Men's Swimming
Men's Swimming & Diving: DU holds serve in Day 2; leads Kenyon by 30 heading to final day
David Curtis
Lowell Byers
Date: February 15, 2008
Location: CANTON, Ohio
More Information
The Big Red entered Friday with a 105 point and managed to hold off a second-day Kenyon charge and will enter the third and final day of competition with a 30 point lead over the rival Lords.
Denison earned their fifth and sixth championship on Friday thanks to clutch performances by senior Lowell Byers (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) and junior David Curtis (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer). Byers picked up his 10th NCAC Championship of his career with his victory in the 100 fly. The runner-up in the event last season, Byers touched in 48.90 and earned his "A" cut to nationals with his swim. Following Byers in the 100 fly was sophomore Casey Browning (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich./Grosse Pointe South) who placed 11th and junior Rory Scott (Street, Md./North Harford) who took 14th.
Curtis, the defending NCAC and NCAA Division III champion in the 200 freestyle defended his crown with a time of 1:40.69. Freshman Ben Terry (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Twp.) followed with a third place finish and a time of 1:43.56. Teammate Andy Catlin (Owego, N.Y./Owego) was right behind Terry in fourth place and junior John Geissinger (Darien, Conn./Lawrenceville School) and Wes Bubb (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) placed ninth and 10th, respectively.
In the two relays Denison placed second to the rival Lords of Kenyon. The team of Jon Behnke (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte), John Nemeth (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), Byers and Geissinger touched in 1:32.74 in the 200 medley relay. A youthful squad comprised of Catlin, Jake Lewing (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury), Terry and Curtis totaled a time of 6:52.43 which was good enough for a "B" cut time but not good enough to unseat the Lords from their 10-year reign in this event.
The three-meter dive saw junior Russ Bornschein (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) come through with a second-place performance and a total of 408.35 points. Senior Stephen Julka (Madison, Wis./Memorial) failed to defend his title in the event. Last night's winner in the one-meter, Julka placed third with 402.65 points. Freshman Cody Smith (Ardmore, Pa./Haverford) helped Denison's cause with a fifth place showing in the three-meter.
In his third swim of the night, Byers placed second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 51.56. Behnke took fourth in 51.90 and junior Charlie Baldwin (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Twp.) took sixth in 53.06.
Nemeth and freshman Andrew Krawchyk (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) took fourth and eighth, respectively in the 100 breaststroke and a foursome of Lewing, Chris Sellon (Lawrence, Kan./Free State), Andy Brabson (Boonsboro, Md./Boonsboro) and Ed Kowal (Huntington, W.Va./Cabell Midland) all placed in the top-13 in the men's 400 IM.
Denison leads Kenyon 1,156-1,126 heading into Saturday's final six events. Preliminaries will begin on Saturday at 10 a.m. with the finals scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.