Samantha Salas

In the annual clash of North Coast Athletic Conference rivals and Division III national powerhouses, the Denison women's swimming and diving team knocked off Kenyon College 139-104 on Saturday in Gambier, Ohio.  The dual meet victory over the Ladies was the Big Red's first since the 2005-06 campaign.

First-year Alyssa Swanson (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit) led DU with three victories.  Swanson was victories in the 200 free with a time of 1:53.18, and touched in at 52.51 as she captured first in the 100 free.  The rookie later teammed up with classmate Kristi Walter (Ooltewah, Tenn./Girls Preparatory School), and sophomores Marit Wangstad (Wayzata, Minn./The Blake School) and Hilary Callen (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego) to win the 400 free relay with a time of 3:33.32.  Callen also captured an individual title in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 10:23.08.

Senior Olivia Zaleski (Corry, Pa./Corry Area) also notched a pair of victories to aid the Big Red.  Zaleski was victorious in the 50 free with a time of 24.29, just 28-hundreths of a second ahead of Kenyon's Megan Quinn.  The senior touched in a 58.06 en route to winning the 100 backstroke.  Additionally, sophomore Gail Blachly (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) turned in a time of 1:06.77 to claim victory in the 100 breast.

Junior Samantha Salas (Fairfax, Va./Robinson Secondary) swept the diving portion of the dual meet.  Salas won the one-meter diving with a final score of 185.16, and followed that up with 198.60 points in the three-meter.

The Big Red are now 3-0 on the season and in NCAC action.  Denison returns to action on Dec. 3 when they travel to the Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio.

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