2019 NAIA National Championships – Men’s Meet
- Dates: Wednesday, February 27 – Saturday, March 2; prelims 9 am, finals 5 pm
- Location: Columbus Aquatic Center, Columbus, Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: Keiser University (results)
- Psych Sheets: Available here
- Fan Guides: Available here
- Live Results: Available here
- Live Video: Available here
- Championship Central
Day Three
There weren’t too many surprises on Friday morning. Keiser is holding onto the top spot in the men’s team rankings, while SCAD seems to have a lock on second place. The excitement is taking place in the race for third, where Lindenwood-Belleville and University of the Cumberlands are locked in a battle that could go in either direction.
Men’s 200 Yard Medley Relay – Prelims
- Meet Record: 1:26.83, 2014, Oklahoma Baptist University, Oklahoma Baptist (D Ramirez, G Penny, G Sullivan, L Lassley)
- Keiser – 1:31.44
- Midland – 1:32.66
- Union College – 1:33.27
- SCAD – 1:33.49
- Cumberlands – 1:33.65
- Lindsey Wilson – 1:33.84
- Lindenwood-Belleville – 1:33.90
- Asbury – 1:34.56
Defending champion Keiser put up the morning’s top performance in the medley relay, going 1:31.44 with swims from sophomores Jan Suchan (23.33) and Matias Lazzerini (25.62) and seniors Joel Hansson (22.60) and Andrei Stukov (19.89).
Midland took the second spot in 1:32.66, improving their entry time by 1.2 seconds with swims from freshman Collin McKelvey (23.55), sophomore Tyler Penney (25.90), and freshmen Gabe Martinez (22.75) and Scott Cain (20.46). Union College dropped just over half a second to land lane 3 for tonight’s final. Sophomores Andrew Smith (25.09), Henrique Saraceni (24.91), and Wiktor Perkowski (22.17) and senior Iyas Shivji (21.10) combined for 1:33.27.
2018 runner-up SCAD finished 4th this morning.
Men’s 400 Yard Individual Medley – Prelims
- Meet Record: 3:53.86, 2010, Kevin Sellars, Cal Baptist
- Pol Roch, Keiser – 4:00.77
- Martin Le Pays du Teilleul, Lindenwood-Belleville – 4:01.35
- Niels Engeln, Lindenwood-Belleville – 4:01.85
- Maik Rieffenstahl, SCAD – 4:02.10
- Gergely Harsanyi, SCAD – 4:02.21
- Gustav Lucas, Life University – 4:02.63
- Seth Cripe, Olivet Nazarene – 4:04.93
- Thomas Granet, Lindenwood-Belleville – 4:05.69
Top-seeded Pol Roch of Keiser led the qualifiers with 4:00.77, 4.8 seconds off his seed time of 3:55.96. Roch will have an opportunity to break the meet record in finals tonight, as he comes in with an entry time that is only 2.1 seconds off the mark. Lindenwood snagged the next two spots with a 4:01.35 from Martin Le Pays du Teilleul and a 4:01.85 from his classmate Niels Engeln. Le Pays du Teilleul swam in the 100 fly last year. Lindenwood will have 3 lanes in tonight’s 400 IM final, giving them important points in their battle with Cumberlands.
SCAD, who is trying to challenge Keiser for the team title in the men’s meet, qualified two for the A final. Freshman Maik Rieffenstahl improved his seed time by 4.1 seconds to take the 4th spot with 4:02.10, while teammate George Harsanyi, runner-up in 2018, qualified with 4:02.21.
There were a few significant time drops that put new faces into this year’s A final. Life sophomore Gustav Lucas took 3 seconds off his entry time, Olivet Nazarene junior Seth Cripe dropped 6, and Lindenwood-Belleville freshman Thomas Granet improved his seed time by 3.4 seconds.
Men’s 100 Yard Butterfly – Prelims
- Meet Record: 46.12, 2015, Daniel Ramirez, OBU
- Marcel Nagy, Keiser – 48.47
- Viktor Lyson, Cumberlands – 22
- Wiktor Perkowski, Union College – 49.73
- Alex Wu, Asbury – 49.74
- Miles Kredich, SCAD – 49.97
- Brogan Bunner, SCAD – 50.56
- Jack Jackson, Loyola New Orleans – 50.58
- Irvin Hoost, SCAD – 51.12
Top seed Marcel Nagy of Keiser hit a 48.47 in prelims to qualify .75 faster than Cumberlands sophomore Viktor Lyson (49.22). Nagy and Lyson, who have each been about 2/10 faster this year, placed 2nd and 3rd last year with 49.30 and 48.32, respectively. Union’s Perkowski, 7th in this event as a freshman last year, qualified with 49.73, a best time by 4/10. SCAD managed to get a threesome into the A final, including freshman Irvin Hoost who dropped 2.1 seconds to vault into the championship. Sophomore Miles Kredich, 11th last year, and senior Brogan Bunner, 5th in 2018, also dropped from their seed times.
