Kenyon Men, Denison Women Ascend to top spots in December Poll

2023 All-American Djordje Dragojlovic

December 15, 2023 - Lewisburg, PA - The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) released the November edition of the Division III Top 25 dual meet poll. The Kenyon Men and Denison Women are the top ranked dual meet teams in the country following the completion of the majority of mid-season invitationals. Both the Kenyon Men and Denison Women were ranked second in last month's poll.

The committee, consisting of Division III coaches, assesses and ranks the nation's top 25 dual meet teams. Their evaluation takes into account head-to-head dual meet outcomes, performances since the last rankings, season-long performances, dual meet records, roster changes (such as injuries) and data from the SwimCloud Simulator. It's important to note that the poll's objective is not to predict the top finishers in a championship meet format.

On the men's side, the Kenyon Owls (500 points) took every first-place vote to jump second place Emory (479 points). NYU (461) jumped up two spots to crack the top three, while Chicago (439) and Tufts (421) round out the top five. The poll saw the most significant movement up the rankings from Tufts - 17 to 5 and MIT - 14 to 7. Other moves of note include TCNJ from 16 to 13 and Hope from 20 to 16. UW-Eau Claire - 21, Gettysburg - 22, UW-Stevens Point and Rowan make their season debuts in the top 25. Overall, 28 programs received votes.

For the women, Denison was unanimously chosen as the top team with 425 points. Kenyon (408) moves up into 2nd, while Emory (390) appears at 3rd. NYU (374) moves up one spot to 4th and MIT (353) rounds out the top 5. WashU - 14 and UW Eau-Claire - 22 made this month's most significant leaps, each moving up three spots. Middlebury - 20 and Rhodes - 25 both make their season debut in the top 25. In all, 28 teams received votes.

*It is important to note, some programs had their first competitions of the year in the time between polls.

You can find a complete list of the rankings at: www.cscaa.org/top25

Each committee includes 17 representatives from the four Division III Regions. The women and men committee chairs are Jake Taber (Hope) and Sean Tedesco (USMMA). 

The remaining polls are scheduled for release on: January 26, February 9 and Friday March 1. Dates are subject to adjustment.

Division III Men

Rk Prv Team Points
1 2 Kenyon 500
2 1 Emory 479
3 5 NYU 461
4 3 Chicago 439
5 17 Tufts 421
6 6 Denison 391
7 14 MIT 386
8 4 Calvin 352
9 11 Carnegie Mellon 349
10 8 WashU 320
11 7 Pomona-Pitzer 301
12 9 Johns Hopkins 280
13 16 TCNJ 260
14 10 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 236
15 12 Case Western Reserve 224
16 20 Hope 197
17 15 Williams 184
18 13 RIT 156
19 18 SUNY Geneseo 134
20 22 Trinity (TX) 130
21 NR UW-Eau Claire 92
22 NR Gettysburg 81
23 19 Swarthmore 55
24 NR UW-Stevens Point 33
25 NR Rowan 22

Also Receiving Votes

Amherst (12), Colby (4), Caltech (1)

Division III Women

Rk Prv Team Points
1 2 Denison 425
2 3 Kenyon 408
3 1 Emory 390
4 5 NYU 374
5 6 MIT 353
6 7 Chicago 343
7 4 Williams 324
8 9 Tufts 303
9 10 Pomona-Pitzer 292
10 8 Johns Hopkins 273
11 12 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 251
12 11 Hope 241
13 13 Case Western Reserve 215
14 17 WashU 210
15 16 Trinity U 180
16 14 Swarthmore 174
17 15 Carnegie Mellon 151
18 20 Calvin 137
19 22 Gettysburg 121
20 NR Middlebury 92
21 23 SUNY Geneseo 82
22 25 UW-Eau Claire 67
23 21 Bates 54
24 19 Bowdoin 36
25 NR Rhodes 17

Also Receiving Votes

RIT (5), Amherst (4), Depauw (1)

Women's Poll Committee

Chris Brown, Scranton; Greg Brown, Gettysburg; Brad Burnham, Bowdoin; Jay Daniels, Puget Sound; Jon Duncan, Southwestern; Brad Dunn, Lynchburg; John Geissinger, Hamilton; Logan LaBerge, Kalamazoo; Rich Munson, Drew; Shannon O'Brien, RPI; Brooke Plotz, Carleton; Cathleen Pruden, Trinity (TX); Annie Ryder, Wisconsin-Eau Claire; Meg Sisson-French, MIT; Jake Taber, Hope (National Chair); Jason Weber, Chicago; Mark Yankovich, Widener.

Men's Poll Committee

Justin Anderson, Mary Washington; Phil Baratela, RIT. Andy Brabson, Cal Tech; Peter Casares, Bates; Jennifer Cournoyer, Norwich; Keith Crawford, Rose-Hulman; Sam Davy, Swarthmore;  Paul Dotterweich, SUNY Geneseo; David Dow, TCNJ; Astrid Escobar, Berry; Dan Forsythe, Amherst; Jim Halliburton, Washington-St. Louis; Rob Harrington, Wooster; Sarah James, Southwestern; Connor Rumpit, NYU; Pat Smith, Westminster; Brent Summers, Willamette; Sean Tedesco, USMMA (National Chair); Jason Weber, Chicago; Seth Weidmann, Carthage.

Mike Tubb