D3Playbook: Can Anyone Catch Kenyon?

written by STEVE ULRICH
your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III

>> Hello Wednesday! The Ides of March and the start of the NCAA DIII Swimming and Diving championships.

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TOP STORY

1. Can Anyone Catch Kenyon?

The 2023 NCAA Division III Women’s and Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships will get underway today in Greensboro, N.C.

After a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Kenyon women and Emory men won the 2022 titles. It was the Owls’ first women’s championship title since 2009 and it snapped Emory’s streak at ten. It was Emory’s second men’s title in program history; otherwise, the title had been won by either Kenyon (34 times) or Denison (five times) every year since 1980.

Both the Owl men and women are ranked No. 1 nationally by the CSCAA entering the championship meet.

Here are the top seeds in each event.

Women
500 Free: Kristin Cornish (Johns Hopkins), 4:48.37
200 IM: Sophia Verkleeren (Williams), 2:00.56
50 Free: Alexandra White (Kenyon), 22.83
200 Medley Relay: Kenyon, 1:39.92
200 Free Relay: Denison, 1:31.48
400 IM: Verkleeren, 4:17.24
100 Fly: Lillian Klinginsmith (Tufts), 53.56
200 Free: Taryn Wisner (Denison), 1:48.55
400 Medley Relay: Kenyon, 3:40.06
200 Fly: Caitlin Marshall (NYU), 1:59.95
100 Back: Megan Jungers (Emory), 53.80
100 Breast: Jennah Fadely (Kenyon), 59.98
800 Free Relay: Denison, 7:17.09
1650 Free: Cornish, 16:29.52
100 Free: Caroline Maki (Emory), 49.72
200 Back: Kate Augustyn (MIT), 1:57.84
200 Breast: Jordyn Wentzel (Saint Catherine), 2:12.94
400 Free Relay: Tufts, 3:22.68

Men
500 Free: Patrick Pema (Emory), 4:22.82
200 IM: Richard Kurlich (Denison), 1:47.10
50 Free: Noah Holstege (Calvin), 19.51
200 Medley Relay: Kenyon, 1:27.52
200 Free Relay: Calvin, 1:18.98
400 IM: Bryan Fitzgerald (Kenyon), 3:52.21
100 Fly: Jesse Ssengonzi (Chicago), 46.85
200 Free: Pema, 1:35.92
400 Medley Relay: Kenyon, 3:12.67
200 Fly: Justin Finkel (Connecticut College), 1:45.31
100 Back: Tanner Filion (Whitman), 46.74
100 Breast: Jacob Meyer (Emory), 53.23
800 Free Relay: Emory, 6:32.87
1650 Free: Connor Vincent (NYU), 15:18.69
100 Free: Tobe Obochi (MIT), 43.48
200 Back: Filion, 1:42.97
200 Breast: Jason Hamilton (Emory), 1:54.74
400 Free Relay: Kenyon, 2:55.50

>> Championship Central
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SOFTBALL

2. Sea Gulls Unanimous No. 1

Windsor 3-10-23

Lindsey Windsor, Salisbury | photo by Hannah Reagle

Salisbury is the unanimous choice of the NFCA pollsters as the first Division III softball ranking was released Tuesday.

Salisbury (10), 14-0
Christopher Newport, 6-2
Trine, 10-2
Texas Lutheran, 13-2
Berry, 14-3
Virginia Wesleyan, 7-3
Case Western Reserve, 8-0
East Texas Baptist, 10-1
Bethel, 6-2
Randolph-Macon, 5-3

>> Conference Call: C2C (2), ASC (2), MIAC (2), ODAC (2), SAA (2), UAA (2), ARC (1), CCIW (1), CCS (1), HCAC (1), LEC (1), MIAA (1), NACC (1), NESCAC (1), NJAC (1), NWC (1), SCAC (1), USA (1)

>> Games We're Watching: #2 CNU vs. #10 Randolph-Macon (Sat.); #3 Trine vs. #11 Linfield (Sat.); #8 ETBU vs. #17 Eastern Connecticut (Sat.)

>> Complete Poll

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VOLLEYBALL (M)

3. Here Comes The Cardinals

Austin Scott, North Central | photo by Steve Woltmann

North Central (Ill.) made a three-spot move to No. 7 in the latest AVCA Division III men's volleyball poll.

Stevens (20), 22-2
Vassar (3), 15-1
Juniata, 17-2
Springfield, 18-2
Messiah, 16-2
Carthage, 12-4
North Central (Ill.), 13-3
St. John Fisher, 17-5
NYU, 11-5
Southern Virginia, 11-2

>> Cleanup Hitter: Andrew Zaleck of Rutgers-Newark leads DIII in kills per set (4.84), while Alberto Mauricio (Elmira) is right behind (4.83).

>> All-Time Winningest Programs (entering 2023): Springfield 1,034, New Paltz 912, Stevens 675, MIT 561, Juniata 570, Ramapo 555, Rivier 534, UC Santa Cruz 507, Vassar 506, New Jersey City 503.

>> Complete Poll

BASEBALL

4. B-SC Holds Onto Top Spot

Carson Collins, Baldwin Wallace

Birmingham-Southern held onto the No. 1 slot in Division III baseball according to this week's D3Baseball.com poll.

Birmingham-Southern (17), 17-1
Salisbury (6), 12-1
UW-Stevens Point, 3-0
Baldwin Wallace, 11-2
Eastern Connecticut (2), 5-0
Shenandoah, 11-2
Endicott, 4-0
UW-Whitewater, 0-0
LaGrange, 10-5
Johns Hopkins, 9-1

>> Winningest Active Coaches: Tom Austin (Methodist) 1,234, Bob Babb (Johns Hopkins) 1,218, Ed Flaherty (Southern Maine) 1,098, Augie Schmidt (Carthage) 969, Yogi Lutz (Alvernia) 939.

>> DYK: Former Ferrum standout LHP Billy Wagner allowed just 45 hits in 182 1/3 innings from 1991-93. That's 2.22 per nine innings.

>> Complete Poll

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STREAMING

5. What We're Watching

SFB: #2 Christopher Newport (6-2) vs. #6 Virginia Wesleyan (7-3), 3:00
  WLX: #10 York (2-1) vs. #9 Gettysburg (2-3), 4:00
  MLX: Ithaca (3-0) vs. Washington and Lee (4-1), 7:00
  MVB: #5 Messiah (16-2) vs. King's (17-2), 7:00

NEWS

6. Lightning Round

Lacrosse (W)

Jane Earley of Middlebury, Autumn Kraemer of Brevard, Caroline Pratt of Williams and Rachel Keefe of Chicago were named the IWLCA Division III Players of the Week

Volleyball

Jacob Labouliere of Wentworth is the AVCA Division III Men's Volleyball Player of the Week.

Track and Field

The USTFCCCA named its National Athletes of the Year for the Division III Indoor season: Cheickna Treore (Ramapo), Fiona Smith (Saint Benedict), Joseph White (Carthage) and Victoria Kadiri (Johns Hopkins)

Happy Birthday