Women's Swimming & Diving

Edited: Mar. 17, 2008

NCAC champion Kenyon won its 22nd NCAA Division III Women's Swimming & Diving Championship after the Ladies compiled 566.5 points to second-place Amherst's 341. Denison (328) finished third, followed by Emory (288) in fourth and Williams (269.5) in fifth. The meet, hosted by Wooster, was held at Miami University's Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center in Oxford, Ohio. The Ladies' title, combined with the 28 trophies earned by the men, marks the milestone 50th championship for Kenyon men's and women's swimming. The Ladies' overpowering depth fueled their championship run. They posted 19 top-eight individual finishes over the three-day meet including freshman Kaitlyn Meirs' (CreamRidge, NJ/Peddie) win in the 1650 freestyle (16:52.90). The 200 free relay team of juniors Brittany Hurd (Orange Village, OH/Orange), Elizabeth Carlton, (Cheyenne, WY/Cheyenne Central), Jessica Wise (Metairie, LA/St. Martin's) and senior Alyssa Toran (North Cumberland, PA/Red Land) opened the meet with a victory in the event - the Ladies third title in as many years.

Denison's third-place trophy is the best finish for the Big Red since 2005, when they also finished third. Over the past 10 years, Denison has logged one national title (2001), three second-place finishes, three third-place finishes, one fourth, one fifth and one sixth-place finish. One of the highlight's of the 2008 meet, was the winning 200 medley relay team of sophomore Olivia Zaleski (Corry, PA/Corry Area), freshman Ksenia Golovkina (Newton, MA/South), sophomore Kate Rich (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) and junior Kristen Hohl (Winfield, IL/Wheaton North) set a new NCAA record with a time of 1:43.19, breaking the record previously held by Denison's Leah Favret, Mollie Parrish, Alyssa Heidinger and Erin Stanley that was set at the 2001 championships in Buffalo, N.Y. The title was highlighted by Rich's 24.74 split in the butterfly quarter of the relay. Hohl closed out the race with a 22.92 split in the freestyle.