Men's Swimming
Men's Swimming & Diving: Denison Leads Miami Invitational
John Geissinger
Date: November 30, 2007
Location: OXFORD, Ohio
The depth of the Denison men's swimming and diving team was on full display on Friday night as they took a 184 point lead at the nine-team Miami University Invitational.
The Big Red turned in two, top-three relay finishes and David Curtis (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) won the 200 freestyle to highlight the second day of competition in Oxford. Curtis and teammate John Geissinger (Darien, Conn./The Lawrenceville School) went 1-2 in the 200 freestyle with NCAA qualifying times as well. Curtis turned in a time of 1:38.46 and Geissinger was right behind in 1:38.94.
In the first event of the night, Curtis, Geissinger, Jon Behnke (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) and Lowell Byers (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) placed second in the 200 free relay with a season-best and provisional qualifying time of 1:22.69. Geissinger swam a event-best, 20.08 split in the event.
Another NCAA provisional time and a season best would go to Geissinger in the 50 freestyle with his time of 20.51 which was good enough to place him third. Byers and Curtis followed in ninth and 11th place, respectively.
Six DU swimmers placed in the top-18 in the 100 backstroke, led by Charlie Grodecki (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) and Byers who placed third and fourth, respectively. Grodecki touched in 52.06 seconds and Byers finished in 52.28 seconds followed by Behnke in seventh with a time of 52.60 and Charlie Baldwin (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) in ninth.
Senior Stephen Julka (Madison, Wis./Memorial) reached the finals in the one-meter dive and posted a season-best score of 248.25. Andy Brabson (Boonsboro, Md./Boonsboro) placed seventh in the 400 IM and teammates Jake Lewing (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) and Chris Sellon (Lawrence, Kan./Free State) finished in seventh and eighth place.
The final event of the night was the 400 medley relay and Grodecki, John Nameth (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), Byers and Geissinger took the bronze with a time of 3:25.03.
Trailing the Big Red heading into the final day of competition is Oakland University with 715.5 points and Emory University who has 669 points through two days of swimming. The Big Red, who has 900 points, is looking to defend their 2006 Miami Invitational crown.
See the full game statistics