GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 22, 2024) – Denison University women's swimming & diving will enter the final day of the 2024 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championship in second place with 312 points. They trail first-place Kenyon College (315 points) by just three points and lead third-place New York University (299) by 13 points.

After finishing in second place in the 200 freestyle on Thursday, Emily Harris started things off on Friday with a third-place time of 2:01.31 in the prelims of the 200 butterfly before remaining in third place with a new Denison varsity record time of 2:00.03 in the finals.

With four swimmers in the A Final of the 200 freestyle, including the national champion, Caitlin Marshall, who swam a time of 1:58.50, New York closed to within five points (260-255) of the Big Red for first place in the team standings while Kenyon moved back to third with 229 points.

Jassy Park qualified for the B Final in the 100 backstroke as she finished 16th with a time of 56.61 seconds in the prelims. Then in the finals, she moved up to 15th with a time of 56.53 seconds.

Denison led NYU by just three points (262-259) and led Kenyon by 15 points (262-247) halfway through day three.

Drue Thielking and Riley Tofflemire tied for ninth place in the prelims of the 100 breaststroke with times of 1:02.87. Thielking proceeded to the win B Final and finish ninth overall for the second year in a row with a time of 1:02.14 while Tofflemire was right behind her in second place in the B Final (10th overall) at 1:02.53.

Kenyon, however, saw Jennah Fadely (59.80) win her second straight national championship in the 100 breaststroke while Gabriella Wei (1:01.74) was third. After earning 36 points for the one-three finish, Kenyon moved into first in the standings with 283 total points, while Denison (278) and NYU (259) were bumped to second and third. 

Looking to defend its 2023 national championship in the 800 freestyle relay, Denison saw its group of Quinn Brown, Esme Wright, Annie Pfeufer and Harris finish second at 7:19.60. NYU earned the win at 7:16.20 while Kenyon was third at 7:21.28. The two-point difference between second and third place, however, was not enough for the Big Red to overtake the Owls in the overall team standings heading into the final day.

It was Denison's third national runner-up finish in the relays this year after also finishing second in the 200 medley relay on Wednesday and in the 200 freestyle relay on Thursday.

Denison will close out the 2024 NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday with finals in the 1,650 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 3-meter dive and the 400 freestyle relay. Preliminaries will start at 10 a.m. followed by finals at 6 p.m.
 
First-Team All-Americans (Top-8):
Emily Harris – 3rd place in the 200 butterfly – 2:00.03
Quinn Brown, Esme Wright, Annie Pfeufer and Emily Harris – 2nd in the 800 freestyle relay – 7:19.60.
 
Second Team All-Americans (Top-16):
Jassy Park – 15th place in the 100 backstroke – 56.53
Drue Thielking – 9th place in the 100 breaststroke – 1:02.14
Riley Tofflemire – 10th place in the 100 breaststroke – 1:02.53

Day Three Results