Men’s 200 Yard Freestyle – Prelims
- Meet Record: 1:34.89, 2017, Joel Ax, SCAD
- Andrew Clifford, College of Idaho – 1:40.81
- Zoltan Monori, SCAD – 1:41.45
- Konstantin Byshnev, Keiser – 1:41.82
- Sam Vasquez, Loyola New Orleans – 1:42.25
- Dorian Taylor, Thomas – 1:42.28
- Warren Massimini, Loyola New Orleans – 1:42.34
- Ante Dany, Lindenwood-Belleville – 1:42.36
- Manuel Laguna Gomez, West Virginia Tech – 1:43.20
The College of Idaho’s Andrew Clifford took .77 off his seed time to qualify first with 1:40.81. He placed 4th in this event last year and didn’t break 1:41. SCAD sophomore Zoltan Monori, who swam in the 400 IM on Day 3 last year, improved his entry time by .28 to qualify second in 1:41.45. Keiser followed with senior Konstantin Byshnev, .92 faster than his seed.
Loyola New Orleans put two swimmers in the A final thanks to a combined time drop of nearly 9 seconds. Sophomore Sam Vasquez and junior Warren Massimini improved their seed times by 4.2 and 4.5 seconds, respectively. Massimini placed 16th in this event last year, while Vasquez finished 26th in prelims going 1:46.33.
Men’s 100 Yard Breaststroke – Prelims
- Meet Record: 53.06, 2009, Bryan Haile, Cal Baptist
- Joel Hansson, Keiser – 55.55
- Henrique Saraceni, Union College – 55.89
- Lukas Macek, Keiser – 55.91
- Paulo Dias Ignacio, West Virginia Tech – 56.04
- Matias Lazzerini, Keiser – 57.31
- Tyler Penney, Midland – 57.49
- Olek Olejnik, Lindsey Wilson – 57.52
- Ronan Passman, Asbury – 57.54
Four of the 8 lanes in tonight’s 100 breast final will be repeats from a year ago. Keiser’s Macek, seeded 3rd after prelims, won the 2018 event in 53.98. Teammate Hansson was 4th, West Virginia Tech’s Paulo Dias Ignacio was 5th, and Saraceni of Union College was 8th. Saraceni’s seed time is 7/10 faster than his finals time a year ago.
Every single qualifier, with the exception of defending champion Macek, dropped time from their seed times in prelims. Hansson took the top slot with 55.55, improving by .36. Saraceni dropped .71. Dias Ignacio took a half-second off his seed time, as did Lindsey Wilson’s Olek Olejnik. Ronan Passman of Asbury dropped 9/10, while Midland’s Penney improved by 8/10.
Men’s 100 Yard Backstroke – Prelims
- Meet Record: 46.28, 2014, Daniel Z Ramirez, Oklahoma Baptist
- Jan Suchan, Keiser – 50.12
- Collin McKelvey, Midland – 50.61
- Daric Sundeen, Cumberlands – 50.62
- Trey James, Loyola New Orleans – 50.84
- Gergo Zachar, SCAD – 51.06
- Viktor Lyson, Cumberlands – 51.15
- Brogan Bunner, SCAD – 51.18
- Clay Bisher, Asbury – 51.65
The 100 back will be an even more event for those who remember last year’s meet, with only 3 new faces in the championship final. Keiser sophomore Suchan notched the top time of the morning (50.12), taking .77 off his seed time. McKelvey of Midland dropped 1.4 seconds to land in the second spot. Viktor Lyson of Cumberlands is the only other non-repeat from last year’s final; he qualified 6th with 51.15.
SCAD sophomore Gergo Zachar, who tied for first place in this event last year, qualified 5th in 51.06. Teammate Brogan Bunner, 3rd a year ago, was 7th. Loyola New Orleans junior Trey James, who dropped 1.6 to qualify for the A final last year, improved his seed time by .93 to make this year’s championship.
Cumberlands sophomore Daric Sundeen and Asbury junior Clay Bisher, 7th and 5th in the 2018 final, qualified 3rd and 8th this year.
Men’s 3 Meter Diving
- Meet Record: 553.85, 2004, Grant Brehaut, Simon Fraser
(There were no entrants in the men’s 3-meter diving event.)
“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.”
