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
The Keiser Seahawks won all but two events on Friday, including the 400 IM where freshman Pol Roch broke the NAIA National Championship Record, and maintained their lead over SCAD going into the final day of competition in Columbus, Georgia.
Men’s 200 Yard Medley Relay – Finals
- Meet Record: 1:26.83, 2014, Oklahoma Baptist University, Oklahoma Baptist (D Ramirez, G Penny, G Sullivan, L Lassley)
- Keiser – 1:29.11
- SCAD – 1:31.76
- Midland – 1:32.35
- Cumberlands – 1:32.57
- Union College – 1:33.58
- Lindsey Wilson – 1:33.57
- Asbury – 1:33.75
- Lindenwood-Belleville – 1:33.87
Keiser successfully defended its national title in the 200 medley relay to open the Day 3 finals session on Friday evening in Columbus, Georgia. 3/4 last year’s winning relay were repeats; senior Joel Hansson was the newcomer. Junior Marcel Nagy kicked off with a 22.79 in the 50 back. Hansson followed with 24.78. Junior Lukas Macek went 21.74 in the fly, and senior Andrei Stukov anchored with a 19.80 in the freestyle. In 2018 Keiser won with 1:27.65; this year their winning time was 1:29.11.
SCAD Savannah took second place, as they did last year. This time it was the quartet of Brogan Bunner (23.47), Maik Rieffenstahl (26.21), Gergo Zachar (21.85), and Irvin Hoost (20.23) combining for 1:31.76. Midland’s Collin McKelvey, Tyler Penney, Gabe Martinez, and Scott Cain came in 3rd with 1:32.35.
Men’s 400 Yard Individual Medley – Finals
- Meet Record: 3:53.86, 2010, Kevin Sellars, Cal Baptist
- Pol Roch, Keiser – 3:53.47
- Gergely Harsanyi, SCAD – 3:56.62
- Martin Le Pays du Teilleul, Lindenwood-Belleville – 3:59.41
- Niels Engeln, Lindenwood-Belleville – 4:01.12
- Maik Rieffenstahl, SCAD – 4:01.59
- Seth Cripe, Olivet Nazarene – 4:02.40
- Gustav Lucas, Life University – 4:02.95
- Thomas Granet, Lindenwood-Belleville – 4:06.53
Top-seeded freshman Pol Roch of Keiser broke the meet record en route to winning the 400 IM in 3:53.47. Roch was 2.5 seconds faster than he’d been in the morning and lowered the national mark, set by Cal Baptist’s Kevin Sellars in 2010, by .39. Roch trailed SCAD’s George Harsanyi after both the butterfly and backstroke, but he had the strongest second half in the field. Roch came home in a crushing 52.92, outsplitting Harsanyi by 3.5 seconds over the final 100.
Lindenwood-Belleville picked up 3rd and 4th from sophomores Martin Le Pays du Teilleul (3:59.41) and Niels Engeln (4:01.12).
Men’s 100 Yard Butterfly – Finals
- Meet Record: 46.12, 2015, Daniel Ramirez, OBU
- Marcel Nagy, Keiser – 48.04
- Alex Wu, Asbury – 48.88
- Viktor Lyson, Cumberlands – 93
- Jack Jackson, Loyola New Orleans – 49.94
- Miles Kredich, SCAD – 50.04
- Wiktor Perkowski, Union College – 50.13
- Brogan Bunner, SCAD – 50.76
- Irvin Hoost, SCAD – 50.91
2018 runner-up Marcel Nagy of Keiser, who was entered with the top seed time, won the 100 fly as expected going 48.04, .26 faster than his second-place finish a year ago. Asbury freshman Alex Wu dropped .86 from prelims to move from 4th to 2nd. He finished with 48.88, coming to the wall .05 ahead of Cumberlands sophomore Viktor Lyson (48.93). It was Lyson’s second consecutive bronze medal in this event; he finished 3rd with 48.32 a year ago. Loyola sophomore Jack Jackson dropped .64 and moved from 7th to 4th, touching in 49.94.
