Widmer’s amazing win keeps Owls in the hunt

3/19/2026 8:44:00 PM

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- A relatively quiet Thursday-night session for the Kenyon College Owls was interrupted by the loud cheers on deck for junior Ashlyn Widmer after she pulled off an upset to claim the event title in the 400-yard individual medley during the second day of the four-day 2026 NCAA Division III Women's Swimming and Diving Championship.

Widmer went into the event as the No. 9 seed, having a seed time more than three seconds slower than top-seeded Emily Harris of Denison University. In the morning prelims, Harris put up a winning time of 4:20.16, while Widmer took fifth place in 4:22.58. In the evening finals, Harris jumped out to a huge lead, but Widmer began making up ground in the breaststroke portion of the race. As Harris started to falter, possibly paying the price for the quick start, Widmer took full advantage in the freestyle and out-touched Harris, 4:20.61 to 4:20.62.

The NCAA event title was a first for Widmer, who placed 18th and 11th in the same race over the last two national meets. Her time was nearly two seconds better than her preliminary time and went in the books as a personal record, smashing her previous best of 4:23.38.

Back at the start of session, the first swimmer in the pool for the Owls was senior Molly Haag, last night's 500-yard freestyle national champion. In Thursday's 200-yard freestyle, Haag earned a spot in the championship heat and placed third with a time of 1:48.94. That mark was more than a second off her seed time and was a season best. The time also resulted in Haag's 15th career All-America award.

While Haag took third, she was surrounded by swimmers from first-place New York University, who claimed first, second, and fourth places. In the next event, the 100-yard butterfly, New York logged a ninth-place finish, while Kenyon had no participants. The results of those two swims extended the Violets' lead over Kenyon to 192-124.5.

Widmer then helped the Owls chip away at that margin with her memorable victory in the 400-yard individual medley. New York had a ninth-place finish in the event, but Kenyon cut the Violets' advantage to just under 60 points.

New York then added to its lead by 16 points after posting a third-place finish in the one-meter diving competition. The diving results also brought Emory University into the mix. The Eagles had three scoring divers and moved ahead of Kenyon by 18 points.

That left just the 200-yard freestyle relay on Thursday's docket and, like last night, the Owls, Violets, and Eagles were the top three seeds. In the end, it was New York pulling out the win in an NCAA record time of 1:29.38. Hope College took second and Kenyon's quartet of Gwen Eisenbeis, Julia Mascarenhas, Kate Bogan, and Lisa Torrecillas-Jouault recorded a third-place finish in 1:31.68. Emory's relay team placed sixth.

At the end of the night, New York maintained first place in the overall team standings with 260 points, Emory was second with 188.5, and Kenyon was third with 176.5 points.

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