GRANVILLE, Ohio (February 17, 2024) – The Denison University women's swimming & diving team picked up two event championships and 13 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 18 points (1,286.5-1,268.5), but saw Kenyon take over the lead after the third event of the night before coming back to tie it at 1,810.5 entering the final two events. In the end, Kenyon totaled 2,039.5 points, 71 points ahead of Denison with 1,968.5 points.

Kerstyn Johnson, a junior from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, earned the 2024 NCAC Women's Diver of the Year award after bringing home the conference title in the 1-meter dive on Thursday and finishing just 0.15 points away from winning the 3-meter dive on Saturday. Johnson is the first Big Red diver to earn back-to-back Diver of the Year awards since Allison Fitzgerald, who won it in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The 1,650 freestyle started off the final night, and Denison claimed three of the top-five spots as Taryn Wisner was second with a time of 16:41.57 while Quinn Brown was fourth at 16:48.32 and Tara Witkowski was fifth at 16:52.46. All three times were good for an NCAA Division III National "B" cut.

In the 100 IM, Phoebe Ferguson (57.72) and Esme Wright (57.84) both earned all-conference honors in second and third place, respectively, while Riley Tofflemire (1:00.87) was seventh, but Kenyon was able to cut Denison's lead to single digits (1,461.5-1,452.5) after putting three swimmers into the top-five.

Kenyon then took a 19-point lead (1,541.5-1,522.5) following the 200 backstroke despite Denison seeing Jassy Park finish as the runner-up with a National "B" cut time of 2:01.89 while Claire Moody also earned all-conference in third place with a time of 2:03.73.

The Big Red got back to within three points of the Owls (1,634.5-1,631.5) following the 100 freestyle. Despite Kenyon sweeping the top-two spots, Denison put four swimmers into the top-eight as Grace Kadlecik was third at 51.56 seconds, Annie Pfeufer was fifth at 51.96 seconds, Natalie English was sixth at 52.55 seconds and Maja Palmroos was eighth at 52.89 seconds.

In the 200 breaststroke, Drue Thielking earned her second straight runner-up finish in the event with a "B" cut of 2:19.17 while Tofflemire was fourth at 2:21.87, but it was not enough as Kenyon added 33 points to its lead (1,727.5-1,691.5) after finishing in three of the top-five spots.

The 200 butterfly was a big event for the Big Red as Emily Harris picked up Denison's first event win of the day with a "B" cut time of 2:01.21 while Emma Pritchett was third with a "B" cut time of 2:04.23, Maria Mrosko was fifth at 2:08.04, and Amber Croonquist was seventh at 2:09.51.

That allowed Denison to tie Kenyon at 1,810.5 points with just the 3-meter dive and the 400 freestyle relay remaining.

In an extremely exciting finish in the 3-meter dive, Lu-Si Minnich (474.00) just outscored Johnson (473.85) by 0.15 points to earn her first-career conference title. In third place was Alexis Radhakrishnan (463.60), but despite the Big Red sweeping the top-three spots in diving for the second time during the meet, Kenyon was able to outscore Denison 159-96 after again taking each of the bottom-six spots in the finals.

That made it 1,969.5-1906.5 Kenyon entering the 400 freestyle relay, and the Owls finished in off with a winning-time of 3:22.96 while the Big Red group of Pfeufer, Kadlecik, Wright and Harris was second with a "B" cut time of 3:24.46.

Over the course of the four-day meet, Denison totaled nine event wins at the championship out of 21 total events, and posted 34 all-conference finishes. In addition to winning three of the five relay races throughout the meet, Emily Harris (200 freestyle, 200 butterfly, 400 medley relay, 800 freestyle relay) played a part in four NCAC Championships for the Big Red while Grace Kadlecik (50 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, 400 medley relay) accounted for three and Phoebe Ferguson (200 freestyle relay, 400 medley relay) did so in two relays.
 
NCAC Championships:
Emily Harris – 200 butterfly – 2:01.21
Lu-Si Minnich – 3-meter dive – 474.00
 
All-NCAC Performances (Top-3):
Taryn Wisner – second place in the 1,650 freestyle – 16:41.57
Phoebe Ferguson – second place in the 100 IM – 57.72
Esme Wright – third place in the 100 IM – 57.84
Jassy Park – second place in the 200 backstroke – 2:01.89
Claire Moody – third place in the 200 backstroke – 2:03.73
Grace Kadlecik – third place in the 100 freestyle - 51.56
Drue Thielking – second place in the 200 breaststroke – 2:19.17
Emily Harris – first place in the 200 butterfly – 2:01.21
Emma Pritchett – third place in the 200 butterfly – 2:04.23
Lu-Si Minnich – first place in the 3-meter dive – 474.00
Kerstyn Johnson – second place in the 3-meter dive – 473.85
Alexis Radhakrishnan – third place in the 3-meter dive – 463.60
Annie Pfeufer, Grace Kadlecik, Esme Wright, Emily Harris – second place in the 400 freestyle relay – 3:24.46
 
NCAA Division III National "B" cuts:
Taryn Wisner – 1,650 freestyle – 16:41.57
Quinn Brown – 1,650 freestyle – 16:48.32
Tara Witkowski – 1,650 freestyle – 16:52.46
Jassy Park – 200 backstroke finals – 2:01.89
Jassy Park – 200 backstroke prelims – 2:02.76
Drue Thielking – 200 breaststroke finals – 2:19.17
Drue Thielking – 200 breaststroke prelims – 2:18.90
Emily Harris – 200 butterfly finals – 2:01.21
Emily Harris – 200 butterfly prelims – 2:01.89
Emma Pritchett – 200 butterfly finals – 2:04.23
Emma Pritchett – 200 butterfly prelims – 2:05.24
Annie Pfeufer, Grace Kadlecik, Esme Wright, Emily Harris – 400 freestyle relay – 3:24.46
 
NCAA Division III Provisional Regional Qualifying Scores (Diving):
Lu-Si Minnich – 3-meter diving finals – 474.00
Lu-Si Minnich – 3-meter diving prelims – 422.00
Kerstyn Johnson – 3-meter diving finals – 473.85
Kerstyn Johnson – 3-meter diving prelims – 465.40
Alexis Radhakrishnan – 3-meter diving finals – 463.60
Alexis Radhakrishnan – 3-meter diving prelims – 450.20
 
Day Four Results
Full Meet Results