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 200-yard Freestyle Relay
- Division II: 1:17.27 3/10/2016 Tampa
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Florida Tech 1:19.47
- Bloomsburg 1:19.77
- Florida Southern 1:20.29
- Drury 1:20.32
- Grand Valley 1:20.43
- Wingate 1:20.54
- Queens (NC) 1:20.67
- Nova S’eastern 1:20.77
Florida Tech stood out in a crowded field, dropping .32 off their seed time to post the morning’s top time, 1:19.47. Nir Barnea led off with 20.17; he was followed by Victor Rocha Furtado (19.82), Matthew Gallene (19.64), and Filip Dujmic (19.84). Bloomsburg also beat their seed time, qualifying second with 1:19.77 behind Samuel Feiser (20.26), Eric Usbeck (19.67), A.J. Brady (20.09), and Kyle Dix (19.75).
Florida Southern and Drury both beat their entry times by about 3/10, qualifying third and fourth with 1:20.29 and 1:20.32, respectively. The next four teams are only separated by 4/10, so tonight’s final will be exciting.
Men’s 400-yard Individual Medley
- Division II: 3:43.84 3/12/2015 Nick Arakelian, Queens (NC)
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Nick Arakelian, Queens (NC) 3:48.57
- Adrian VanderHelm, Simon Fraser 3:49.89
- Cristian Vasquez, Lindenwood 3:50.69
- Gabriel Hernandez, UC San Diego 3:50.71
- Brandon Schuster, Cal Baptist 3:50.75
- Michael Oliver, West Chester 3:52.14
- William Shanel, Truman State 3:52.32
- Felix Eigel, Lindenwood 3:52.42
In the first circle-seeded heat, Simon Fraser junior Adrian VanderHelm won a tight race over Lindenwood sophomore Cristian Vasquez and Cal Baptist freshman Brandon Schuster, dropping nearly 4 seconds and establishing the time to beat for the next two heats with 3:49.89. Vasquez touched second with 3:50.69; Schuster, third, in 3:50.75. UC San Diego senior Gabriel Hernandez dominated the following heat and clocked in with 3:50.71 to squeeze between Vasquez and Schuster.
Top seed and NCAA Division II record-holder Nick Arakelian of Queens was in 6th after the 100 fly but moved into second by the first backstroke turn, and took over at the 150. He worked his breaststroke and had already built up a 3-body length lead by the 250. He touched at 3:48.57 to win his heat by 4.2 seconds. Second went to William Shanel of Truman State (3:52.32); third was Victor Polyakov of West Chester, with a great freestyle leg to finish with 3:52.75.
Men’s 100-yard Butterfly
- Division II: 44.89 3/12/2015 Matthew Josa, Queens (NC)
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Paul Pijulet, Queens (NC) 45.74
- Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) 45.87
- Gabriel Souza, Grand Valley 47.09
- Sebastian Holmberg, Wingate 47.12
- Rodrigo Caceres, Drury 47.52
- TIE6 Thiago Sickert, Nova S’eastern 47.54
- TIE 6 Aleksei Averchenko, Fresno Pacific 47.54
- Jun Han Kim, Drury 47.66
Queens junior Paul Pijulet, who had given us a glimpse of what he might do in the fly today with his 20.3 split on the Royals’ medley relay last night, destroyed his entry time and put up a field-leading 45.74 in the first circle-seeded heat. Drury’s Rodrigo Caceres also dropped 1 second and was runner-up in that heat with 47.52.
Pijulet’s teammate, sophomore Marius Kusch, took 6/10 off his seed time to win the next heat in 45.87. Sebastian Holmberg of Wingate improved by 1.2 and finished second with 47.12. Fresno Pacific freshman Aleksei Averchenko also improved, dropping .5 to come in third with 47.54.
Gabriel Souza of Grand Valley took the final heat in 47.09 over Thiago Sickert, a senior from Nova S’eastern (47.54).
Men’s 200-yard Freestyle
- Division II: 1:32.46 3/10/2016 Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC)
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC) 1:34.59
- Joan Casanovas, Drury 1:36.12
- Guilherme Zavaneli, Indianapolis 1:36.15
- Jonathan Glaser, Missouri S&T 1:36.77
- Leif-Henning Kluever, Wingate 1:36.98
- Mattia Schirru, Delta State 1:37.18
- Konrad Stepien, Drury 1:37.29
- Lennart Queiss, Wingate 1:37.31
In the heat preceding the circle seeds, Bridgeport freshman Erik Hren and Drury senior Daniel Rzadkowski had an exciting fight to the finish. Rzadkowski had taken it out very fast, while Hren used his back half to run Rzadkowski down. In the end, Hren dropped 1.1 and got the touch with 1:37.43. Rzadkowski dropped .7 and wound up second with 1:37.67. Both qualified for the consolation final; Hren missed the championship by .12.
Freshman Joan Casanovas of Drury followed suite with another exciting finish; he touched out Guilderme Zavaneli of Indy by .03 to win his heat and qualify second overall with 1:36.12. The second circle-seeded heat featured yet another close finish. Jonathan Glaser, a senior from Missouri S&T, came to the wall in 1:36.77, just ahead of Wingate teammates Leif-Henning Kluever (1:36.98) and Lennart Queiss (1:37.31).
Defending champion and NCAA Division II record-holder Dion Dreesens of Queens dominated the final heat of men’s 200s, winning by two body lengths in 1:34.59 over Mattia Schirru of Delta State (1:37.18) and Konrad Stepian of Drury (1:37.29),
Men’s 400-yard Medley Relay
- Division II: 3:08.07 3/12/2015 Queens (NC)
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Queens (NC) 3:10.34
- Nova S’eastern 3:12.60
- Fresno Pacific 3:13.06
- Drury 3:13.07
- Lindenwood 3:13.31
- Grand Valley State 3:13.36
- Florida Southern 3:13.55
- Wayne State 3:13.69
The first heat of men’s medley relays featured an exciting finish in which Drury dropped 2.2 from their seed time and just out-touched Grand Valley, 3:13.07 to 3:13.36. The following heat was competitive throughout, but especially over the last 50 yards. Nova S’eastern held on for the win, going 3:12.60 to post the leading time thus far. Finishing just behind were Fresno Pacific (3:13.06) and Lindenwood (3:13.31). Fresno dropped 3.1 seconds to reach the A final, where they will be seeded third overall.
Queens dominated the final heat, coming to the wall in 3:10.34, ahead of Wayne State (3:13.69) and Limestone (3:14.05). Wayne State made it into the A final with their strong finish; Limestone will be top seed in tonight’s B final. Queens’ Zach Bunner (48.31), Rostyslav Fedyna (53.08), Kusch (45.57), and Ben Mayes (43.38) contributed to the victory. The Royals might substitute Piulet for Kusch tonight, depending on how the two of the fare in the final of the 100 fly.
