Owls score top-five finish at NCAA Championship

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Kenyon College Owls made a valiant run at the few teams ahead of them before settling into fifth place in the final standings of the four-day 2025 NCAA Division III Men's Swimming & Diving Championship, which concluded Saturday night at Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Throughout the course of the meet, the Owls finished day one in fourth place, day two in second place, and day three in fifth place. At the close of Saturday night's session, the Owls finalized their fifth-pace position with a total of 250 points, just 17.5 points behind fourth-place New York University and 22 points behind third-place University of Chicago .

Denison University finished atop the leaderboard with 463.5 points and claimed its first championship title since 2019. Emory University, the three-time defending champion, finished second with 323.5 points. Chicago's final total was 272 and New York's was 267.5.

Saturday night got started for Kenyon when sophomore Roman Savage claimed a 19th-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle. He clocked in at 15:56.76.

After that opening event, the Owls lost a little bit of ground to the teams in front of them, but then made up for it with a third-place finish from Djordje Dragojlovic, who completed the 100-yard freestyle in 43.32 while adding 16 points to the Kenyon team total. That result for Dragojlovic was his 13th career Top-3 NCAA event finish and netted him his 20th career All-America award. His accomplishment pulled Kenyon within 12.5 points of fourth-place New York.

The Owls overcame that gap in the next event. With first-year Charlie Green taking a fifth-place spot in the 200-yard backstroke and junior Ethan Manske finishing 15th, Kenyon climbed back into fourth place in the team standings, 3.5 points ahead of New York. Green gained first-team All-America accolades with his time of 1:46.42 and Manske added his 10th career All-America award, earning second-team honors with a time of 1:48.06.

The Kenyon edge didn't last long, though, as New York gained points on the Owls in the 200-yard breaststroke. Kenyon had junior Kirill Sidorko and sophomore Noel Tumbasz in the consolation final, but their combined total of nine points was overpowered by New York's 28. Sidorko wound up taking 10th place in the event and Tumbasz took 15th. Their respective times were 1:59.06 and 2:00.50.

That left only the 400-yard freestyle relay on the schedule and the Owls headed into the event 15.5 points behind third-place New York and eight points behind fourth-place Chicago. When the relay was finished, the Owls placed sixth. Chicago won the event and New York placed fifth.

Kenyon's relay finale consisted of Neil Abrahamson, Dragojlovic, Sidorko, and Teo Jaworski. That foursome completed the race in 2:57.99.

The Owls' fifth-place spot in the final team standings gave the program its 47th consecutive top-five finish at NCAA Championship meets.

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Players Mentioned

Djordje Dragojlovic: Junior

Teo Jaworski: Junior

Ethan Manske: Junior

Roman Savage: Sophomore

Noel Tumbasz: Sophomore

Kirill Sidorko: Junior

Neil Abrahamson: First-Year

Charlie Green: First-Year

Players Mentioned

Djordje Dragojlovic
: Junior

Teo Jaworski
: Junior

Ethan Manske
: Junior

Roman Savage
: Sophomore

Noel Tumbasz
: Sophomore

Kirill Sidorko
: Junior

Neil Abrahamson
: First-Year

Charlie Green
: First-Year