GRANVILLE, Ohio (February 17, 2024) – The Denison University men's swimming & diving team picked up three more event championships and eight all-conference performances on Saturday night, but it was not enough to hold off Kenyon College as the Big Red placed second overall at the 2024 North Coast Athletic Conference Championship. Denison entered the final night leading the Owls by 10 points (1,293-1,283), but saw Kenyon take over the lead after just the second event of the day and at one point take a lead of over 100 points. In the end, the Owls totaled 1,889 points and finished 44 points in front of the Big Red with 1,845 points.

Patrick Daly, a junior from New Albany, Ohio, was named the 2024 NCAC Men's Swimmer of the Year. Daly, who was also the 2022 Newcomer of the Year as a freshman, brought home his second straight conference title in the 200 IM on Thursday and earned the first NCAC record of the meet with a "B" cut time of 1:46.89, breaking the previous conference record of 1:47.82 set by Kenyon's Luis Weeks in 2020. Daly also won the conference championship in the 100 IM on Saturday, finishing just 0.45 seconds away from the national record, and had a third all-conference recognition with a runner-up finish in the 100 breaststroke on Friday. In the relays, Daly swam the final leg of Denison's second-place teams in the 200 medley relay on Wednesday and the 400 medley relay on Thursday, swam the first leg of the second-place team in the 200 freestyle relay on Friday, and swam the second leg of the second-place team in the 400 free relay on Saturday.

Dylan Escano, a freshman from Broadview Heights, Ohio, was the 2024 NCAC Men's Newcomer of the Year. He earned two all-conference honors with a pair of third-place finishes in the 100 butterfly and the 200 butterfly on Friday and Saturday, respectively, while also swimming the third leg of Denison's second-place team in the 400 medley relay on Thursday.

The final night started off with Lucas Conrads earning his second straight NCAC title in the 1,650 freestyle as he swam an NCAA Division III National "B" cut time of 15:35.08. In all, Denison finished with four swimmers in the top-six in the event as Luke Landis was third with a National "B" cut of 15:41.51, Tyler Distenfeld was fourth with a "B" cut of 15:42.65 and Sam Myaard was sixth at 15:53.36.

In the 100 IM, Daly won the race with a time of 49.44 seconds, which came up just 0.45 seconds short of his former teammate Richie Kurlich's NCAA Division III National record time of 48.99 seconds that he set in this event last year.

Nicholas Settembrine (1:50.80) and Connor Brown (1:51.13) finished back-to-back in fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the 200 backstroke while Kenyon was able to take a 33-point lead over the Big Red after putting three swimmers into the top-five of the 100 IM and sweeping the top-two spots in the 200 backstroke. Winning the 200 backstroke was Kenyon's Yurii Kosian with a new NCAC record time of 1:44.87.

Kenyon then pushed its lead to over 100 points (1,679-1,572) after sweeping the podium in the 100 freestyle, led by Dj Dragojlovic's new pool and NCAC record time of 43.51 seconds. For Denison, Ryan Foreback (46.04) was eighth while Christian Narcelles (46.50) and Richie Stewart (46.70) took the top-two spots in the B final to finish 10th and 11th overall.

In the 200 breaststroke, Denison swept the top-two spots, put three swimmers into the top-four and four into the top-seven. The win went to Elijah Venos with a time of 1:58.21 while Gavin Jones was second at 2:00.29, Christian McIntire was fourth at 2:01.55 and Liam Nelson was seventh at 2:06.63. The times for Venos, Jones and McIntire were all "B" cuts as well.

After Kenyon's Noah Hargrove (1:48.41) just out-touched Denison's Max Soja (1:48.45) by .04 seconds for first place in the 200 butterfly, the Big Red added a third-place finish from Escano (1:51.83) and a fourth-place time from Landis (1:52.60) to cut their deficit to 36 points (1,819-1,783).

Unfortunately, 36 points was going to be tough to overcome in the final relay as the Owls just needed to place to clinch the win, and just as it did in every relay throughout the meet, Kenyon went go on to earn the win with a time of 2:56.38 in the 400 freestyle relay. For Denison, Distenfeld, Daly, Foreback and Venos were second with a "B" cut time of 3:01.02.

Over the course of the four-day meet, Denison totaled seven event championships by five different athletes and posted 26 all-conference finishes. For the second year in a row, Patrick Daly earned two NCAC Championships, this time in the 100 IM and the 200 IM, while this year Elijah Venos matched him with wins in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 breaststroke.
 
NCAC Championships:
Lucas Conrads – 1,650 freestyle – 15:35.08
Patrick Daly – 100 IM – 49.44
Elijah Venos – 200 breaststroke – 1:58.21
 
All-NCAC Performances (Top-3):
Lucas Conrads – first place in the 1,650 freestyle – 15:35.08
Luke Landis – third place in the 1,650 freestyle – 15:41.51
Patrick Daly – first place in the 100 IM – 49.44
Elijah Venos – first place in the 200 breaststroke – 1:58.21
Gavin Jones – second place in the 200 breaststroke – 2:00.29
Max Soja – second place in the 200 butterfly – 1:48.45
Dylan Escano – third place in the 200 butterfly – 1:51.83
Tyler Distenfeld, Patrick Daly, Ryan Foreback, Elijah Venos – second place in the 400 freestyle relay – 3:01.02
 
NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Lucas Conrads – 1,650 freestyle – 15:35.08
Luke Landis – 1,650 freestyle – 15:41.51
Tyler Distenfeld – 1,650 freestyle – 15:42.65
Elijah Venos – 200 breaststroke finals – 1:58.21
Elijah Venos – 200 breaststroke prelims – 2:00.61
Gavin Jones – 200 breaststroke finals – 2:00.29
Gavin Jones – 200 breaststroke prelims – 2:00.18
Christian McIntire – 200 breaststroke finals – 2:01.55
Max Soja – 200 butterfly finals – 1:48.45
Max Soja – 200 butterfly prelims – 1:48.59
Tyler Distenfeld, Patrick Daly, Ryan Foreback, Elijah Venos – 400 freestyle relay – 3:01.02
 
Day Four Results
Full Meet Results