Men's Swimming
Men's Swimming & Diving: Men's NCAC Championship Preview
Senior Stephen Julka could become just the second athlete in conference history to earn four consecutive NCAC Male Diver of the Year awards.
Date: February 12, 2008
Location: GRANVILLE
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After falling just an average of 84.5 points shy of claiming their second North Coast Athletic Conference swimming and diving crown over the last two years, the Big Red men enter this year's championship meet with a battle-tested arsenal of athletes with 22 NCAC championships between them.
Denison's most experience lies in seniors Lowell Byers (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) and Stephen Julka (Madison, Wis./Madison Memorial). Byers enters this year's championship with eight NCAC Championships under his belt, the most on the squad. He has been a part of three consecutive 200 free relay championships and is a former two-time champ in the 50 freestyle. Byers checks in behind teammate John Geissinger (Darien, Conn./Lawrenceville School) in the men's 50 free. Geissinger boasts the nation's third-fastest time at 20.51 seconds. Byers will also be a threat in the 100 fly where he placed second a year ago. His season-best time is 50.32, which would be good enough to take first place in each of the last two years in Canton.
Julka, Denison's standout senior diver, has an opportunity to join some elite company when it comes to diving in the NCAC. The three-time conference diver of the year, Julka can become just the second individual in conference history to earn four consecutive Male Diver of the Year awards. Julka won the one-meter in 2006 and 2007 and has taken the gold in the three meter in 2005 and 2007.
The Big Red has an opportunity to make a dent in the points race in the diving competition. Aside from Julka, head diving coach Stephen Ritter will trot junior Russ Bornschein (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) and freshman Cody Smith (Ardmore, Pa./Haverford) out to the boards. Bornschein was the runner-up to Julka in the three-meter dive last year and placed third in the one-meter dive.
Shifting gears back to the freestyle events, Geissinger leads the way in the 100 freestyle with Division III's fastest time at 44.75 seconds. Last year Geissinger took home a second, third place finish at the conference championship and followed that up with a fifth place finish at nationals. Junior David Curtis (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) is Denison's go-to performer in the 200 and 500 freestyles. Curtis is the defending NCAC champion in both events and is coming off a national championship in the 200 free at last year's Division III Championships. Curtis boasts the nation's top times in both events heading into this weekend's meet. In the 500 free freshmen Ben Terry (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Twp.) and Jake Lewing (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) follow Curtis with the second and third best times on the squad. Overall, Denison boasts six of the top-seven times in the NCAC in the 500 free.
In the men's mile it will be Terry and 2006 1650 free champion Wes Bubb (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) leading the way for DU. Terry has reached his NCAA provisional cut with a time of 16:16.55 and Bubb is trying to make it four consecutive top-three finishes in this event. The mile will take place on Saturday.
Sophomore's Ed Kowal (Huntington, W.Va./Cabell Midland), Matt Wright (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) and junior Charlie Baldwin (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Twp.) are Denison's top threats in 200 butterfly.
Another group of sophomores in John Nemeth (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) and Andy Brabson (Boonsboro, Md./Boonsboro) will represent DU in the breaststroke events. Nemeth has reached a "B" cut in the 100 and 200 breast while Brabson holds down the team's top time in the 200 breaststroke at 2:07.94.
With the graduation of last year's conference and national champion Adam Ulrich, the backstroke events are up for grabs and DU junior Charlie Grodecki (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) has the team's top performances in both the 100 and 200 backstrokes this season. In the 100 back, Byers and junior Jon Behnke (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) have also logged "B" cuts and will be looking to improve their standings on Friday night.
The 200 individual medley has junior Chris Sellon (Lawrence, Kan./Free State) returning with a team-best time of 1:54.90 under his belt. Sellon took third at last year's NCAC Championship with a time of 1:54.77. Others to watch for in both the 200 and 400 IM's will be Brabson and Lewing.
In the relay's, Denison enters the 800 and the 400 free relays as the 2007 national champions. However, DU just missed taking first in both of those events at the NCAC Championship last season. DU's 800 free relay team is comprised of Curtis, Sellon, freshman Callan Hetterich (Denver, Colo./Regis Jesuit) and Geissinger. They have the nation's top time in the event at 6:41.61 and are looking to break Kenyon's nine-year stranglehold on the event. Denison's last 800 free relay victory came in 1998.
The 400 free relay team will feature Curtis, Geissinger, Behnke and Byers. They have trimmed over two seconds off last year's time of 3:04.38 which landed them in second place at the NCAC's. The three-day meet will kick off with the 200 free relay and the same foursome is gunning for their fourth consecutive NCAC Championship. They won last year's relay with a time of 1:23.29.
In the medley relays Grodecki, Nemeth, Byers and Geissinger will represent the Big Red in the 400 and the 200 medley will look to rebound with Behnke, Marcus Greer (Milford Center, Ohio/Fairbanks), Rory Scott (Street, Md./North Harford) and Wright. Their season best is a provisional qualifying time of 1:35.66.
Denison will begin their quest for their second NCAC Championship on Thursday (Feb. 14) at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio. The meet will run Thursday through Saturday with preliminaries beginning each morning at 10:30 a.m. with finals taking place at 6:30 p.m. each night. Click on the "more information" link at the top of the page for the NCAC's official championship website which is being maintained by Wittenberg University.
2008 Psyche Sheet