Kenyon women win two titles, draw closer to Denison

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Chasing Denison University at the NCAA Division III Women's Swimming & Diving Championship, the Kenyon College Owls made a push Friday. The Owls won two event titles and trimmed the Denison lead from 90.5 points down to 70.5 points.

Kenyon, which entered Friday's session of the Championship in third place, did move up to second place for a couple of events, but dropped back to third place following the results of the final two events of the day.

That left Denison and Emory University in first and second place, respectively. Heading toward Saturday, the fourth and final day of the Championship, Denison owns 350.5 points, Emory has 292 points, and Kenyon holds down third with 280 points.

Kenyon's two event titles came in back-to-back races. First up was senior Olivia Smith, who whipped up a winning time of 54.00 in the 100-yard backstroke. The NCAA title was the first individual-event national title for Smith, who has three relay titles on her resume. The win also gave her a 12th career All-America award.

Not to be outdone, sophomore Jennah Fadely stepped to the block in the 100-yard breaststroke and chalked up another Kenyon title. Like Smith, the individual-event title was Fadely's first, having already won three NCAA relay titles. Fadely took the breaststroke event in 59.94, breaking her previous Kenyon record of 59.98 set one month ago at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championship.

In that same 100-yard breaststroke race, sophomore Gabrielle Wei tacked on a 10th-place finish for the Owls, who now had the Denison advantage down to 35.5 points. Wei's time in the event was 1:03.06.

That, however, would be as close as Kenyon would get. Denison padded its lead by nine points with a 10th-place finish in the one-meter diving competition. The Big Red then extended their lead even more in the final event of the night, the 800-yard freestyle, which they won. Kenyon's entry in the relay placed 10th, as the quartet of Lisa Torrecillas-Jouault, Sydney Geboy, Sarah Hoffman, and Molly Haag clocked in at 7:30.55.

Meanwhile, as the diving and relay competitions unfolded, Emory, which had dropped to third place, vaulted past Kenyon to move back into second.

Back at the start of the evening session, Kenyon got a fourth-place finish from Ania Axas, who completed the 200-yard butterfly in a time of 2:02.05. In the consolation heat of the same event, junior Sophie Schmitz and sophomore Jordan Herrera placed 10th and 11th with respective times of 2:03.29 and 2:03.37.

The final five events of the Championship will be held Saturday, with preliminary heats starting at 10 a.m. and then championship heats going at 6 p.m.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Ania Axas: Junior

Sarah Hoffman: Sophomore

Sophie Schmitz: Sophomore

Olivia Smith: Junior

Jennah Fadely: First-Year

Sydney Geboy: First-Year

Jordan Herrera: First-Year

Gabrielle Wei: First-Year

Molly Haag: First-Year

Lisa Torrecillas-Jouault: First-Year

Players Mentioned

Ania Axas
: Junior

Sarah Hoffman
: Sophomore

Sophie Schmitz
: Sophomore

Olivia Smith
: Junior

Jennah Fadely
: First-Year

Sydney Geboy
: First-Year

Jordan Herrera
: First-Year

Gabrielle Wei
: First-Year

Molly Haag
: First-Year

Lisa Torrecillas-Jouault
: First-Year