Nov. 28, 2006

Courtesy of CollegeSwimming.com

Somers, WI - Last year the Denison University men and Kenyon College women played the role of bridesmaid at the NCAA Championships.  This week the two squads find themselves atop the first Division III Dual-Meet Rankings of the 2006-07 season.  The Ranking uses and objective scoring system to measure a dual-meet strength and is not indicative of a team's finish at the NCAA Championships.

The Denison men (3-1) are perfect against Division III competition including a 140-99 dual-meet victory over defending national champion Kenyon.  Their only setback came against Division I Ohio University.  DePauw University (3-1) sits second.  The Tigers boast a 19-meet home winning streak.  Carnegie Mellon (2-0), boasts a deep dual-meet lineup to rank third ahead of Emory (0-2) whose two losses have come at the hands of Division I programs, Wabash (6-0), and UC Santa Cruz (0-2).

In the women's ranking, the Kenyon women (1-2) lead the way.  The Ladies are looking to overcome last year's heartbreaking second-place finish at the NCAA Championships.  Reflecting the manner in which a dual-meet team differs from a championship meet squad, UW-Steven's Point (1-1), the defending WIAC champion, edged Emory (3-1) defending NCAA Champion for second place.  Carnegie Mellon (1-1) sits fourth while Wittenberg (3-1), buoyed by its highest-ever finish at the NCAC Relays is ranked fifth.

The next ranking will be posted just prior to the Christmas holiday and show significant change.  Several East-coast programs, including six institutions from last-year's final ranking (Williams, Tufts, MIT, Colby, Wheaton (MA) and Wesleyan did not see significant competition prior to the November 14 reporting deadline.  The Division III rankings will undergo a significant shakeup and expand to the top twenty-five.  .

The CollegeSwimming.com rankings are based on each team's best dual meet lineup as judged and submitted by participating teams. Rankings are announced four times throughout the season and entries are due on November 14 (Pre-Invite), December 20 (Post-Invite), February 6 (Pre-Conference) , and March 6 (post-conference).