The Kenyon women topped the team standings for the 27th time as competition wrapped up on Saturday night at the 2022 NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships at the Trumbull Aquatics Center on the campus of Denison University.
On the men’s side, The Kenyon men finished second overall to Denison, who captured their 13th league title.
By the end of the competition, the Ladies’ winning team total was 1,958 points. Host Denison University was second with 1,749 points. For the Kenyon Ladies, senior Crile Hart was named the NCAC Women's Swimmer of the Year after winning three individual event titles and swimming on four winning relays. Hart and her teammates started out the meet on Wednesday with a first-place showing in the 800 free relay with an NCAA “B” cut time of 7:24.59. On Thursday, the Ladies captured the title in the 200 free relay in 1:31.04 for a “B” cut. The senior then logged her second-consecutive and third overall NCAC crown in the 200 IM in an NCAA "B" cut time of 1:59.86. The Ladies were victorious in the 400 medley relay in a “B” cut time of 3:40.65. On Friday, Hart touched the wall first in the 100 fly in an NCAA "B" cut time of 53.40 to break the NCAC record that she previously set in 2020, earning her second-consecutive and third overall title in the event. On the final day, she collected her second-consecutive and third overall 200 back crown with a “B” cut time of 1:57.95, before the Ladies finished the meet with a victory in the 400 free relay with a 3:21.65 “B” cut.
Kenyon freshman Jennah Fadely earned the 2022 NCAC Women's Newcomer of the Year honors after claiming five All-NCAC certificates with four event titles and a second-place showing in her first NCAC Championship. On Thursday, Fadely took second in the 200 IM behind teammate Hart with an NCAA “B” cut time of 2:03.28. The rookie and her teammates then topped the podium in the 400 medley relay in a “B” cut time of 3:40.65 to end the evening. In the first women's event on Friday night, Fadely swam the second leg of the Ladies winning 200-medley relay with an NCAA "B" cut time of 1:41.82. The freshman ended night three with the 100 breaststroke crown reaching the wall first with an NCAA "B" cut time of 1:01.37. The next day, she closed out her first NCAC championship experience with a first-place finish in the 100 IM with a time of 57.19.
Other Ladies event winners included senior Emmie Mirus, who took the top spot in the 100-yard freestyle by completing the race in 50.29; Gabrielle Wie, winner of the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:15.09; and Ania Axas, who took the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:02.51.
While the Denison Big Red won the men’s team title with 1,978.5 points and logged 27 All-NCAC finishes in the 21 events contested and collected 11 NCAC titles over the four-day meet, the Kenyon men finished second overall with 1,973.5 points after winning 10 events and posting 30 All-NCAC performances. Kenyon junior Bryan Fitzgerald was named the NCAC Men's Swimmer of the Year after claiming four All-NCAC certificates, winning two individual event titles, swimming on one winning relay and capturing a runner-up finish. On Wednesday, Fitzgerald and his teammates started the meet off with a win in the 800 free relay, touching the wall first with an NCAA "B" cut standard of 6:36.01. The junior collected the first individual event title of Thursday evening in the 500 free with an NCAA "B" cut time of 4:26.46. Fitzgerald then captured the 400 IM title on Friday, touching the wall first in an NCAA "B" cut time of 3:51.20 to break the NCAC record that he previously set in 2020. On the final day and in the longest event of the championship, the junior posted a runner-up finish in the 1650 with an NCAA “B” cut time of 15:28.56. Also for the Lords, in the 200-yard backstroke, Spencer Pruett touched first with his conference-record breaking time of 1:45.41
Kenyon sophomore Israel Zavaleta claimed the NCAC Men's Diver of the Year award after sweeping both boards at the conference meet. Zavaleta posted regional qualifying scores in both events, scoring 483.65 points on the one-meter board and 594.85 in the three-meter competition.
