2017 NCAA Division II Men: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 8-11, 2017
• Birmingham CrossPlex, Birmingham, Alabama
• Prelims 10:30 AM, Finals 6 PM – U.S. Central Time Zone (GMT -6 currently)
• Event schedule
• Real-time results – diving
• Real-time results – swimming
• Video link (expected to be available when meet starts)
• Championship Central

Men’s 1,000-yard Freestyle

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

1. Franco Lupoli,Nova S’eastern 9:01.02
2. Joan Casanovas, Drury 9:02.71
3. Mackenzie Hamill, Simon Fraser 9:05.80
4. Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC) 9:06.07
5. Erik Hren, Bridgeport 9:06.39
6. Konrad Stepien, Drury 9:07.55
7. Nicholas Arakelian, Queens (NC) 9:09.44
8. Samuel Bryant, Colorado Mesa 9:10.95

The action took place in the outside lanes of the fastest heat of the men’s 1000, with Nick Arakelian of Queens and Drury freshman Joan Casanovas leading the way early on. Nova S’eastern junior Franco Lupoli was a half body length behind, until he began his descent over the final 200 yards. Lupoli broke away and finished first by well over a body length, coming home in 1:48.2 over the last 8 laps. He stopped the clock at 9:01.02; Casanovas placed second with 9:02.71. Mackenzie Hamill of Simon Fraser, who put up the fastest time in the morning heats, earned the bronze medal with 9:05.80. Queens senior Dion Dressens, in second place after the morning, claimed fourth with 9:06.07.

Men’s 200-yard Individual Medley

• Division II: 1:41.94 3/11/2015 Matthew Josa, Queens (NC)

1. Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) 1:44.36
2. Victor Polyakov, West Chester 1:45.64
3. Adrian VanderHelm, Simon Fraser 1:46.05
4. Matthew Holmes, Florida Southern 1:46.81
5. Leif-Henning Kluever, Wingate 1:47.14
6. Inigo Alarcia, Queens (NC) 1:47.35
7. Zach Bunner, Queens (NC) 1:47.73
8. Antonio Nuneez-Alvarez, Florida Southern 1:48.74

Queens sophomore Marius Kusch jumped out to a huge early lead, up by a body length by the fly-to-back turn. His middle 100 was strong, and he went into the freestyle leg ahead by almost 2 seconds. Kusch came into the wall at 1:44.36, holding off Victor Polyakov of West Chester (1:45.64) and Adrian VanderHelm of Simon Fraser (1:46.05), both of whom had quick freestyle legs but couldn’t run Kusch down.

UCSD’s Gabriel Hernandez won the consolation final in 1:46.39.

Men’s 50-yard Freestyle

• Division II: 19.18 3/10/2016 Serghei Golban, Lindenwood

1. Serghei Golban, Lindenwood 19.53
2. Mattia Schirru, Delta State 19.80
3. Paul Pijulet, Queens (NC) 19.83
4. Rodrigo Caceres, Drury 19.90
5. Dmytro Sydorchenko, Queens (NC) 19.91
6. Nir Barnea, Florida Tech 19.94
7. Lajos Budai, NMU 19.95
8. Daniel Rzadkowski, Drury 20.02

It was a much closer 50 free final than anticipated; seven men hit the wall in under 20 seconds, led by NCAA record-holder, junior Serghei Golban of Lindenwood. Golban was about an arm’s length ahead of the rest, getting to the wall in 19.53. The next seven were only separated by .22. Sophomore Mattia Schirru of Delta State eked out second place with 19.80. Queens junior Paul Pijulet, who had dropped .14 in prelims to qualify 8th for finals, took another .24 off his time and finished third with 19.83.

Martin Hammer of Tampa won the consolation final in 19.87.

Men’s 3-meter Diving

• Division II: 615.95 3/15/2014 Heath Calhoun, Clarion

1. Brad Dalrymple, Grand Valley 70
2. Zachary Parry, Cal Baptist 75
3. Joseph Gucwa, Grand Valley 10
4. Collin Vest, Clarion 55
5. Daniel Roy, West Chester 70
6. Sage D’Ambrosia, Colorado Mesa 20
7. Noah Macomber, Colorado Mesa 75
8. Duston Gragg, Fresno Pacific 05

Grand Valley sophomore Brad Dalrymple, the top seed after a strong performance in prelims, did just what was needed to hold off Cal Baptist’s Zachary Parry to win the men’s 3-meter title. Dalrymple placed sixth in this event as a freshman. Defending champion, senior Collin Vest of Clarion, finished fourth, less than a point behind Grand Valley junior Joseph Gucwa.

Men’s 200-yard Medley Relay

• Division II: 1:25.95 3/8/2017 Queens (Bunner, Fedyna, Pijulet, Mayes)

1. Queens (NC) 1:25.89
2. Grand Valley 1:27.24
3. Bloomsburg 1:27.45
4. Nova S’eastern 1:27.65
5. Wayne State 1:27.75
6. Florida Southern 1:27.95
7. Fresno Pacific 1:28.07
8. Lindenwood 1:28.09

Queens University of Charlotte lowered by .06 the Division II meet record they had set in prelims, breaking the 1:26 barrier for the second time in one day going 1:25.89 in finals. Zach Bunner led off with 21.97, the second-fastest backstroke in the field behind Florida Southern’s Marco Palacios. Rostyslav Fedyna went 23.78, a touch faster than he’d been in the morning. Paul Pijulet, who had a tremendous day, knocked .45 off his 50 fly split (20.31) to give the Royals a 1.5 body-length lead heading into the final leg. Ben Mayes brought it home for Queens in 19.83, holding off Benjamin Walling of Grand Valley and Kyle Dix of Bloomsburg, both of whom split 19.6s.

Grand Valley (Harry Shalamon, Marius Mikalauskas, Gabriel Souza, and Walling) finished second in 1:27.24, while Bloomsburg (Josh Grzech, Eric Usbeck, Samuel Feiser, and Dix), who had won a swim-off to make the A final, took third with 1:27.45. The rest of the field touched nearly together, five teams separated by only 4/10.

Men’s Team Scores – Day One

Queens, Florida Southern, Wayne State, and Simon Fraser were the big winners on Day One, but there is less drama in the men’s title race than in the women’s this year. The Royals have built up a nice cushion and are expected to continue along the same rhythm for the next three days. Drury, meanwhile, is in a tight race with Nova S’eastern for second place, with Grand Valley and Florida Southern trying to catch them.

*Based on actual results plus psych sheet seeding for remaining days