Denison teams honored for capturing national title

Donald Keough Editor-in-Chief

Celebrations were abundant last week as the women’s basketball and men’s swim and dive team women national championships on the same day, March 21. 

In recognition of both teams’ feats, both teams as well as the women’s swim and dive team, who placed fourth at the national tournament, were invited to an event held on A-Quad on March 26. 

Speaking first at the event, President Adam Weinberg recognized these team’s resounding success, describing both wins as major accomplishments. Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Matt Tanney, as well as head coaches Greg Parini and Maureen Hirt also spoke at the event. 

For the women’s basketball team, this is their first national title in school history. They started their season unranked, and took down two undefeated teams in the tournament, beating Scranton 55-41 in the final and Wisconsin-Oshkosh 82-61 in a semifinal March 19. Despite humble beginnings, Hirt, the women’s basketball coach, says that their season has been four years in the making. 

“The ceiling for this program is national championships, and you never know how long it’s going to take,” Hirt said. “I think all of these players believed that we could do it. But it’s not something that we talked about, like ‘We’re going to be national champions’ it’s more about the processes that we have to have in place for us to be able to do that, and it’s just getting a little bit better every single day.”

Their success, according to Hirt, has come down to their team’s culture and togetherness. She feels that this makes the win all the more rewarding.

“This puts our name on a national stage, and everybody knows us now,” Hirt said. “I think that [our team] is so deserving of it.”

Hirt also said that she’s pleased the team has been recognized by staff and students.

“The community, and how many people have supported us throughout it… has been a big thing, like all of the sports teams that have just routed for us and had our backs,” Hirt said. 

 Jamie Elliott ‘28, said that she has been congratulated a number of times by fellow Denisonians and staff members.

“It’s really exciting,” Elliot said. “It’s cool to see that everyone is so supportive of our program.”  

Hirt also praised the swim and dive team’s finishes. Parini, the swim and dive head coach, did the same. 

“Everybody’s really happy for us,” Parini said, after the event. “I think it’s great to see women’s basketball getting their due. It’s a great win for them.”

The men’s swim and dive team, who are national champions as well, have now marked their third back-to-back national championship win. Although this is now their seventh national title win, Parini hopes that they don’t get “cynical to the point where people believe that they expect” their team to win. 

“I think people in the know, the people that matter the most don’t take us for granted,” Parini said. 

He specifically noted Weinberg’s appreciation for their hard work. He also said that every win still feels special, and that “to still be able to put banners up on the wall feels pretty good.”

But Parini, as well as the rest of the team, is still craving winning three years in a row, which would be their team’s first in program history. Parini said that the morning after their win, he was up at 7 a.m. “already scheming about next year, writing down notes on things that we need to do.” 

In addition to their win, Parini hopes that teams such as women’s basketball are starting a trend of more teams receiving national titles. During his speech at the event, he described Denison as “going through a renaissance of sorts, a growth curve that reflects a renewed commitment to excellence, teamwork and hard work.” 

Division III national tournaments started in 1973 for men’s teams and 1981 for women’s teams. It took 28 years for Denison to win its first national championship in 2001. Since then, the school has won 11 national championships.