Two national runner-up finishes highlighted the third night of the 2024 NCAA Division III National Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina as the Emory University men's swimming & diving team extended its lead over the rest of the field.
Through three days of competition, the Eagles move closer to their third consecutive national championship with a team-best 327 points. Emory currently leads second place Kenyon College by 55 points with the Owls coming in at 272 points. Fellow UAA member Chicago stands in third with 264 points.
Saturday's slate of events will feature the 100 Freestyle, 200 Backstroke, 200 Breaststroke, 400 Freestyle Relay, women's 3-meter diving and the 1,650 Freestyle. The Eagles will look to add more gold on the banner with the trials starting at 10:00 AM followed by the finals at 6:00 PM.
Senior Jake Meyer had the Eagles' best individual performance of the third day as he finished as the national runner-up in the loaded 100 Breaststroke field. Going up against his UAA brethren of NYU's Derek Maas and Chicago's Garrett Clausen, Meyer had his hands full in his quest to repeat. The three UAA swimmers went toe-to-toe across the 200 meters with Maas edging Meyer by just .46 seconds. The trio were separated by just .53 seconds.
After Meyer's second place finish, the Eagles' 800 Freestyle Relay team of seniors Nicholas Goudie, Harrison Pire, junior Crow Thorsen and sophomore McKee Thorsen closed out the night with a battle in the distance relay. The Eagles went up against Williams with Goudie and Pire building a lead in the early legs but the Ephs were able to pass the Thorsen brothers over the final 400 yards. Both teams went under 6:30.00 with Williams touching first at 6:29.05 and the Eagles coming in at 6:29.63.
Along with Meyer and the 800 Freestyle Relay, the Eagles saw four additional podium finishes as well as three consolation final swims.
The Thorsen brothers continued their impressive meet with top-8 showings in the 200 Butterfly. The younger Thorsen came in sixth at 1:46.87 in the championship final to start the night with the elder Thorsen placing eighth at 1:48.47.
In the 100 Backstroke, junior Adam Braunschweig became an All-American for the first time in his career as he finished eighth with a time of 48.40 while sophomore Henri Bonnault made it two straight years on the podium in the 100 Breaststroke as he touched in seventh with a time of 53.86.
Senior Ryan Soh and junior Liyang Sun added 11th place efforts in their respective events with Soh going for 48.17 in the B Final of the 100 Backstroke and Sun posting a 54.10 in the 100 Breaststroke. Junior Nolan Lahmann rounded out Friday's All-America honorees as he earned his first-ever top-16 finish, taking 14th in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 48.63.