GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 21, 2024) – Denison University women's swimming & diving finished the second night of the 2024 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championship with two national runner-up performances and five top-four finishes to increase its lead from 11 points to 32 points. Throughout 10 of 20 events, the Big Red have accumulated 244 points, followed by Kenyon College (212 points) in second, New York University (195) in third, Williams College (189) in fourth and MIT (163) in fifth.

It was a great start to day two as Grace Kadlecik, Maja Palmroos, Phoebe Ferguson and Amber Croonquist finished second in the prelims of the 200 freestyle relay with a combined time of 1:32.90. Then in the finals, the foursome remained in second place with a time of 1:32.60 while the national championship went to Pomona-Pitzer with a time of 1:31.54.

In addition to expanding Denison's lead to 129-102 over Kenyon and Williams in a tie for second place, the Big Red's performance in the 200 freestyle relay was good for their second runner-up finish in the relays of the meet after doing so in the 200 medley relay during day one on Wednesday.

In the 400 IM, Esme Wright (4:23.04) and Tara Witkowski (4:23.67) both qualified for the A Final after finishing in fifth and sixth place, respectively, in the prelims.

Then in the finals of the 400 IM, Witkowski swam a time of 4:21.16 and moved up into a third-place finish while Wright finished seventh at 4:23.75. It was Witkowski's second straight First-Team All-American finish in the 400 IM after finishing fifth a year ago behind Savannah Sargent's fourth-place finish. For Wright, it was her fourth-career All-American performance in the event and her third straight on the first-team.

Kenyon, however, had three swimmers in the A Final and had the top performer in the B Final in the 400 IM to cut Denison's lead to just three points (157-154).

In the 100 butterfly, Emma Pritchett (54.96) qualified for the A Final in fourth place while qualifying for the B Final was Ferguson (55.34) in a tie for 10th place and Palmroos (55.35) in a tie for 12th. Pritchett then earned her second straight third-place finish in the event and third straight First-Team All-American performance with a time of 54.73 seconds in the finals.

In the B Final of the 100 butterfly, Ferguson (55.25) was second (10th overall) and Palmroos (55.62) was seventh (15th overall), both earning Second-Team All-American status for the second year in a row. That made it 182-154 Big Red over the Owls, who did not score in the event.

Denison again put one swimmer in the A Final and two in the B Final in the 200 freestyle. Emily Harris swam a second-place time of 1:48.67 in the prelims before remaining as the runner-up in the finals with a time of 1:48.97. It was a big jump for Harris, who finished 14th in the event as a freshman last season and trailed only New York's Kaley McIntyre, who claimed her second consecutive 200 free title with a time of 1:46.05.

In addition, Annie Pfeufer was 12th in the prelims (1:51.10) and 11th in the finals at 1:50.98 while Quinn Brown was 16th in the prelims (1:51.90) and 13th in the finals at 1:51.25. Pfeufer is now a three-time All-American in the 200 freestyle after finishing seventh last year.

On the 1-meter diving board, Kerstyn Johnson (411.20) and Lu-Si Minnich (394.55) finished 10th and 14th, respectively, in the prelims before Johnson (398.35) was fifth in the B Final (13th overall) and Minnich (381.20) was eighth (16th overall). Johnson's best dive was an inward 1 1/2 somersault tuck (403C) worth 42.90 points on her ninth dive in the prelims while for Minnich, her best dive was a forward 2 somersault pike (104B) for 47.15 points on her sixth attempt also in the prelims. Johnson is now a three-time Second-Team All-American on the 1-meter board.

The Big Red's performances in the 200 freestyle and the 1-meter dive allowed them to expand their lead to 36 points (214-178) over the Owls.

In the 400 medley relay, Jassy Park, Drue Thielking, Palmroos and Kadlecik worked together to finish fourth in the prelims with a time of 3:44.29. Then in the finals, Park, Riley Tofflemire, Pritchett and Kadlecik remained in fourth place at 3:42.81, just out-touching fifth-place New York (3:42.99) by .18 seconds.

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):
Grace Kadlecik, Maja Palmroos, Phoebe Ferguson and Amber Croonquist – 2nd place in the 200 freestyle relay – 1:32.60
Tara Witkowski – 3rd place in the 400 IM – 4:21.16
Esme Wright – 7th place in the 400 IM – 4:23.75
Emma Pritchett – 3rd place in the 100 butterfly – 54.73
Emily Harris – 2nd place in the 200 freestyle – 1:48.97
Jassy Park, Riley Tofflemire, Emma Pritchett and Grace Kadlecik – 4th place in the 400 medley relay – 3:42.81
 
Second-Team All-Americans (Top-16):
Phoebe Ferguson – 10th place in the 100 butterfly – 55.25
Maja Palmroos – 15th place in the 100 butterfly – 55.62
Annie Pfeufer – 11th place in the 200 freestyle – 1:50.98
Quinn Brown – 13th place in the 200 freestyle – 1:51.25
Kerstyn Johnson – 13th place on the 1-meter diving board – 398.35
Lu-Si Minnich – 16h place on the 1-meter diving board – 381.20
 
Day Two Results