich set a new NCAA Division III National record with his winning time of 48.99 seconds, which broke his own NCAC record of 50.19 seconds set at last year's conference championships. Christian Narcelles also earned an all-conference certificate in the 100 IM with a time of 51.02 seconds to take third place, but Kenyon took the lead over the Big Red by six points (1,428.5-1,422.5) in the team standings.

In the 200 backstroke, Nick Settembrine and Christian McIntire finished back-to-back in fourth and fifth place, respectively, with times of 1:50.97 and 1:53.28 while Kenyon swept the podium and increased its lead to 45 points (1,524.5-1,479.5). Kenyon then swept the podium again in the 100 freestyle to increase its advantage to 120 points (1,648.5-1,528.5). For Denison, Richie Stewart (46.35) was eighth while Aidan Lane (46.92) was ninth in the 100 freestyle.

Denison took a big chunk out of Kenyon's lead by sweeping the top-four spots in the 200 breaststroke. After Kurlich finished first and set a new Denison varsity record and NCAC record time of 1:58.00 in the prelims, the win in the finals went to Elijah Venos with a time of 1:58.27 while Kurlich (1:58.45) was second, Patrick Daly (2:00.08) was third and Gavin Jones (2:01.43) was fourth. The quartet of National "B" cuts helped Denison cut Kenyon's lead down by more than half, down from 120 points to 51 points (1,729.5-1,678.5), with three events to go.

In the 200 butterfly, Eric Chimes brought home the conference title for the second year in a row with a National "B" cut time of 1:47.24 while Max Soja was third with a National "B" cut as well of 1:48.74. The Big Red added a seventh-place finish from Ryan Foreback (1:52.78) to help Denison trim its margin to 47 points (1816.5-1769.5) with two events remaining.

However, any hopes that Denison had to win the team championship came to an end after Kenyon swept the top-four spots on the 3-meter diving board to take a 109-point lead (1,959.5-1,850.5) into the final event. For Denison on the 3-meter diving board, Brendan Downey (485.20) finished in fifth place, Kristian Kowalski (483.70) was sixth and Nick Fogle (473.40) was seventh, each with an NCAA Division III provisional regional qualifying score.

Lastly, in the 400 freestyle relay, Denison's team of Venos, Daly, Stewart and Kurlich finished in second place with a National "B" cut time of 2:59.21 while Kenyon took the win with a pool record of 2:55.50.

Over the course of the four-day meet, Denison totaled six event wins by five different athletes, and posted 27 all-conference finishes. Elijah Venos earned two NCAC Championships with wins in the 100 breaststroke on Friday and the 200 breaststroke on Saturday.
 
NCAC Championships:
Lucas Conrads – 1,650 freestyle – 15:29.90
Richie Kurlich – 100 IM – 48.99
Elijah Venos – 200 breaststroke – 1:58.27
Eric Chimes – 200 butterfly – 1:47.24
 
All-NCAC Performances (Top-3):
Lucas Conrads – first place in the 1,650 freestyle – 15:29.90
Sam Myaard – third place in the 1,650 freestyle – 15:40.02
Richie Kurlich – first place in the 100 IM – 48.99
Christian Narcelles – third place in the 100 IM – 51.02
Elijah Venos – first place in the 200 breaststroke – 1:58.27
Richie Kurlich – second place in the 200 breaststroke – 1:58.45
Patrick Daly – third place in the 200 breaststroke – 2:00.08
Eric Chimes – first place in the 200 butterfly – 1:47.24
Max Soja – third place in the 200 butterfly – 1:48.74
Elijah Venos, Patrick Daly, Richie Stewart, Richie Kurlich – second place in the 400 freestyle relay – 2:59.21
 
NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Lucas Conrads – 1,650 freestyle finals – 15:29.90
Sam Myaard – 1,650 freestyle finals – 15:40.02
Tyler Distenfeld – 1,650 freestyle finals – 15:58.56
Elijah Venos – 200 breaststroke finals – 1:58.27
Elijah Venos – 200 breaststroke prelims – 2:00.16
Richie Kurlich – 200 breaststroke finals – 1:58.45
Richie Kurlich – 200 breaststroke prelims – 1:58.00
Patrick Daly – 200 breaststroke finals – 2:00.08
Patrick Daly – 200 breaststroke prelims – 2:01.75
Gavin Jones – 200 breaststroke finals – 2:01.43
Gavin Jones – 200 breaststroke prelims – 2:02.14
Eric Chimes – 200 butterfly finals – 1:47.24
Eric Chimes – 200 butterfly prelims – 1:47.55
Max Soja – 200 butterfly finals – 1:48.74
Max Soja – 200 butterfly prelims – 1:47.82
Brendan Downey – 3-meter diving finals – 485.20
Kristian Kowalski – 3-meter diving finals – 483.70
Kristian Kowalski – 3-meter diving prelims – 462.15
Nick Fogle – 3-meter diving finals – 473.40
Nick Fogle – 3-meter diving prelims – 456.60
Brendan Stanley – 3-meter diving prelims – 444.35
Elijah Venos, Patrick Daly, Richie Stewart, Richie Kurlich – 400 freestyle relay – 2:59.21
 
Day Four Results
Full Meet Results