Owls take another Total Performance title

GAMBIER, Ohio -- The Kenyon College Owls women's swimming and diving team racked up three more event wins Saturday, counted out 2,694.5 team points, and took their deserved spot atop the eight-team standings at the conclusion of the Total Performance Invitational, held at the Steen Aquatic Center over the last three days.

The victory marked the sixth straight Total Performance title for Kenyon, dating back to the 2018 season.

Behind the Owls in the final standings were Hope College in second place with 1,305.5 points, Carnegie Mellon University in third place with 1,065 points and Case Western Reserve University in fourth place with 1,049.5 points. The rest of the field was West Chester University in fifth place (996.5), SUNY Geneseo in sixth place (706), Lindsey Wilson College in seventh (672) and John Carroll University in eighth place (344).

Sophomore Bengisu Caymaz got the finals session started for the Owls by finishing first in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Her winning time was 16:37.72 and went down as the best time among all Division III swimmers so far this season. Three more Owls finished right behind her. First-year Nora Lee Brown took second place in 17:04.33, junior Molly Haag was third in 17:07.90 and sophomore Sofia Giordano claimed fourth place with a time of 17:21.05. All four of those times were recorded under the NCAA 'B' cut for national qualification.

The second event win of the evening for the Owls went to Gabrielle Wei, who put together a record-setting swim to hold off teammate Jennah Fadely in the 200-yard breaststroke. Wei finished with a winning time of 2:12.84, breaking her own pool record of 2:13.27 and besting the meet record of 2:13.89 set in 2015. Wei's time was also the fastest recorded, by more than four seconds, in Division III this season. Fadely settled for the runner-up spot in 2:16.14 and first-year Kelsey Van Eldik took fourth place in 2:18.44. Again, all three of those times came under the NCAA 'B' cut.

Kenyon's final event win occurred in the meet-ending 400-yard freestyle relay. Haag led off a team that included Celia Ford, Lisa Torrecillas-Jouault and Sydney Geboy. Together, they posted a winning time of 3:24.10, which, like the others, went down as the best Division III time this season.

Kenyon had a handful of other notable, individual top-five finishers. Junior Emma Kelley took fifth place in the 200-yard backstroke, clocking in at 2:05.64. One event later, Geboy, a senior, logged a third-place showing in the 100-yard freestyle. She registered a 51.01, which was an NCAA 'B' cut. In the same event, Torrecillas-Jouault took sixth in 51.22, which also cleared the 'B' cut. Giordano and Caymaz then added a couple more top-five, 'B' cut finishes for the Owls in the 200-yard butterfly. Giordano took second place in 2:03.18 and Caymaz took fifth in 2:04.61.

The Owls now have a long break from competition. Their next NCAA meet is scheduled for January 10 in New Jersey, where they'll battle Prince University and the United States Naval Academy.

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Players Mentioned

Bengisu Caymaz: Sophomore

Jennah Fadely: Senior

Celia Ford: Senior

Sydney Geboy: Senior

Sofia Giordano: Sophomore

Molly Haag: Junior

Emma Kelley: Junior

Lisa Torrecillas-Jouault: Junior

Gabrielle Wei: Senior

Nora Lee Brown: First-Year

Players Mentioned

Bengisu Caymaz
: Sophomore

Jennah Fadely
: Senior

Celia Ford
: Senior

Sydney Geboy
: Senior

Sofia Giordano
: Sophomore

Molly Haag
: Junior

Emma Kelley
: Junior

Lisa Torrecillas-Jouault
: Junior

Gabrielle Wei
: Senior

Nora Lee Brown
: First-Year