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Floor Speech
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Mr. HUSTED. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize an extraordinary year of achievement by Ohio's own Denison University.
Now, everyone knows Denison to be a great academic institution. But, all of a sudden, it has become a great athletic institution. In the 2025-2026 academic year, Denison student athletes delivered one of the most successful seasons in school history, capturing four--you heard that right--NCAA Division III national titles and bringing great pride to the university community, alumni, and the entire State of Ohio.
I am joined in this Chamber by members of all four national championship winning coaches, players, and families.
So welcome to the U.S. Senate. We are honored to have you with us today.
We had the chance to join President Trump this morning at the White House to celebrate their accomplishments, and I wanted to take a couple of minutes to honor them on the Senate floor. We will start with the most recent champion, the men's baseball team.
In early June, Denison's men's baseball team won the program's first ever NCAA Division III national championship, defeating Endicott College in a 4-3 thriller, 10-inning walk-off victory.
The Big Red completed a historic season with a 51-and-3 record. That is right. A 51-and-3 record in baseball is amazing, almost unprecedented. They held the No. 1 ranking from the start of the season to the finish. It is hard to go wire to wire--so hard to go wire to wire. And under the leadership of Coach Mike Deegan, the team demonstrated excellence throughout this season, as I noted.
Now, this was a team effort. It was a three-game series in the finals. Denison won game 1. And then, game 2, they lost a 10-inning, 11-10 battle. It is so hard to come back in game 3, after being so close to clinching it in game 2. But they won a decisive game 3, 4 to 3, in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Cherish the memory--to the Denison baseball team--because you will unlikely ever have a more thrilling experience than winning the national championship in the 10th inning in a walk-off situation--great fun, great fun.
Cade Nowik was named the outstanding player of the NCAA championship after a dominant postseason performance, including a game in which he recorded three home runs and seven RBIs--pretty impressive. But I know every national championship will always say it is team effort. Everybody from the lowest man on the roster to the top, they all matter when you win a championship. Everybody contributes to that cause.
Congratulations to these outstanding student athletes for an unforgettable season and a well-earned national title.
Let me go on next to the men's swimming and diving team. In March, Denison men's swimming and diving team captured its second consecutive NCAA Division III national championship and seventh national title in program history. The Big Red finished with 437 points, nearly 49 points ahead of the second-place team, marking their third time in program history that Denison has won back-to-back NCAA championships. That right there is a tradition of excellence.
The program also swept the major awards presented by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America, as you would expect from the dominant championship team that they had. Gregg Parini was named Co-Coach of the Year. First-year diving coach Kai Robinson earned Men's Diving Coach of the Year honors. And Jack Hill and Nick Fogle were recognized as Swimmer and Diver of the Year.
That is what you call a clean sweep right there, folks.
Congratulations to these student athletes that represent Ohio and Denison with excellence. I congratulate them, their coaches, and their families. What a remarkable accomplishment--pretty amazing.
So we got through two of the national championships. Let's move to the third. That is men's doubles tennis.
Denison's men's tennis added another national title when Ethan Green and Kael Shah captured the NCAA Division III men's doubles national championship. The duo concluded the season with an impressive 24-and-6 record and secured the first national or NCAA championship in program history--amazing.
Congratulations, guys.
Their achievements also capped extraordinary collegiate careers. Ethan Green finished with the most doubles victories and combined victories in program history, while Kael Shah concluded his career- second alltime in both categories.
Congratulations to Ethan and Kael and the entire Denison's men's tennis program on your historic accomplishment.
Now on to women's basketball, and this, perhaps, is the most unexpected national championship at Denison. The women's basketball program completed a dominant 30-2 season, although at the beginning of the season, no one predicted that level of success. They captured the program's first NCAA Division III national championship. Led by head coach Maureen Hirt, the Big Red defeated the University of Scranton 55 to 41 in the national championship game to secure the title.
I understand that this team's character came through, because they were dominant defensively, pressing the whole game, created turnovers and chaos for the other team, which led to a dominant victory. You don't win national champion games 55 to 41 without being dominant as a defensive team.
This championship reflects the dedication, discipline, and determination displayed by these student athletes throughout the season. It takes a lot to go 30 to 2. Congratulations to the team, the coaches, and their families on this historic victory.
The reason this brings back some special memories for me is because I, too, as a senior at the University of Dayton, won a Division III national championship, although it was in football, and it brings back wonderful memories because it is very rare in life that you can close out an athletic career and walk off a champion.
So I hope you will cherish it, to all the Denison student athletes. It is a special, special thing.
In this era of NIL, it is also great to see people who excel in excellence for the love of the game, just because they are competitors at heart. They love their sport, and they compete.
This is an interesting thing about a Division III athlete: No one pays them to be up at 6 a.m. when they don't want to be to bust their butts, to excel in the weight room, on the field, running, conditioning, whatever it might be. No one makes them do it; they do it for the love of the game. They sacrifice. When other friends may be out having fun in the evenings or on the weekends, they sacrifice. They embrace the grind because they want to be a champion. You have to be willing to sacrifice and dedicate yourself to your craft if you want to be a champion, if you want to be a winner, if you want to be excellent.
That is why it was so great to be with these young men and women earlier today, because I know they have made the investment, and they have reaped the reward of that investment. It will carry them much further than just the athletic field, the court, the pool; it will carry them on in their life. They will be winners. They will be winners for their family, they will be winners for their community, winners for their State, and winners for their Nation.
That is why I think it is so important that we preserve the integrity of college athletics, that we continue to offer these great opportunities for student athletes to earn the resilience--to define the resilience and the character that it takes to be successful in athletic competition because that translates into life's success.
So these Ohio student athletes have made our State proud through their hard work, perseverance, and commitment to excellence. Their accomplishments serve as a reminder of what can be achieved when you are willing to pay the price of teamwork, discipline, and determination.
I am grateful for the opportunity to recognize these remarkable student athletes at Denison University and what they all stand for. On behalf of the people of Ohio, congratulations on an extraordinary year. I wish them continued success in the years ahead.
(Mr. BANKS assumed the Chair.)
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