2016 NCAA Division II Championships – Day 1 Finals Live Recap

Division II Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 9-12, 2016
• IUPUI Natatorium, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Prelims 10:30 AM, Finals 6 PM – U.S. Eastern Time Zone (GMT -5 currently)
• Event schedule
• Real-time results – diving
• Real-time results – swimming
• Video link
• Championship Central

Women’s 1,000-yard Freestyle

• NCAA DII: 9:50.49 3/12/2008 Kristen Frost, Southern Conn St

The first half of the race was a three-woman battle among Christina Halverson of Cal Baptist, Theresa Hayward of West Chester, and defending champion Alecia McGillivray of Lindenwood. Grand Valley’s Leonie Van Noort moved into second at about the 700, and McGillivray and Hayward were together, trading stroke for stroke at third.

Halverson touched in 9:51.96, just off the national record and just in front of Van Noort, who had a spectacular finish and almost overcame Halverson at the end. Van Noort was runner-up in 9:52.51. Defending champion McGillivray was third in 9:57.76, holding off a fast-charging Hayward (9:58.13). Kyleigh Troxel of Lindenwood went 9:59.45 for fifth. Queens’ Mckenzie Stevens placed sixth in 10:00.04, just 7/100 in front of Drury’s Sarah Pullen. Reagan Eickert of UCSD placed eighth with her morning swim of 10:08.21.

Top 8 finishers:

1. Christina Halverson, Cal Baptist 9:51.96
2. Leonie Van Noort, Grand Valley 9:52.51
3. Alecia McGillivray, Lindenwood 9:57.76
4. Theresa Hayward, West Chester 9:58.13
5. Kyleigh Troxel, Lindenwood 9:59.45
6. Mckenzie Stevens, Queens (NC) 10:00.04
7. Sarah Pullen, Drury 10:00.11
8. Reagan Eickert, UCSD 10:08.21

Men’s 1,000-yard Freestyle

• NCAA DII: 8:57.06 3/11/2009 Mitch Snyder, Drury

Defending champion Nick Arakelian, a sophomore at Queens, put up the time to beat in finals with his morning swim of 9:06.31. Just behind him had been Alex Reinbrecht of Drury with 9:06.63.

Arakelian’s Queens teammate Dion Dreesens, out in lane 1, took the final out quickly and had built up a significant lead by the halfway mark. Daniel Bis of Saint Leo, who had come in with the second-fastest seed time, was the only one anywhere near Dreesens, and he trailed by about a half a pool length. At the end, Dreesens touched in 9:01.79 for the win, followed by Bis at 9:11.15. That put Arakelian and Reinbrecht in at second and third, respectively.

Simon Fraser’s Mackenzie Hamill, Sam Bryant of Colorado Mesa, Christian Vasquez of Lindenwood, and Chandler Pourvahidi rounded out the top eight. Vasquez had swum in the morning heats.

Top 8 finishers:

1. Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC) 9:01.79
2. Nick Arakelian, Queens (NC) 9:06.31
3. Alex Reinbrecht, Drury 9:06.63
4. Daniel Bis, Saint Leo 9:11.15
5. Mackenzie Hamill, Simon Fraser 9:11.69
6. Sam Bryant, Colorado Mesa 9:12.33
7. Cristian Vasquez, Lindenwood 9:13.23
8. Chandler Pourvahidi, UCSD 9:13.77

Women’s 200-yard Individual Medley

• NCAA DII: 1:57.19 3/9/2016 Patricia Castro Ortega, Queens (NC)

Queens senior Patri Castro Ortega absolutely destroyed her previous NCAA Division II record with a stunning 1:55.63 in finals. She led wire to wire, and crushed the field with her swim. Finishing second was West Florida junior Theresa Michalak in 1:58.11. She and Sofia Petrenko of Wingate were even throughout the entire race, but Michalak came home 8/10 faster over the final 50. Petrenko earned the bronze medal in 1:59.01.

Lynn’s Rebecca Matthews had a strong finish, touching fourth in 1:59.50. Caroline Arakelian of Queens was just behind, coming in fifth in 2:01.36 just ahead of her teammate, freshman Josephina Lorda (2:01.74). Gretchen Stein (Drury) and Evyn Spencer (Truman State) were seventh and eighth.

UC San Diego’s Madelyn Hutner won the consolation in 2:03.63.

