Kenyon comes up short to Denison

11/8/2025 2:19:00 PM

GRANVILLE, Ohio – After picking up a victory over Ohio Wesleyan University last night, the Kenyon College men's swimming and diving team headed out for another North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) dual on Saturday morning, taking on Denison University on the road.

Although the Owls were extremely close to the top of the leaderboard all day, the team could not collect enough wins to keep up with the Big Red, falling 178-122.

Kenyon's dual started off with four close second place finishes before picking up its first win. The Kenyon 'A' squad of Djordje Dragojlovic, Noel Tumbasz, Roman Savage and Spencer Stluka missed out on first place by less than a second, clocking in at 1:31.43. One event later, Matthew Amodio took second in the 1000 freestyle with a 9:47.91 time, while Ethan Manske finished in second in the 200 freestyle with a 1:42.63 score.

Kristof Szappanos picked up the Owls first win of the day in the 100 backstroke. He touched the wall in 51.32, just two tenths of a second faster than the next finisher and a season best for the team.

Tumbasz came back with a 57.29 finish in the 100 breaststroke in the next event, seven hundredths of a second slower than the first place finisher. Savage also came up just short in the 200 butterfly, clocking in at 1:52.86 for second place, four tenths of a second behind first.

Kenyon's next victory of the day came from Dragojlovic in the 50 freestyle. In a finish where the top two swimmers came in at two hundredths of a second apart, the senior came away victorious with a 20.47 time. Dragojlovic backed it up with a second place performance in the 100 free style, finishing at 45.45.

Szappanos earned his second victory of the meet in the 200 backstroke, where he clocked in at 1:52.76 after winning the 100 backstroke earlier in the day. After narrowly taking second in the 200 butterfly, Savage came back with a vengeance to take the 100 butterfly with a 50.09 mark.

The Owls took the top two spots in the meet's penultimate event, the 400 individual medley. Manske made his mark with a 4:04.37 time, besting the field by over seven seconds. Owen Von Weihe was second to finish at 4:11.55.

In fitting end to a set of swimming events where Kenyon again came up just short, the 'A' team of Neil Abrahamson, Stluka, Dragojlovic and Pedro Mello combined for a 1:22.62 time, just under half a second slower than the first place Big Red team.

On the boards, Chase Smith highlighted the Kenyon efforts for the meet. Smith led the team with a second place finish on the three meter boards, amassing 284.40 points. He came back with a third place performance in the one meter, where he totaled 252.15 points. James Lackner took fifth in the three meter with a 234.60 mark and repeated in the three meter, where he scored 213.68.

Next up, Kenyon will host the Total Performance Invitational from the Steen Aquatic Center. The three day event will get underway from Gambier on Thursday, November 20.

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