Lords Dominate Final Day, Win Record 29th-Straight Title
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OXFORD, Ohio – Kenyon College won three of the night’s six individual events, and the lone relay event, as the Lords captured an unprecedented 29th consecutive NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships title inside the University of Miami’s (Ohio) Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center.
The Lords scored 635 points to outdistance Johns Hopkins University by 305 points, as the Blue Jays ended with 330 points. The Lords string of titles is unmatched by any other program in NCAA history, male or female, across all three NCAA divisions. The next longest championships streak belongs to the Kenyon women’s swimming and diving program, which captured 17 straight titles from 1984-2000.
Kenyon senior Josh Mitchell had a big night for the Lords. He capped off his four-year career taking the 100-yard freestyle title by 0.38 seconds over New York University’s Andrew Lardiere. On Friday as in individual, Mitchell claimed the 100-yard backstroke for the second-straight time at the national meet. With his eight relay titles, including all four during the 2008 national meet, giving him a combined total of 11 titles over his career.
Mitchell was appropriately named the “Swimmer of the Meet,” and Johns Hopkins coach George Kennedy was named “Swimming Coach of the Meet.”
Kenyon left little doubt as to the team outcome by winning three individual titles and the lone relay on the final night of competition, by far its best night of the meet. Sophomore Kegan Borland opened by winning the 1,650-yard freestyle in 15:31.96, nearly a six-second margin of victory. Mitchell won the 100-yard freestyle and junior Matthew Harris, who came into the championship meet at the No. 17 seed, took the 200-yard butterfly in 1:48.44 after winning the 100-yard butterfly on Friday. The 400-yard freestyle relay squad of Blair Withington, Tom Irgens, Harris and Mitchell won in 2:58.80, holding off a hard-charging Denison University squad by 0.60 seconds. Kenyon won four of the five relays contested during the national meet.
Other individual winners included Johns Hopkins sophomore John Thomas taking the 200-yard backstroke in 1:47.43 after finishing in fifth place one year ago. College of Staten Island freshman Pavel Buyanov captured the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:00.01 following his winning performance one night earlier in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Amherst junior Kai Robinson completed a sweep of the diving events, taking the three-meter event with a score of 535.55 points, outdistancing freshman the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s Nicholas Halbach, who was second at 504.05 points. Robinson was named the “Diver of the Meet” and his coach, Mary Ellen Clark, was named “Diving Coach of the Meet."
Following Kenyon and Johns Hopkins in the team race was Denison at 314.5 points, Emory University at 261 and Williams College with 211.
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