Top 8 finishers:

1. Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC) 1:55.63R
2. Theresa Michalak, West Florida 1:58.11
3. Sofia Petrenko, Wingate 1:59.01
4. Rebecca Matthews, Lynn 1:59.50
5. Caroline Arakelian, Queens (NC) 2:01.36
6. Josephina Lorda, Queens (NC) 2:01.74
7. Gretchen Stein, Drury 2:02.35
8. Evyn Spencer, Truman St. 2:05.20

Men’s 200-yard Individual Medley

• NCAA DII: 1:41.94 3/11/2015 Matthew Josa, Queens (NC)

2015 runner-up, Grand Valley senior Gianni Ferrero, went out like a shot and was up by a body length by the halfway mark. The breaststrokers began to make their move but Ferrero held on and was still leading at the breast-to-free turn. Victor Polyakov, a junior at West Chester, kicked it into another gear, however, and spoiled Ferrero’s plans to move up to the top spot with a blistering 24.44 split on the free. Polyakov finished first with 1:44.95 to Ferrero’s 1:45.53. Cal Baptist senior Joshua Hanson just out-touched Inigo Alarcia of Queens, 1:46.71 to 1:46.76 for third.

Adrian VanderHelm of Simon Fraser took fifth in 1:47.07, coming in ahead of Nova S’eastern’s Marco Aldabe (1:47.95), Ryan Leonard of Northern Michigan (1:48.08), and Ivan Capan (1:48.42).

Ben Taylor of Queens got to the wall first in the consolation, with the top seven coming in together only separated by 20/100. Taylor edged them all in 1:48.23.

Top 8 finishers:

1. Victor Polyakov, West Chester 1:44.95
2. Gianni Ferrero, Grand Valley 1:45.53
3. Joshua Hanson, Cal Baptist 1:46.71
4. Inigo Alarcia, Queens (NC) 1:46.76
5. Adrian VanderHelm, Simon Fraser 1:47.07
6. Marco Aldabe, Nova S’eastern 1:47.95
7. Ryan Leonard, NMU 1:48.08
8. Ivan Capan, Bridgeport 1:48.42

Women’s 50-yard Freestyle

• NCAA DII: 22.36 3/9/2016 Wen Xu, Drury

Drury junior Wen Xu won the 50 free in 22.38, a mere 2/100 off the new record she had set in prelims with 22.36. Xu was out 3/10 faster than the field, already a shoulder ahead at the turn. She closed well and got the win with a half a body length lead. Tampa junior Marisa Barton was second with 22.89, the only other sub-23 in the final.

Queens freshman Kyrie Dobson (23.01) just touched out UCSD senior Colleen Daley (23.03) and Wingate senior Armony Dumur (23.04) for third. The rest of the final consisted of Meghan Brazier of LIU Post (23.24), Wayne State freshman Lezlie Bueno Estrada (23.25), and UCSD junior Natalie Tang (23.45).

The consolation final went to Wingate senior Ana Fish in 23.35.

Top 8 finishers:

1. Wen Xu, Drury 22.3
2. Marisa Barton, TAMPA 22.89
3. Kyrie Dobson, Queens (NC) 23.01
4. Colleen Daley, UCSD 23.03
5. Armony Dumur, Wingate 23.04
6. Meghan Brazier, LIU Post 23.24
7. Lezlie Bueno Estrada, Wayne State 23.25
8. Natalie Tang, UCSD 23.45

Men’s 50-yard Freestyle

• NCAA DII: 19.39 3/10/2011 Andrey Seryy, Wayne State

Lindenwood sophomore Serghei Golban blasted a new NCAA Division II record in the 50 free with his 19.35; he went .04 under the mark set in 2011 by Andrey Seryy of Wayne State. He was out about 1/10 faster than this morning, in 9.23, and back .14 faster, in 10.12. Second place went to Drury junior Daniel Rzadkowski, just a tick off his morning time with 19.67.

Matheus Assis of Saint Leo hit the wall .01 in front of Martin Hammer from Tampa, 19.71 to 19.72, for the bronze medal. Thiago Sickert of Nova S’eastern picked up a fifth with 19.80. Drury’s Rodrigo Caceres (19.83) and Queens’ Zack Phelps (19.93) and Ben Mayes (20.15) rounded out the championship final.

Delta State freshman Mattia Schirru won the consolation final with 19.79.

Top 8 finishers:

1. Serghei Golban, Lindenwood 19.35
2. Daniel Rzadkowski, Drury 19.67
3. Matheus Assis, Saint Leo 19.71
4. Martin Hammer, Tampa 19.72
5. Thiago Sickert, Nova S’eastern 19.88
6. Rodrigo Caceres, Drury 19.83
7. Zack Phelps, Queens (NC) 19.93
8. Ben Mayes, Queens (NC) 20.15

Women’s 3-meter Diving

• NCAA DII: 516.40 1994 Kim Standfield, CSU Bakersfield

West Florida junior Monica Amaral destroyed the 22-year-old NCAA Division II record of 516.40 with her final score of 550.20. Both Elizabeth Rawlings of Wayne State and Taylor Wiercinski of Grand Valley State scored higher than the previous record as well, with 527.25 and 522.25 points, respectively.

