Augustyn Wins Second Event of NCAA Championships; Emory Women Lead after Day 3 of Meet
Emory University senior Patrick Augustyn repeated as the National Champion in the 200-yard butterfly, as the Emory men sat in third at the end of day three of the NCAA D-III Championships. Meanwhile, the Emory women positioned themselves for a third-straight title, sitting atop the standings after three days of competition in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Augustyn broke his own school record in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:45.43 to win the race and complete the sweep of the fly events at the meet. The senior won the 100-yard butterfly on the second day of competition.
It marked the second-straight season that Augustyn has won the NCAA Division III title in the 200-yard butterfly, and his three career National Championships tie him for the most in the history of the men's program with diver Chris Radpour and swimmer Chris Halstead. It was the 11th individual championship in the program's history.
Following closely behind Augustyn in the 200 fly was Emory junior Miller Douglas, who finished second with a time of 1:46.73. Sophomore Matt O'Brien added an all-American finish, placing eighth with a time of 1:50.75, including a time of 1:50.16 in the preliminaries.
Sophomore Ross Spock added a runner-up finish as well, placing second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 48.75 seconds in the finals, after he broke his own school record with a time of 48.72 seconds in the preliminaries.
Emory also earned an all-America finish in the only relay of the day, the 800-yard freestyle relay. Sophomore Jake Stephens, Douglas, junior Peter O'Brien and junior Jeff Simpson finished eighth with a time of 6:42.85.
Peter O'Brien chipped in with an all-America honorable mention in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 56.87 seconds for a 15th-place finish.
With one day of competition remaining, the Emory men are in third place with 287 points. The squad trails first place Denison University (471 points), and second-place Kenyon College (359 points). Emory has a 107 point lead over MIT in fourth place.
Meanwhile, the Emory women maintained their lead heading into the final day of the meet, raising their three-day score to 436 points. The Eagles lead second-place Williams College (354 points) and third-place Denison (309 points).
Junior Anna Dobben had the top individual finish on day three for the Emory women, finishing second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55.42 seconds. Sophomore Sadie Nennig added an all-America finish in the event, finishing fourth with a time of 55.47 seconds.
Dobben also joined senior Anne Culpepper, freshman Nancy Larson and senior Whitley Taylor on the Eagles' second-place 800-yard freestyle relay team. The quartet finished with a time of 7:20.46.
Senior Jennifer Aronoff claimed the third individual all-America certificate of the session for the Eagles with a sixth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke, with a time of 1:04.16.
Junior Leslie Hackler added an all-America honorable mention in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing ninth with a time of 2:03.86.
The NCAA Division III Championships will wrap up on Saturday, with the final day of preliminaries beginning at 10:00 AM, and the championship finals at 6:00 PM. Fans can follow the Eagles on the final day of the meet via a live video webcast at http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule or live results at http://wac.org/public/NCAA/2012/index.htm.
