2016 NAIA Men’s Nationals – ONU Out Front in Team Standings on Day 1

2016 NAIA National Championships – Men’s Meet

• Dates: Wednesday, March 2 – Saturday, March 5, 2016; prelims 9 am, finals 5 pm
• Location: Columbus Aquatic Center, Columbus, Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions: Oklahoma Baptist University (results)
• Live Results: Available here
• Live Video: Available here
• Championship Central

After waiting almost an hour for a lightning storm to pass, the 2016 version of the NAIA National Championships got underway in Columbus, Georgia on Thursday. There were a few surprises on the podia but for the most part the team standings followed as expected after the morning session, with Olivet Nazarene University, who has been runner-up in each of the last two years, up by over 70 points over SCAD Savannah.

200 Medley Relay – Final

1. Olivet Nazarene 1:28.58
2. SCAD Savannah 1:30.70
3. Wayland Baptist 1:31.60

ONU wasted no time moving to the top of the podium. Jacob Anderson (22.35), Calvin Price (24.44), Daniil Kuzmin (21.90), and Guilherme Magnoler (19.89) combined for a 1:28.58 win in the 200 medley relay over SCAD (1:30.70) and Wayland Baptist (1:31.60).

500 Freestyle – Final

1. Joel Ax, SCAD Savannah 4:26.33
2. Bart Sommeling, Lindenwood-Belleville 4:29.21
3. Lucas Dengler-Harles, Lindenwood-Belleville 4:31.91

After lowering his own national NAIA mark to 4:21.49 in prelims, SCAD Savannah’s Joel Ax won the men’s 500 free with a more moderate 4:26.33 in finals. As traded stroke for stroke with Lindenwood-Belleville teammates Bart Sommeling and Lucas Dengler-Harles for the first 250 yards, then began his descent. Sommeling and Dengler-Harles couldn’t keep pace and fell back to second and third with 4:29.21 and 4:31.91, respectively.

ONU’s Frank Tapia came in fourth. He was followed by teammates Joshua Bouma, Sam Borgman, and Andrew Fischer. SCAD freshman Ryan Sweat rounded out the top eight.

200 Individual Medley – Final

1. Daniil Kuzmin, ONU 1:48.68
2. Daniel Buijs, Lindenwood-Belleville 1:51.27
3. Charles Bennett, ONU 1:51.78

ONU freshman Daniil Kuzmin won the 200 IM in 1:48.68, thanks to a strong second half. Daniel Buijs of Lindenwood-Belleville had led at the halfway point but Kuzmin moved ahead on the first 25 of his breaststroke and continued to pull away from the field with each successive 25. Buijs finished second in 1:51.27. ONU’s Charles Bennett just out-touched SCAD’s Tyler Prescott for third, 1:51.78 to 1:51.83.

Asbury freshman Keith Jessee was fifth, ahead of Union College freshman Ivar de Jong, WVU Tech sophomore Manuel Serrano Laguna, and Wayland Baptist junior Bjoern Globke.

50 Freestyle – Final

1. Guilherme Magnoler, ONU 20.67
2. Josiah Morales, Wayland Baptist 20.73
3. Quentin Cooper, WVU Tech 20.84

Guilherme Magnoler of ONU won the splash-and-dash with 20.67, coming to the wall just ahead of Wayland Baptist’s Josiah Morales (20.73) and Quentin Cooper of WVU Tech (20.84).

Fourth went to Thomas University’s Riley Crandall. SCAD’s Mark Shvartsman and Anton Arvidsson finished fifth and sixth, while Jacob Anderson of ONU and Andrew Gurley of St. Andrews completed the top eight.

800 Freestyle Relay – Fastest Heat

1. SCAD Savannah 6:39.09
2. Lindenwood-Belleville 6:41.22
3. Olivet Nazarene 6:43.67

The 4×200 free relay was a thriller. Olivet Nazarene shot out to an early lead on the strength of Kuzmin’s 1:39.67 leadoff, and was already more than a body length ahead of the field by the first exchange. Lindenwood’s Buijs split a 1:40.4 on the second leg, overtaking SCAD on his first 100. ONU was out front by 3.3 seconds over Lindenwood and by 3.6 seconds over SCAD at the second exchange. Sommerling increased Lindenwood’s lead over SCAD by 1 second, and closed in on ONU as the three teams sent their final swimmers off the blocks. ONU entered the water 1.6 seconds ahead of Lindenwood and 3.2 ahead of SCAD.

Ax, anchoring for SCAD, closed the distance with Lindenwood by the first 50 and took over at second place at the 100. He then pulled even with ONU’s Bennett at his 150 wall, and blew everyone away over the final 50, splitting a 1:34.3 to give SCAD the gold. Dengler-Harles of Lindenwood, meanwhile, went past Bennett over the final 50 to earn the silver medal for the Lynx. SCAD’s winning relay was made up of Sweat (1:41.32), Prescott (1:42.67), Connor Wilson (1:40.67), and Ax (1:34.37).

Team Standings – Day One

“The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small athletics programs that are dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics.

In 2000, the NAIA reaffirmed its purpose to enhance the character building aspects of sport. Through Champions of Character, the NAIA seeks to create an environment in which every student-athlete, coach, official and spectator is committed to the true spirit of competition through five core values.”