Owls chalk up three event titles on day three

2/13/2026 9:25:00 PM

GRANVILLE, Ohio -- The Kenyon College Owls notched three individual event wins and closed within 52 points of front-running Denison University on Friday night. The host Big Red, however, responded and built a lead of 159 points at the conclusion of what was the third day of the four-day 2026 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Men's Swimming and Diving Championship.

As the teams head for Saturday's final day of competition, Denison remains in first place with 1,352.5 points, while Kenyon holds second with 1,193.5 points. Rounding out the top five in the nine-team competition are John Carroll University in third (805.5), DePauw University in fourth (716), and Wabash College in fifth place (655).

Kenyon's first event title Friday night came from senior Ethan Manske, who successfully defended his crown in the 400-yard individual medley and ran his streak to three straight NCAC wins in the event. His winning swim, concluding in 3:52.99, extended Kenyon's overall streak to six straight conference titles in the event. Backing up Manske was first-year Conner Verbanas, who took sixth place in 4:06.08, and sophomore Owen Gingras, who claimed seventh place in 4:06.35.

The next Kenyon event title came from junior Noel Tumbasz, who won the 100-yard breaststroke. His winning time of 54.42 just missed his season-best by one hundredth of a second. A half a second after Tumbasz touched, Kenyon sophomore Leo Karnitz claimed second place in a personal-record time of 54.99.

When swimming paused and diving commenced, the Kenyon men inked another NCAC champion on the result sheet, as first-year Chase Smith won the one-meter competition with a final score of 509.35. Teammate and sophomore James Lackner added a fifth-place showing for Kenyon, tallying a score of 374.60.

Back at the start of the session, Kenyon senior Roman Savage took the runner-up spot in the 100-yard butterfly, clocking in with a season-best time of 47.73. The Owls also got a big points boost from four others, who finished in the championship final heat. That group was led by Karnitz in fifth place (48.49), then Michael Baltodano in sixth (49.48), Neil Abrahamson in seventh (49.68) and Thomson Parlette in eighth (50.17).

The Owls' top finisher in the 200-yard freestyle was Djordje Dragojlovic, who took fifth with a time of 1:38.39. Teo Jaworski was seventh in 1:40.24 and Gabriel Cowart was ninth, with a time of 1:42.35.

At the end of the night, Kenyon's 200-yard freestyle relay team of Spencer Stluka, Abrahamson, Dragojlovic, and Peter Dunson posted a time of 1:20.40 and finished second to Denison, which set a new NCAC record at 1:18.42.

The championship meet's final day will get underway tomorrow with preliminary heats at 9:30 a.m. and final heats beginning at 6 p.m.

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