2016 NCAA Division II Championships – Day 1 Standings and Outlook

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

It was an exciting start to the 2016 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships. Right off the bat two records went down in prelims, when both Queens’ Patri Castro Ortega and Wen Xu of Drury lowered their own DII marks set last year in the 200 IM and 50 free, respectively. Castro Ortega went 1:57.19 in prelims, then whacked another 1.5 seconds off her new record in finals to begin the first evening session with a bang. Castro Ortega settled the mark at 1:55.63.

Xu, meanwhile, took exactly 1/10 off the 50 free time she had set last year while leading off Drury’s 200 free relay in 22.46. She clocked a 22.36 in prelims to set the new mark, then went 22.38 in finals.

The women’s meet ended with another record, that of the 200 medley relay, when Wingate became the first quartet in DII history to swim a sub-1:40.

The women’s team contest went much as expected, with Queens getting out to an early lead with better-than-expected performances in the 1000 free and 200 IM, and holding steady in the 50 free and medley relay. Wayne State, West Florida, and Drury climbed in the rankings as well, following their strong starts to the meet. UC San Diego, who is expected to be neck-in-neck with Wingate and Drury in the battle for second place, had a few slight misses on Day One that could come back to haunt them on Saturday.

Women’s Team Scores – Day One

Place Team Points Vs Prelims Vs Psych   Projected Score
1 Queens 127 19 33 576
2 Drury 86 4 23 328
3 Wingate 79 1 5 332
4 Wayne State 71 0 25 173
5 UC San Diego 70 -6 -20 314
6 West Florida 64 0 24 181
7 Grand Valley 54 2 9 216
8 LIU Post 47 0 1 195
9 Lindenwood 42 -13 1 189
10 Cal Baptist 35 12 -5 185
11 Clarion 33 0 -11 45
12 Delta State 29 1 -6 187
13 Northern Michigan 21 7 4 79
14 Findlay 18 0 4 31
15 Tampa 17 -2 0 22
16 Truman State 16 -2 0 135
17 Lynn 15 -1 0 76
17 Nova Southeastern 15 -6 -13 79
17 West Chester 15 2 2 30
20 Bridgeport 14 6 -11 113
21 Bentley 13 2 -2 13
22 Carson-Newman 10 4 -2 105
23 Henderson State 9 0 -11 25
24 Florida Southern 7 -6 -11 95
25 Fresno Pacific 6 -7 -9 42
26 Ashland 5 -1 5 9
27 MSU Mankato 4 -6 -23 33
28 William Jewell 3 -2 -2 10
29 Saginaw Valley 2 0 -1 27
29 Western State Colorado 2 0 2 27
31 Southern Connecticut 1 -8 -5 4

The men took down an individual record as well, when Lindenwood sophomore Serghei Golban blasted a 19.35 in the splash-and-dash 50 free to take .04 off a mark that had stood since 2011.

In the men’s meet, we had been expecting a close race between defending champion Queens and Lindenwood for the team title. The Royals began with a DQ in prelims of the men’s 200 medley relay, which might have made a big difference in their score had they not made it up with extra “A” finalists in the 200 IM and 50 free. They then landed a 1-2 finish in the men’s 1000 free to finish with a net gain of 29 points. The Royals are cutting it close but by outperforming the psych sheet in individual events, they are still in the running for the men’s team title.

Florida Southern, Simon Fraser, Delta State, and Nova Southeastern all had very strong outings on Day One. Big relay performances helped Florida Southern and Delta State, while Nova Southeastern also had individual gains in the 200 IM and 50 free and Simon Fraser did much better than anticipated in the 1000 free and 200 IM.

The race for third place will be just as exciting as the one at the top.  That entire tier, just below Queens and Lindenwood, is only separated by about 20 points in our projections. We’ve got Nova Southeastern, Grand Valley State, Delta State, and Florida Southern in more or less a dead heat, so qualifying an extra finalist here, avoiding a DQ there, will be key to floating to the top of this group.

Men’s Team Scores – Day One

Place Team Points Vs Prelims Vs Psych   Projected Score
1 Queens 88 29 29 384
2 Lindenwood 77.5 -12.5 -27 378.5
3 Nova Southeastern 65 -2 21 259
4 Tampa 61 -4 -7 203
5 Drury 53 0 4 186
6 Delta State 46 -6 29 241
7 Florida Southern 45.5 2.5 31.5 239.5
8 Grand Valley 45 0 2 257
9 Saint Leo 40 -1 -6 185
10 West Chester 33 -6 -12 158
11 Simon Fraser 31 16 31 148
12 Wayne State 24 0 6 70
13 Cal Baptist 23 -10 -14 174
13 Colorado Mesa 23 -1 -27 179
15 Indianapolis 22 -7 -18 82
16 Bloomsburg 20 11 -3 76
17 Limestone 14 4 -14 32
18 Fresno Pacific 12 -7 10 98
18 Northern Michigan 12 1 7 50
20 Bridgeport 11 -2 2 11
20 UC San Diego 11 -4 -14 93
22 Missouri S&T 8 -1 -3 170
23 Wingate 7 2 7 113
24 Findlay 3 1 3 19

 

 

 

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About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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