GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Kenyon College women's swimming and diving team achieved the ultimate goal of any program: capturing an NCAA Championship. The No. 1-ranked Owls ended their 2023-24 campaign atop the national standings, holding off defending champion and North Coast Athletic Conference rival Denison University on the final day of the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Swimming and Diving Championship. The team tallied 448 points to secure the program's 25th NCAA crown. That mark extends Kenyon's lead over all women's programs in any sport and any division of the NCAA.
Right behind Kenyon in the team standings was Denison, who led at the midway point but trailed the Owls over the final two days. The Big Red finished with 430 points, taking second in the closely-contested rankings. New York University secured bronze with 374 points, edging out Williams College (360) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (344.5).
The Owls reached the podium in three of the four individual races on the fourth and final day, strengthening their hold on first place after each race. Bengisu Caymaz started the national finale by winning an NCAA championship in the meet's first individual event on Wednesday, and the first-year started Saturday the same way when she won the 1,650-yard freestyle title. Caymaz clocked in at 16:34.67 to clinch her second national title.
Molly Haag and Sarah Hoffman each added points in the mile, helping Kenyon extend its three-point, three-day lead to five, 349-344, after the final day's first event. Haag, a sophomore, stopped the clock at 16:47.24 to secure First Team All-America honors. Hoffman, a senior, posted a season-best time of 17:13.22, earning a spot on the All-America Second Team.
Lisa Torrecillas-Jouault finished seventh in the 100-yard freestyle with a career-best 50.53 mark, adding eight points to Kenyon's lead. The sophomore was busy at the Championship, adding six All-America awards by the end of the meet.
Another career-best swim helped the Owls gain more separation. Caleigh Wukitch brought home a bronze medal in the 200-yard backstroke, clocking in at 1:58.98. The senior ends her career as a four-time First Team All-American, with all four awards coming this week.
Kenyon paced the field by 22 points heading into the final individual swimming event, the 200-yard breaststroke. The race was a substantial one for the Owls, who more than doubled that edge to 48 with three scoring finishes. First up was senior Sydney McCallie, who finished 13th with a career-best time of 2:19.16. Classmates Jennah Fadely and Gabrielle Wei battled it out in the final, and the duo contributed to an electric finish. Fadely, last year's champion in the event, posted a season-best time of 2:12.71. However, her season-best swim was bested by Wei's career-best showing. Wei stopped the clock at 2:11.70, just 0.48 seconds behind Fadely's Kenyon record, to claim her first NCAA crown.
The 1-2 finish in the event put Kenyon in prime position to maintain their lead, but the contest still came down to the last event. Three Denison divers combined to score 32 points in the three-meter diving finals, the penultimate event, cutting Kenyon's advantage to 16 with one event remaining.
The Owls had the inside track on clinching the NCAA title heading into the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Kenyon's quartet of Haag, Gwen Eisenbeis, Torrecillas-Jouault, and Sydney Geboy, seeded second coming into the race, needed to finish sixth or better if the Big Red paced the field to hold on to the lead. The Owls did more than the minimum as the team clocked in at 3:23.38, placing fourth, one spot ahead of the Big Red, to secure the team title.
Throughout the 2024 NCAA Championship, Kenyon swimmers finished with four national titles, secured three silver medals, brought in three bronze medals, compiled 44 All-America awards, and posted two program-record times.
