GRANVILLE, Ohio (February 9, 2023) – Denison University logged two event wins on Thursday night at the 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference Championship. Through seven of 21 events, Denison sits in first place with 746 points. Kenyon College is second with 613.5 points while positions 3-5 are occupied by DePauw University (388.5), the College of Wooster (305) and Oberlin College (299).

Denison got the night started off with a bang as Taryn Wisner (4:49.12), Tara Witkowski (4:51.19), Quinn Brown (4:55.84) and Annie Pfeufer (4:57.67) swept the top-four spots in the 500 freestyle, all with NCAA Division III National "B" cut times. That gave the Big Red a 351-350 lead over Kenyon following the first individual swimming final of this year's championship.

Then in the 200 IM, Denison put seven swimmers into the "A" final as Christina Crane (2:02.88) and Savannah Sargent (2:02.92) both earned all-conference honors with second and third-place finishes, respectively, while Phoebe Ferguson (2:03.35) was fourth, Esme Wright (2:04.78) was sixth, Emma Berdelman (2:05.81) was seventh, Maria Mrosko (2:07.41) was eighth and Drue Thielking (2:08.66) was ninth. The times for Crane, Sargent, Ferguson, Wright and Berdelman were all good for National "B" cuts as the Big Red's lead over the Owls grew to 543-435.

Tara Culibrk then finished second in the 50 freestyle with a "B" cut time of 23.15 seconds while Amber Croonquist (23.27) and Grace Kadlecik (23.36) finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively, both with "B" cut times as well. That helped Denison's lead expand to 124.5 points (676-551.5) over Kenyon with just the 200 freestyle relay remaining, in which Croonquist, Kadlecik, Ferguson and Culibrk won first place with a "B" cut time of 1:31.48. Kenyon was second at 1:31.84.

Denison returns to the Trumbull Aquatics Center on Friday, February 10, for day three of the 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships with preliminaries starting at 9:30 a.m. followed by finals at 6 p.m. Day three of the conference meet will feature the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 400 medley relay and the women's 1-meter dive.
 
NCAC Championships:
Taryn Wisner – 500 freestyle – 4:49.12
Amber Croonquist, Grace Kadlecik, Phoebe Ferguson, Tara Culibrk – 200 freestyle relay – 1:31.48
 
All-NCAC Performances (Top-3):
Taryn Wisner – first place in the 500 freestyle – 4:49.12
Tara Witkowski – second place in the 500 freestyle – 4:51.19
Quinn Brown – third place in the 500 freestyle – 4:55.84
Christina Crane – second place in the 200 IM – 2:02.88
Savannah Sargent – third place in the 200 IM – 2:02.92
Tara Culibrk – second place in the 50 freestyle – 23.15
Amber Croonquist, Grace Kadlecik, Phoebe Ferguson, Tara Culibrk – first place in the 200 freestyle relay – 1:31.48
 
NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Taryn Wisner – 500 freestyle finals – 4:49.12
Taryn Wisner – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:51.06
Tara Witkowski – 500 freestyle finals – 4:51.19
Tara Witkowski – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:54.65
Quinn Brown – 500 freestyle finals – 4:55.84
Quinn Brown – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:57.92
Annie Pfeufer – 500 freestyle finals – 4:57.67
Annie Pfeufer – 500 freestyle prelims – 4:59.89
Christina Crane – 200 IM finals – 2:02.88
Christina Crane – 200 IM prelims – 2:02.14
Savannah Sargent – 200 IM finals – 2:02.92
Savannah Sargent – 200 IM prelims – 2:03.85
Phoebe Ferguson – 200 IM finals – 2:03.35
Phoebe Ferguson – 200 IM prelims – 2:05.38
Esme Wright – 200 IM finals – 2:04.78
Esme Wright – 200 IM prelims – 2:06.17
Emma Berdelman – 200 IM finals – 2:05.81
Emma Berdelman – 200 IM prelims – 2:05.03
Tara Culibrk – 50 freestyle finals – 23.15
Tara Culibrk – 50 freestyle prelims – 23.55
Amber Croonquist – 50 freestyle finals – 23.27
Amber Croonquist – 50 freestyle prelims – 23.41
Grace Kadlecik – 50 freestyle finals – 23.36
Grace Kadlecik – 50 freestyle prelims – 23.58
Natalie English – 50 freestyle prelims – 23.60
Amber Croonquist, Grace Kadlecik, Phoebe Ferguson, Tara Culibrk – 200 freestyle relay – 1:31.48
Kelly Derasmo, Lauren Young, Maja Palmroos, Lauren Richer – 200 freestyle relay – 1:35.10
Rebecca Martin – 200 IM time trial – 2:04.82
 
Day Two Results