RESULTS  I  CHAMPIONSHIP SITE

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Kenyon College freshman Crile Hart stole the spotlight over the last four days and helped power the Ladies to a runner-up finish in the 2018 NCAA Division III Women's Swimming and Diving Championship, held at Indiana University Natatorium.

Hart won another event title Saturday, her fourth of the meet, and was named the NCAA Division III Swimmer of the Year. That made her the tenth in program history to earn the top honor and the first to do so since Elizabeth Galloway in 2004.

Hart and the Ladies wound up scoring a total of 500 points to land the silver trophy. Emory University tallied 603 points and won the team title for the ninth-straight season. Williams College was third with 412 points.

During Saturday's final session, Hart claimed the 200-yard backstroke crown in record-setting fashion. Her time of 1:55.67 was an NCAA record, breaking the previous mark of 1:55.83 set last season by Olivia Jackson of Williams. Hart, who won the 100-yard backstroke title Friday, became the first Ladies' swimmer to sweep the stroke titles since Erica Carroll did so in 1999.

Those two titles were only half the story for Hart. Wednesday, in her first-ever NCAA race, she won the 200-yard individual medley in a time of 1:58.86. Earlier in the day, during the preliminary heats, she set the NCAA standard in the event with a time of 1:58.29. Additionally, Hart swam a leg on the Ladies' title-winning 400-yard medley relay team, which clocked in Wednesday night with a Kenyon record time of 3:39.95.



While Hart undoubtedly took the lead, the Ladies had plenty of other contributors, including Kendall Vanderhoof, Julia Wilson and Delaney Ambrosen. All three of those swimmers garnered third-place finishes Saturday night. Vanderhoof did so with a time of 16:57.28 in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Wilson did so with a time of 2:15.75 in the 200-yard breaststroke and Ambrosen followed up Hart in the 200-yard backstroke with a third-place time of 1:59.11. Both Vanderhoof's and Ambrosen's times were personal-bests.

Vanderhoof led a pack of Ladies who scored points in the 1,650. Marysol Arce took fourth place in 16:57.33, Alexis Vetrano was seventh with a time of 17:01.14, Gail Anderson was tenth in 17:07.91, Claire Murray finished with a 17:08.12 for 12th place and Kanchi Desai closed out the Kenyon scoring with a 14th-place time of 17:11.55.

In Saturday's consolation finals, the Ladies had a pair of swimmers in nearly every event. Hannah Orbach-Mandel won the 100-yard freestyle consolation and placed ninth overall with a time of 50.90. Emmerson Mirus clocked in at 51.52 in the same heat and claimed 14th place. In the 200-yard backstroke it was Summer Otazu and Caitlin Foley who turned in respective times of 2:01.88 and 2:02.20 for 12th- and 15th-place finishes. Finally, Murray added a 14th-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke by clocking in at 2:19.96.

The depth of the Ladies' squad overflowed into relays events, as well. The Kenyon women capped of the night, as well as the meet, with a second-place swim in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Hart, Mirus, Orbach-Mandel and Princess Vilan Ferguson-Nguyen turned in a time of 3:22.16, which was yet another Kenyon record.