GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 18, 2023) – 22 years after capturing the first national championship in school history back in 2001, the Denison University women's swimming & diving team is finally back at the top of the mountain after being crowned as the 2023 NCAA Division III National Champions on Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

The Big Red led the meet from wire-to-wire and entered the final day of competition with a 58.5-pont lead over second-place Emory University. With five events remaining on the schedule, Denison would not let up and never saw its lead shrink to a margin lower than where it started the day. In the end, the Big Red ended the meet with 464.5 points, beating out Emory (385) by 79.5 points and Kenyon College (383) by 81.5 points.

In the 1,650 freestyle, Denison got some big points from Taryn Wisner (16:40.24) in second place, Tara Witkowski (16:45.27) in third place and Quinn Brown (17:10.65) in 11th place. Kristin Cornish of Johns Hopkins University earned her second straight national title in the event with a time of 16:29.78. It was the third First-Team All-American certificate earned this year for both Wisner (500 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle) and Witkowski (500 freestyle, 400 IM, 1,650 freestyle), and was the second Second-Team All-American finish for Brown (500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle) as a freshman. It was also the third individual national runner-up finish for Wisner this year and was the second third-place finish for Witkowski.

In the first event prelims swim of day four, Tara Culibrk finished first with a great time of 49.86 seconds in the 100 freestyle while Phoebe Ferguson was 11th at 51.21 seconds. In the B Final, Ferguson finished 15th at 51.50 seconds while in the A Final, Culibrk finished in third place with a time of 49.88 seconds. For Culibrk, it was her third top-three performance (50 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 100 freestyle) as a senior while for Ferguson, it was her second 15th-place finish (100 butterfly, 100 freestyle) as a freshman.

In the 200 backstroke, Claire Moody (2:01.45) and Emily Harris (2:02.20) finished in ninth and 14th place, respectively, to both qualify for the B Final. In the finals, however, Harris remained in 14th place with a time of 2:03.35 while Moody finished 16th at 2:03.72. Harris earned three total individual All-American certificates (500 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 200 backstroke) as a freshman.

The Big Red then had three swimmers qualify for the finals in the 200 breaststroke as Drue Thielking (2:16.12) qualified for the A Final in sixth place while Savannah Sargent (2:17.48) and Christina Crane (2:17.50) finished back-to-back in 13th and 14th place to qualify for the B Final.

In the B Final, Crane (2:16.76) moved up to third place (11th overall) while Sargent (2:18.89) finished 15th overall. Then in the A Final, Thielking remained in sixth place with a time of 2:16.50. Thieking earned two All-American certificates (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke) as a freshman while Crane (200 IM, 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke) earned three as a senior and Sargent (400 IM, 200 breaststroke) also had two as a senior.

In the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, Denison's group of Amber Croonquist, Ferguson, Grace Kadlecik and Culibrk finished first with a time of 3:23.74 in the prelims. The national-championship performance by the Big Red was then capped off with a third-place finish (3:21.82) in the finals by Culibrk, Ferguson, Esme Wright and Croonquist.

Over the course of the championship, Denison totaled one national title in the 800 freestyle relay, 37 All-American performances (32 ind., 5 relay) and 21 top-eight finishes (16 ind., 5 relay). 17 student-athletes earned at least one individual All-American certificate for the Big Red, led by Culibrk (3 First-Team), Wisner (3 First-Team), Witkowski (3 First-Team), Crane (1 First-Team) and Harris (1 First-Team) each with three.

In the post-meet awards ceremony, Denison head coach Gregg Parini was named the NCAA Division III Women's Swimming Coach of the Year for the fifth time overall and for the first time since 2001.
 


First-Team All-Americans (Top-8):
Taryn Wisner – 2nd place in the 1,650 freestyle – 16:40.24
Tara Witkowski – 3rd place in the 1,650 freestyle – 16:45.27
Tara Culibrk – 3rd place in the 100 freestyle – 49.88
Drue Thielking – 6th place in the 200 breaststroke – 2:16.50
Tara Culibrk, Phoebe Ferguson, Esme Wright and Amber Croonquist – 3rd place in the 400 freestyle relay – 3:21.82
 
Second-Team All-Americans (Top-16):
Quinn Brown – 11th place in the 1,650 freestyle – 17:10.65
Phoebe Ferguson – 15th place in the 100 freestyle – 51.50
Emily Harris – 14th place in the 200 backstroke – 2:03.35
Claire Moody – 16th place in the 200 backstroke – 2:03.72
Christina Crane – 11th place in the 200 breaststroke – 2:16.76
Savannah Sargent – 15th place in the 200 breaststroke – 2:18.89
 
Day Four Results
Final Results