Six Records Fall on Day Two, Kenyon Extends First-Place Lead

» Days 1-2 Results | » Complete Team Standings

While it was another record-setting day at the NCAA Div. III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships Friday at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with new meet records being established in six of the seven events, it was also business as usual in the team standings. Kenyon College built its lead from 83 points after day one to 134.5 points, as the Ladies appear to be well on their way to defending their national championship and winning their 22nd title of the last 25 seasons.

After two individual records went down Thursday, a half dozen were rewritten on day two, starting with the very first event. The 200 medley relay saw Denison University’s group of Olivia Zaleski, Ksenia Golovkina, Kate Rich, and Kristen Hohl, edge Kenyon’s top team by 0.35 seconds. The Big Red’s total time of 1:43.19 was 16 hundredths of a second better than another group of Denison women in 2001 (1:43.35).

Next, Williams College’s Amanda Nicholson edged out the defending champion in the 400 IM, Emily Lesher of Nazareth College. Nicholson hit the wall in a Div. III-record 4:20.31, 0.19 seconds ahead of Lesher.

History was made in a couple of ways in the night’s third event, as Ava Kiss became the first national champ in women’s swimming at The College of New Jersey. She not only won the 100 butterfly, but did so with a championship-record time of 55.08.

Amherst College’s Kendra Stern made it four meet records in as many events, while swimming her way to the title in the 200 freestyle with a mark of 1:47.19, nearly two full seconds ahead of the previous record (1:49.02) and three-plus seconds ahead of the runner-up (1:50.34). Stern, just a freshman, also won Thursday’s 500 free in record time (4:52.34).

Another repeat winner was Kaitlyn Orstein of Washington & Jefferson College. She backed up her title in Thursday’s 200 IM with her second of the meet and seventh of her career, this time in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.35).

The fifth championship-meet record of the day came in the 100 backstroke, in which Brittany Sasser of Amherst sprinted to first-place with a time of 53.85, nearly a full second ahead of her own record from the previous year (54.72).

Amherst completed its big day with a win and another national record in the 800 freestyle relay. The lineup consisted of Stern and Sasser, followed by Alex Lee and Meaghan Stern, and they compiled a 7:22.78 to shatter the championship record by about seven seconds (7:29.50).

Despite Amherst’s three wins, the Lord Jeffs were unable to make up any ground on a deep Kenyon squad. The Ladies now have 389.5 points to runner-up Amherst’s 255. Also competing for runner-up honors is Denison, currently with 240 points.

The Division III national meet concludes on Saturday with preliminary heats once again beginning at 11 a.m., and the finals slated for a 6:30 p.m. start.