Men’s 200 Yard Freestyle – Finals
- Meet Record: 1:34.89, 2017, Joel Ax, SCAD
- Ante Dany, Lindenwood-Belleville – 1:39.85
- Zoltan Monori, SCAD – 1:40.28
- Andrew Clifford, College of Idaho – 1:40.38
- Konstantin Byshnev, Keiser – 1:41.36
- Dorian Taylor, Thomas – 1:41.47
- Manuel Laguna Gomez, West Virginia Tech – 1:42.71
- Warren Massimini, Loyola New Orleans – 1:45.11
- Sam Vasquez, Loyola New Orleans – 1:47.95
The biggest surprise on Friday night came from Lindenwood-Belleville freshman Ante Dany who won the 200 free from lane 1. Dany came into the meet seeded #1 with 1:41.27. He swam a 1:42.36 in prelims and nearly missed the cutoff for the A final. Swimming in the outside lane in the final, he got out to a quick start, leading the field by just a tick at the 100 with 48.69. Behind him, SCAD sophomore Zoltan Monori and College of Idaho’s Andrew Clifford flipped together with 48.8s. Dany pulled about a half-body length ahead at the 150 wall and maintained his lead to the end. Dany clocked a 1:39.85 to get the win, while Monori edged Clifford, 1:40.28 to 1:40.38, for second place.
Men’s 100 Yard Breaststroke – Finals
- Meet Record: 53.06, 2009, Bryan Haile, Cal Baptist
- Lukas Macek, Keiser – 54.57
- Joel Hansson, Keiser – 55.38
- Paulo Dias Ignacio, West Virginia Tech – 55.51
- Henrique Saraceni, Union College – 56.03
- Olek Olejnik, Lindsey Wilson – 56.10
- Matias Lazzerini, Keiser – 56.68
- Tyler Penney, Midland – 57.51
- Ronan Passman, Asbury – 57.90
Keiser junior Lukas Macek repeated his 2018 national title in the 100 breast, this time going 54.57 for the win (last year he touched in 53.98). His teammates Joel Hansson and Matias Lazzerini came in 2nd and 6th, respectively, to give Keiser a big boost in team points. Hansson placed 4th in this event a year ago.
Lindsey Wilson’s Olek Olejnik improved his prelims time by 1.4 seconds to place 5th in finals with 56.10.
Men’s 100 Yard Backstroke – Finals
- Meet Record: 46.28, 2014, Daniel Z Ramirez, Oklahoma Baptist
- Gergo Zachar, SCAD – 48.86
- Jan Suchan, Keiser – 49.75
- Brogan Bunner, SCAD – 49.95
- Daric Sundeen, Cumberlands – 49.98
- Viktor Lyson, Cumberlands – 50.51
- Trey James, Loyola New Orleans – 50.76
- Collin McKelvey, Midland – 50.90
- Clay Bisher, Asbury – 51.43
SCAD sophomore Gergo Zachar pulled off a surprise win in the 100 back, winning from lane 2 in 48.86 over top qualifier Jan Suchan of Keiser (49.75). Suchan eked out a second-place finish over SCAD senior Brogan Bunner (49.95) who was next to his teammate Zachar out in lane 1. Bunner, meanwhile, just touched out Cumberlands sophomore Daric Sundeen (59.98) for 3rd.
Men’s 3 Meter Finals
- Meet Record: 553.85, 2004, Grant Brehaut, Simon Fraser
(There were no entrants in the men’s 3-meter diving event.)
Team Scores – Day 3
- Keiser University – 419
- SCAD Savannah – 385.5
- Lindenwood University-Belleville – 209
- University of the Cumberlands – 197
- Loyola University New Orleans – 174
- Union College – 160
- Midland University – 138
- Asbury University – 133
- Lindsey Wilson College – 129
- West Virginia University Tech – 117.5
- The College of Idaho – 99
- Olivet Nazarene University – 95
- Thomas University – 84
- St Ambrose University – 50
- Morningside College – 36
- Life University – 33
- Milligan College – 8
- Bethel University – 2
“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.”
