Buckeye Reporter

The Kenyon College Owls gained one more national event title Saturday and put together a strong run to solidify a third-place team finish at the conclusion of the 2023 NCAA Division III Women's Swimming and Diving Championship at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Kenyon's title-winning swim came from Jennah Fadely, who completed the sweep of breaststroke events by taking the 200-yard crown with a Kenyon record time of 2:11.22. That mark topped the previous Kenyon record of 2:13.27 set by Fadely's teammate, Gabrielle Wei, during the 2021 season. With the result, Fadely became the first Kenyon swimmer to complete the stroke sweep since Jeannine Gury did so in 1989. Wei was in the pool with Fadely on Saturday night and helped Kenyon's cause with a seventh-place time 2:16.54.

Throughout Saturday's session, the Owls pulled closer and closer to second-place Emory University, but the results of that 200-yard breaststroke, the fourth event of the night, finally pushed the Kenyon women into second place by four points over the Eagles.

That left only the 400-yard freestyle relay to determine whether Kenyon or Emory would finish second behind Denison University in the overall team standings. Emory came through with a fourth-place finish in the relay, enough to surpass Kenyon, which finished seventh. The Owls foursome of Olivia Smith, Sydney Geboy, Fadely, and Alexandra White clocked in at 3:26.29.

Following the relay, the team standings were finalized with Denison racking up 464.5 points and taking the title. Emory owned second place with 385 points and Kenyon landed third with 383 points.  

Back at the start of the session, first-year Molly Haag got the Owls going. She powered to an eighth-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle, clocking in at 17:01.60 and adding 11 points to the Kenyon team total. Not far behind was junior Sarah Hoffman, who completed the distance event in a 10th-place time of 17:05.52.

White, a senior, then dialed up a fifth-place swim in the 100-yard freestyle, clocking in at 50.41. She was Kenyon's lone swimmer in the event. Both Denison and Emory had two swimmers in the race and increased their leads over the Owls.

Smith, another Kenyon senior, narrowed the gap a bit in the next event, the 200-yard backstroke. She stopped the clock at 2:00.51, which was good for a fourth-place finish. She gained 15 points for her efforts and she pulled Kenyon within 24 points of second-place Emory.

That set the stage for the Owls' surge in the breaststroke and then Emory's answer in the relay.

Not counting the COVID years, the Kenyon women now boast one national title, five runner-up showings and one third-place finish over the past nine seasons.   

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