FINAL RESULTS I CHAMPIONSHIP SITE | FACEBOOK PHOTO GALLERY
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The final day of the 2014 NCAA Division III Women's Swimming and Diving Championship concluded on Saturday evening and Kenyon College finished as national runner-up. The Ladies entered day four of the meet in second place and broke away from the pack behind them, but were unable to catch national champion Emory University. Amid Kenyon's run for the title, Maria Zarka collected NCAA Women's Diver of the Year honors while becoming a two-time national champion on the three-meter diving board.
The Ladies concluded the championship with 456.5 points, second only to Emory (595.5), which rolled toward its fifth consecutive national title. Johns Hopkins University and Denison University were in a heated battle for third place, however, the Blue Jays (387) clipped the Big Red (374.5) for that spot on the podium.
Kenyon began the final day just one point ahead of Johns Hopkins but immediately began separating itself following the first event. The combination of Syd Lindblom and Mariah Williamson pulled in a total of 27 points in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Lindblom was seeded seventh before the start of the race but exceeded expectations with a fourth-place finish, touching the wall in 16:50.60. Williamson took home seventh place with a time of 16:53.69. After the 1,650 free, the gap between the Ladies and the new third-place team, Denison, widened to 33 points. Johns Hopkins fell back to fourth place.
As Emory continued to break away from the pack en route to its national title, so too did Kenyon for second place honors. In their next event, the 100-yard freestyle, the Ladies' placed four individuals between the championship and consolation finals to rack up 39.5 points. Hillary Yarosh and Jourdan Cline were separated by just one-one hundredths of a second and claimed fourth and fifth place, respectively. Kenyon's depth in the event was reflected by freshman Jenner McLeod and sophomore Haley Townsend. McLeod (51.40) finished 11th overall, while Townsend shared 12th place with Denison's Mary Van Leuven (51.46).
Zarka stole the show with a masterful set of dives, leading to a second consecutive national title in the three-meter diving event. She collected a grand total of 494.15 points, besting second-place finisher Lizzy Linsmayer from Amherst College by 7.90 points.
With a second national title and a silver medal in the one-meter dive acquired on Thursday, Zarka was named NCAA Division III Women's Diver of the Year. She becomes the second Kenyon diver to be named to such an honor. The only other Ladies diver to acquire the same title was Ann Kelley in 1992.
Kenyon wrapped up its silver medalist bid with a second-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Cline, Townsend, Yarosh, and McLeod formed the all-star cast that posted a time of 3:22.84. The Ladies had the lead going into the final leg, but Johns Hopkins made up the ground heading into the final 50 yards to steal the title.
Along with Zarka's national Diver of the Year honors, Kenyon head diving coach Andy Scott was named the NCAA Women's Diving Coach of the Year. In his fourth year with the program, he has now been named Coach of Year in each of the last two seasons.
Collectively, the 18 Kenyon national qualifiers earned 48 All-America honors in this year's championship. Yarosh, a senior, led the way with seven alone and capped off her career with 18 total All-America honors in her three championship appearances. Syd Lindblom also closes her career with seven All-America honors, two coming this weekend. The Ladies will head into the 2015 season with two national championships to defend including Zarka's three-meter victory and Celia Oberholzer's win in the 100-yard backstroke.
