MORGANTOWN, WV -- The Kenyon College men's swimming and diving team competed in the Almost Heaven Long Course Open, ending their calendar year with a three-day excursion in Morgantown, West Virginia. The Owls competed in 13 events on the West Virginia University campus while attempting to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Trials. Kenyon had a strong showing, securing two wins and six second-place finishes.

Aleksa Dobric highlighted Kenyon's results with his showing in Sunday evening's 50-meter freestyle. After earning a spot in the championship final with a fourth-place finish (23.58) in the morning's preliminary race, the senior shaved 0.4 seconds off his time to post a winning 23.18 mark in the final. His time was only a few ticks off the 22.79-second qualifying time for the 2024 Olympic Trials. 

The 50-meter race was a busy one for the Owls. Marko Krtinic, another senior, finished eighth in the championship final with a time of 23.75, while sophomore Djordje Dragojlovic placed 14th overall and won the consolation final by a 0.01-second margin with a 23.34 mark. Daniel Brooks also swam in the consolation final and placed 14th overall with a time of 24.63. The bonus final field was nearly composed entirely of Owls, with Kenyon swimmers accounting for five of the six competitors. Aleksa Kisic (24.25), Pedro Mello (24.80), Peter Dunson (24.91), Jimmy Hart (25.07), and Vaughn Hajra (25.53) finished 18th through 22nd, respectively.

Two other Owls found the podium on the day as seniors Max Nonnenmacher and Ethan Manske each tallied a third-place finish in their respective championship finals. Nonnenmacher clocked in at 4:10.10 in the 400-meter freestyle race, finishing about a second back of second place and about five seconds behind first place. Manske collected bronze in the 200-meter individual medley after posting a time of 2:08.16, which was about seven seconds behind first and six seconds back of the runner-up. Mirjavohir Marvarov, another senior, finished sixth in the same race with a time of 2:14.59.

On Monday, Manske managed a second-place finish in the 400-meter individual medley after finishing fourth in the prelims. He shaved over 30 seconds off his preliminary time of 5:04.83 with a 4:34.25 mark in the championship final.

Owls orchestrated back-to-back runner-up finishes after Krtinic secured silver in the championship final of the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 55.50. Dunson placed second in the consolation final of the same event and finished 10th overall at 58.98.

Kenyon swimmers made it three second-place showings in a row after a strong showing in the 200-meter freestyle. Mello clocked in at 2:00.62 in the championship final, a little over two seconds behind the winning pace. Hart touched next in third place after finishing the circuit at 2:06.59.

The string of second-place finishes stopped in the 100-meter breaststroke, but Kenyon's highlight of the day was yet to come. Marvarov (1:07.46) and Hajra (1:07.55) finished back-to-back in the 100 breaststroke, taking seventh and eighth, respectively.

In Monday's final event, the 100-meter backstroke, Dragojlovic delivered a first-place finish to end the meet's penultimate day on a high note. The sophomore swam the race in 56.51, winning by a 0.02-second margin after placing second in the prelims. His time narrowly missed the Olympic Trials qualifying time of 55.69. Brooks also raced in the championship final of the 100 backstroke and placed fifth at 1:01.13.

Tuesday's finals schedule started with the long course meet's longest event, the 1,500-meter freestyle. Nonnenmacher represented the Owls in the race, and the senior posted a time of 16:55.29 to take second.

Much like Monday, the Owls strung together three straight runner-up showings. Manske continued the streak after coming second in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:04.82. In the 100-meter freestyle, Dobric posted a mark of 51.03, just 0.81 seconds back from first place and a few ticks off the 49.99-second Olympic Trials qualifier. Dragojlovic was also not far behind in the championship final, swimming the 100 freestyle in 51.35 seconds and finishing fourth. Brooks (52.72) led Kenyon with a third-place finish in the consolation final, finishing 11th overall. A quartet of Owls rounded out the standings as Kisic (54.61), Mello (55.06), Hart (55.24), and Dunson (57.32) went 13-14-15-16.

Before ending their time at the Almost Heaven LC Open with a handful of time trials, Kenyon swimmers placed in two more qualifying events. Hajra clocked in at 2:35.14 in the 200-meter breaststroke, which was suitable for seventh place. In the final event, the 200-meter butterfly, Krtinic placed fourth with a time of 2:13.18.

With their 2023 slate officially in the books, the Owls look ahead to January 12, 2024, for their next outing. Kenyon will compete in two dual meets as the Owls welcome Oberlin College, a North Coast Athletic Conference foe, and Cleveland State University to Gambier. The duals are scheduled to start at noon.