Women’s swimming and diving team finishes season as NCAA national runners-up

By Michelle Ricker March 23, 2026

The Emory women’s swimming and diving team concluded the season as national runners-up in the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday, March 21, in Indianapolis.

Moments after the 200 Medley Relay team won gold in that event, Ava Kennedy raises her fist alongside teammates Penny Celtnieks, Katie Cohen and Allison Greeneway.

Graduate student Sammi Thiele, who placed in the 400 Medley Relay, 200 Individual Medley and 200 Freestyle Relay.

Junior Emma Lunn, who claimed the national championship in the 200 Backstroke with a winning time of 1:58.83.

The 400 Medley Relay team of senior Penny Celtnieks, junior Katie Cohen, sophomore Allison Greeneway and graduate student Sammi Thiele earned silver with a championship final time of 3:41.42.

The Emory women’s swimming and diving team concluded the season as national runners-up in the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday, March 21, in Indianapolis.

The Eagles ended the four-day meet with 433.5 points on the strength of two national championships, two program records, 19 First Team All-America efforts and 11 Second Team All-America finishes.

On the first day of the tournament, the Eagles earned silver in the 400 Medley Relay, with the team of senior Penny Celtnieks, junior Katie Cohen, sophomore Allison Greeneway and graduate student Sammi Thiele marking a time of 3:41.42.

That same night, a trio of Eagles placed inside the top nine in the 200 Individual Medley. Thiele took bronze at 2:01.25, Greeneway joined the podium in sixth position at 2:02.42, and sophomore Caitlin Crysel was the consolation final winner as she finished ninth with a finals time of 2:03.18.

Graduate student Ava Kennedy registered another bronze medal effort for the Eagles during night one as she posted a time of 22.86 in the championship heat of the 50 Freestyle.

On night two, the Eagles were headlined by a trio of divers who reached the finals of the 1-meter event. Graduate student Ariana Khan led the three Emory performers on the board with her fourth-place effort and a finals mark of 430.30. Sophomore Maya Kriz secured her first-ever All-America honor with a sixth-place finish at 4:20.10, and senior Ren Watt notched eighth place with a score of 410.70.

In addition to the Emory divers, junior Natalie Boorjian led the Eagles in the swimming events with a 200 Freestyle seventh-place finish with a time of 1:51.26. In the 200 Freestyle Relay, Kennedy, Crysel, Celtnieks and Thiele came in sixth with a combined time of 1:32.62.

Friday, March 20, marked the team’s first national championship of the meet when the 200 Medley Relay claimed victory with a time of 1:39.75. The team consisted of Celtnieks, Cohen, Greeneway and Kennedy.

Celtnieks and Cohen each earned national runner-up titles that night as well. Celtnieks went for a 54.29 to claim second place in the 100 Backstroke, just 0.1 off the leader. In the 100 Breaststroke, Cohen smashed a 15-year-old Emory program record with her finals mark of 1:01.26, earning her silver.

On Saturday, the final day of the tournament, junior Emma Lunn closed her stellar debut season wearing a gold cap as she claimed the national championship in the 200 Backstroke with a winning time of 1:58.83.

In the 200 Breaststroke, Cohen continued to rewrite the Emory record books as she recorded her second program record of the meet with her national runner-up effort with a time of 2:11.80 to smash the five-year-old Emory record by more than three seconds.

The Eagles’ national runner-up performance is the team’s third in the past five national meets, and the 23rd top-five team finish across the previous 24 NCAA Championships.

Read more in-depth coverage from the women’s tournament on the Emory Athletics site.

Men’s swimming and diving team finishes fifth

The men’s swimming and diving team finished fifth at the end of the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis.

McKee Thorsen, center, earns silver with a time of 1:45.22 in the 200 Fly.

Henri Bonnault, center, earns silver in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 52.71.

Crow Thorsen, who placed in the 400 Individual Medley, the 400 Freestyle Relay and the 800 Freestyle Relay.

The men’s swimming and diving team finished fifth at the end of the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis. Across the tournament, the team totaled 12 First Team All-America performances and 13 Second Team All-America nods.

On the first night of the competition, sophomore Ben Pritchard placed sixth in the 500 Freestyle with a finals mark of 4:26.86, the first podium finish of his career. In that evening’s final event, Emory earned a third-place finish in the 400 Medley Relay as the group of first-year McKee Thorsen, junior Hayden Tupper, sophomore Zachary Spicer and senior Henri Bonnault combined for a mark of 3:11.55.

Graduate student Crow Thorsen was the team’s top performer on night two, earning a First Team All-America recognition with an eighth-place finish in the 400 Individual Medley with a time of 3:53.42.

McKee and Bonnault each claimed silver medals on day three, with McKee finishing the 200 Fly in 1:45.42 and Bonnault registering a mark of 52.71 in the 100 Breaststroke. Bonnault returned to the podium along with Colin Zexter, Patrick Horton and Connor McHugh, taking fourth in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:27.17. In the 800 Freestyle, Hayden Tupper, Sven Becker, Graham Zucker and Crow took sixth place, finishing in 6:33.84.

The final night of the tournament saw Pritchard collect his second All-America honor of the week, coming in fourth place in the 1,650 Freestyle with a time of 15:29.06.

Additionally, Spicer and Bonnault added to Emory’s point total with their individual performances, with Spicer taking 14th in the 200 Backstroke at 1:47.19 and Bonnault going for 1:59.87 in the 200 Breaststroke to place 12th.

In the final event of the season, graduate student Jared Zhang, Crow, McKee and Tupper led the Eagles to an 11th-place finish in the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of 2:58.61.

The men’s swimming and diving team’s fifth-place finish marks the 25th consecutive season inside the top five at the NCAA Championships.

Read more in-depth coverage from the men’s tournament on the Emory Athletics site.

Images courtesy of Emory Athletics.

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Men’s swimming and diving team finishes fifth

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