Max Dolinh, Sports Editor—

The 2023 NCAC Swimming and Diving Championships, held in Granville, OH at the Trumbull Aquatics Center, was defined by a heavyweight battle between Denison and Kenyon.

After four days of fierce competition, the Big Red women prevailed while the men ultimately lost out to the Owls. The NCAC championship is the 11th in the Women’s team’s history, having won their last in 2020.  

Scoring 2,007 points to the Owls’ 1,943.5, the win saw them trading punches, Denison claiming ten out of the 21 events and Kenyon the other eleven. 

Two members of the Women’s team earned conference accolades, as Quinn Brown ‘26 was named NCAC Newcomer of the Year, being part of the group which set a new conference record in the 800 free relay and finishing with NCAA “B” cut times in three additional events.

Kerstyn Johnson ‘25 was an easy choice for NCAC Women’s Diver of the Year, as she emerged victorious in both the 3-meter and 1-meter diving events. 

Prolific showings across the board that resulted in 31 all-conference finishes, also highlighted by the multiple victory efforts of Taryn Wisner ‘25 and Tara Culibrk ‘23, propelled the Women’s team to the conference championship over a Kenyon team who were ranked No. 1 nationally going into the meet. 

Despite a strong performance, the Denison men ended the competition second in the standings. Another closely-contested battle, the final margin between the Kenyon and Denison men was 2,029.5 to 1,912.5.

Six of the Men’s events were won by Big Red athletes and the team notched 27 all-conference finishes in total. With a time of 48.99, Richie Kurlich ‘23 set a new NCAA Division III record in the 100 individual medley, repeating as NCAC champion in the process. 

Additional individual champions included Patrick Daly ‘25, Lucas Conrads ‘25, Elijah Venos ‘25 and Eric Chimes ‘23, who all earned victories in swimming events.

The Big Red men and women will now likely set their sights toward the upcoming diving regionals and national meet. The NCAA Diving Regionals take place on Feb. 24-25 in Chicago, IL, and the NCAA Division III Championships are scheduled for March 15-18 in Greensboro, NC.