Top 8 finishers:

1. Monica Amaral, West Florida 550.20
2. Elizabeth Rawlings, Wayne State 527.25
3. Taylor Wiercinski, Grand Valley 522.25
4. Sarah Zerfoss, Clarion 472.70
5. Christina Sather, Clarion 472.15
6. Nicola Mancini, Bentley 471.30
7. Molly Kearney, NMU 436.55
8. Shelby Werkema, Lindenwood 434.90

Women’s 200-yard Medley Relay

• NCAA DII: 1:40.09 3/11/2015 Drury

Rita Koryukova (25.64), Jessika Weiss (28.49), Armony Dumur (23.29), and Ana Fish (22.48) broke the NCAA Division II record in the first sub-1:40 medley relay in history, 1:39.90.

Delta State was out first, getting a 25.29 backstroke split from Anastasia Klyarovskaya. Queens took over the lead after a 27.56 breast split from Shelly Prayson. Wingate’s Dumur blew past Queens with by far the fastest butterfly to take over the lead, then Fish brought it home with the fastest free split in the field. Queens took second in 1:40.14, .05 off the record set by Drury in 2015. Wayne State placed third, coming in .02 ahead of Drury with 1:50.49.

Top 8 finishers:

1. Wingate 1:39.90
2. Queens (NC) 1:40.14
3. Wayne State 1:40.49
4. Drury 1:40.51
5. LIU Post 1:41.19
6. Delta State 1:41.64
7. UCSD 1:42.79
8. West Florida 1:44.30

Men’s 200-yard Medley Relay

• NCAA DII: 1:26.02 3/12/2014 Wayne State

In a final in which every relay went faster than it had gone in prelims, Florida Southern had the crowd on its feet with a come-from-behind win by .01 over Lindenwood. Marco Palacios (21.63), Sean Kim (24.26), Edson Lima (20.88), and Diego Gimenez (19.47) combined for 1:26.24, with everyone going faster than in prelims. Florida Southern had led after both the first two legs of the relay, but Lindenwood’s Golban split a 20.14 butterfly and moved the Lions out front by 4/10. While Michal Szczukowski was faster than he had been in the morning by .18, it still wasn’t enough to hold off Gimenez, and Lindenwood had to settle for second place with 1:26.25.

NSU got third, despite a 19.16 freestyle anchor from Tampa’s Martin Hammer.

Top 8 finishers:

1. Florida Southern 1:26.24
2. Lindenwood 1:26.25
3. Nova S’eastern 1:27.11
4. Tampa 1:27.68
5. Grand Valley 1:27.85
6. Delta State 1:27.99
7. Wayne State 1:28.42
8. Indy 1:29.16

Women’s Team Scores – Day One

1. Queens (NC) 127
2. Drury 86
3. Wingate 79
4. Wayne State 71
5. UCSD 70
6. West Florida 64
7. Grand Valley 54
8. LIU Post 47
9. Lindenwood 42
10. Cal Baptist 35
11. Clarion 33
12. Delta State 29
13. NMU 21
14. Findlay 18
15. Tampa 17
16. Truman St. 16
17. Nova S’Eastern 15
17. Lynn 15
17. West Chester 15
20. Bridgeport 14
21. Bentley 13
22. Carson-Newman 10
23. Henderson State 9
24. Florida Southern 7
25. Fresno Pacific 6
26. Ashland 5
27. MSU Mankato 4
28. Jewell 3
29. WSCU 2
29. Saginaw Valley 2
31. Southern Conn 1

Men’s Team Scores – Day One

1. Queens (NC) 88
2. Lindenwood 77.5
3. Nova S’Eastern 65
4. Tampa 61
5. Drury 53
6. Delta State 46
7. Florida Southern 45.5
8. Grand Valley 45
9. Saint Leo 40
10. West Chester 33
11. Simon Fraser 31
12. Wayne State 24
13. Cal Baptist 23
13. Colorado Mesa 23
15. Indy 22
16. Bloomsburg 20
17. Limestone 14
18. Fresno Pacific 12
18. NMU 12
20. UCSD 11
20. Bridgeport 11
22. Missouri S & T 8
23. Wingate 7
24. Findlay 3