GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 16, 2023) – At the halfway point of the 2023 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championship, the Denison University men find themselves in 10th place in the team standings with 71 points. Washington University in St. Louis is in ninth place with 82 points, 11 points ahead of the Big Red, who lead Bates College (69) by just two points in 11th place.

After not reaching the final in the 200 freestyle relay during the first event of day two, Denison turned its attention to the 400 IM prelims, where Lucas Conrads (3:56.11; 11th place) and Gavin Jones (3:56.54; 13th place) both qualified for the B Final.

Conrads then remained 11th in the finals with a time of 3:55.45 to earn his second Second-Team All-American honor of the meet (500 freestyle, 400 IM) while Jones finished 14th at 3:58.08.

Unfortunately, the Big Red did not have anybody advance to the finals in the 100 butterfly or the 200 freestyle for the second year in a row. Josh Song was 36th in the 100 butterfly at 49.34 seconds while in the 200 freestyle, Tyler Distenfeld (1:40.39) was 25th and Sam Myaard (1:40.46) was 27th.

On the 1-meter diving board, Kristian Kowalski finished 10th in the prelims with 442.60 points before ending up 14th in the finals with a score of 432.80. Kowalski twice earned a score of 52.80 points on an inward 1 1/2 somersault pike (403B) on his sixth dive in the prelims and his first dive in the finals.

Senior Brendan Downey was 17th in the prelims with 420.90 points and a best dive of 54.60 points on his forward 2 1/2 somersault pike (105B) on his sixth attempt.

Denison's 400 medley relay team of Shea Card, Elijah Venos, Richie Kurlich and Patrick Daly finished in sixth place with a time of 3:15.10 in the prelims before ending up eighth at 3:16.40 in the finals.

After capturing five of six national championships on Thursday, including both relays and the one-meter dive with a new NCAA record of 602.00 points by Israel Zavaleta, Kenyon College leads Emory University 282.5-257.5 atop the leaderboard.

Denison will return to the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Friday to compete in the 200 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and the 800 free relay. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. with finals starting at 6 p.m.

First-Team All-Americans (Top-8):
Shea Card, Elijah Venos, Richie Kurlich and Patrick Daly – 8th place in the 400 medley relay – 3:16.40
 
Second-Team All-Americans (Top-16):
Lucas Conrads – 11th place in the 400 IM – 3:55.45
Gavin Jones – 14th place in the 400 IM – 3:58.08
Kristian Kowalski – 14th place on the 1-meter diving board – 432.80
 
Day Two Results