GRANVILLE, Ohio (February 16, 2024) – The Denison University men never fell out of first place during day three and now hold a narrow 10-point lead heading into the final day of competition at the 2024 North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championship. The Big Red logged two more event wins and nine all-conference performances on Friday to sit in first place with 1,293 points while Kenyon College trails in second place with 1,283 points.

Dylan Escano led the Big Red with a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly after swimming an NCAA Division III National "B" cut time of 48.73 seconds. He was followed by Christian Narcelles (49.90) in fifth, Richie Stewart (50.93) in seventh and Liam Nelson (51.30) in ninth.

Then in the 400 IM, Gavin Jones (3:56.89), Connor Brown (3:58.33), Lucas Conrads (3:58.54) and Max Soja (3:58.92) each swam a National "B" cut and finished in order between third place and sixth place.

Denison's lead then grew to 100 points (1,018-918) after seeing Tyler Distenfeld win the 200 freestyle with a "B" cut time of 1:38.36. Distenfeld was followed by Sam Myaard (1:39.30) with an all-conference finish in third place and a "B" cut of his own while Christian McIntire (1:39.85) was fifth and Ryan Foreback (1:40.98) made it four Big Red swimmers in the top-seven.

One of the highlights of the night was Elijah Venos winning the conference title in the 100 breaststroke for the second year in a row and setting both a "B" cut and a new NCAC record of 53.63 seconds in the process. That broke the previous record of 53.93 seconds set by former Big Red swimmer Richie Kurlich just a year ago.

Venos was followed in the 100 breaststroke by Patrick Daly (54.12) in second place and Nelson (55.54) in fourth, both with "B" cuts as well.

Denison's lead shrank to just 21 points (1,170-1,149) after Kenyon swept the top-three spots in the 100 backstroke and the Big Red saw Devin Testin (49.16) and Nicholas Settembrine (49.38) finish in fourth and fifth place, respectively, both with "B" cuts.

On the 1-meter diving board, Nick Fogle (501.45) finished in second and Brendan Stanley (493.80) was third, both with provisional regional qualifying scores. Fogle and Stanley finished in second and third place, respectively, on both boards while Kenyon's Israel Zavaleta earned the win on both boards and in the 1-meter on Friday, shattered his own NCAA Division III National Record with a score of 629.20.

Lastly, in the 200 freestyle relay, Denison's group of Daly, Stewart, Venos and Testin finished in second place with a "B" cut time of 1:21.49 while Kenyon was first with a time of 1:19.98.

The 2024 NCAC Championship will close out on Saturday with seven events. Preliminaries begin at 9:30 a.m. followed by finals at 6 p.m. The Big Red return to the water for finals in the 1,650 freestyle, 100 IM, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and the 400 freestyle relay. The Denison men are seeking their 14th NCAC championship and 13th since 2009.
 
NCAC Championships:
Tyler Distenfeld – 200 freestyle – 1:38.86
Elijah Venos – 100 breaststroke – 53.63
 
All-NCAC Performances (Top-3):
Dylan Escano – third place in the 100 butterfly – 48.73
Gavin Jones – third place in the 400 IM – 3:56.89
Tyler Distenfeld – first place in the 200 freestyle – 1:38.86
Sam Myaard – third place in the 200 freestyle – 1:39.30
Elijah Venos – first place in the 100 breaststroke – 53.63
Patrick Daly – second place in the 100 breaststroke – 54.12
Nick Fogle – second place in the 1-meter dive – 501.45
Brendan Stanley – third place in the 1-meter dive – 493.80
Patrick Daly, Richie Stewart, Elijah Venos, Devin Testin – second place in the 200 freestyle relay – 1:21.49
 
NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Dylan Escano – 100 butterfly finals – 48.73
Gavin Jones – 400 IM finals – 3:56.89
Gavin Jones – 400 IM prelims – 3:56.33
Connor Brown – 400 IM finals – 3:58.33
Connor Brown – 400 IM prelims – 3:58.98
Lucas Conrads – 400 IM finals – 3:58.54
Lucas Conrads – 400 IM prelims – 3:59.03
Max Soja – 400 IM finals – 3:58.92
Max Soja – 400 IM prelims – 3:57.82
Tyler Distenfeld – 200 freestyle finals – 1:38.86
Tyler Distenfeld – 200 freestyle prelims – 1:39.54
Sam Myaard – 200 freestyle finals – 1:39.30
Elijah Venos – 100 breaststroke finals – 53.63
Elijah Venos – 100 breaststroke prelims – 54.48
Patrick Daly – 100 breaststroke finals – 54.12
Patrick Daly – 100 breaststroke prelims – 54.77
Liam Nelson – 100 breaststroke finals – 55.54
Liam Nelson – 100 breaststroke prelims – 54.84
Devin Testin – 100 backstroke finals – 49.16
Nicholas Settembrine – 100 backstroke finals – 49.38
Nicholas Settembrine – 100 backstroke prelims – 49.47
Patrick Daly, Richie Stewart, Elijah Venos, Devin Testin – 200 freestyle relay – 1:21.49
 
NCAA Division III Provisional Regional Qualifying Scores (Diving):
Nick Fogle – 1-meter diving finals – 501.45
Nick Fogle – 1-meter diving prelims – 515.10
Brendan Stanley – 1-meter diving finals – 493.80
Brendan Stanley – 1-meter diving prelims – 469.00
 
Day Three Results