2019 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships – Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2019 NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 13 – Saturday, March 16, 2019
• Swimming: prelims 10am, finals 6pm; Diving: 2pm
• Location: IU Natatorium, Indianapolis, Indiana (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions: Queens (4x); (results)
• Digital Program
• Official Psych Sheet
• Event Schedule
• Live Video
• Live Results │ Diving Results
• Championship Central

Day One

Men’s 1000 Yard Freestyle – Fastest Heat

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

Podium:

1. Alex Kunert, Queens – 8:56.76
2. Adam Rosipal, Indy – 9:03.08
3. Luke Erwee, Queens – 9:04.37
4. Nathan Sawicki, Delta State – 9:07.69
5. Tim Samuelsen, Missouri S&T – 9:09.38
6. Andrew Woinoski, Simon Fraser – 9:09.87
7. Mackenzie Hamill, Simon Fraser – 9:11.59
8. Jan Hanzal, Lindenwood – 9:13.05

Queens freshman Alex Kunert took down a meet and NCAA Division II Record in the 1000 free that had stood since 2009 when Mitch Snyder of Drury went 8:57.06. Kunert was unchallenged from start to finish, setting his own pace and ending up winning by over 6 seconds. His classmate Luke Erwee went out quickly and established himself in the second position from the outset, but Adam Rosipal of UIndy, third in this event a year ago, began to close the gap and passed Erwee by the 800. He finished second with 9:03.08, .69 ahead of Erwee. Delta State’s Nathan Sawicki was 4th in the final, touching in 9:07.69. He was 16th a year ago.

In the morning heats, Lindenwood freshman Jan Hanzal kicked things off with a 9:13.05, improving 3.05 seconds from his entry time and finishing 8th overall. Defending champion Tim Samuelsen from Missouri S&T took 10.37 seconds off his time to win heat 2 with 9:09.38 ahead of Mackenzie Hamill of Simon Fraser (who was 5th in 2018). The pair wound up 5th and 7th overall. Simon Fraser junior Andrew Woinoski (8th in 2018) pulled off a 16.05-second drop to win the final heat of the morning in 9:09.87 which was good enough for 6th overall.

Men’s 200 Yard Individual Medley – Finals

• NCAA DII: 1:41.61 3/14/2018 Marius Kusch, Queens (NC)
• Meet: 1:41.61 3/14/2018 Marius Kusch, Queens (NC)

Podium:

1. Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) – 1:42.53
2. Matthew Holmes, Florida Southern – 1:46.27
3. Emanuel Fava, Delta State – 1:46.30
4. Harry Shalamon, Grand Valley – 1:46.57
5. Rodrigo Codo Berti, Indy – 1:47.21
6. Jan Delkeskamp, Queens (NC) – 1:47.45
7. Ryan Leonard, NMU – 1:48.53

Marius Kusch won his third-straight 200 IM national title but he was just shy of his 2018 meet and Division II record. Kusch finished with 1:42.53, coming to the wall nearly 2.8 seconds ahead of Florida Southern senior Matthew Holmes (1:46.27). Kusch established an early lead with his butterfly, going out in a dominating 21.14 to put about 2 meters’ worth of distance behind him at the 50. Holmes, in lane 2, Drury junior Pasha Semochkin in lane 1, and Grand Valley junior Harry Shalamon in lane 7 were battling for second place. Holmes’ second half made the difference and he earned the silver medaly. Delta State freshman Emanuel Fava came home hard and blew past Shalamon for 3rd place, while Semochkin of Drury was DQd for a 15-meter violation.

Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• NCAA DII: 19.17 11/30/2017 David Lambert, Oklahoma Baptist
• Meet: 19.18 3/10/2016 Serghei Golban, Lindenwood

Podium:

1. Brody Heck, Queens (NC) – 19.47
2. Giulio Brugnoni, Delta State / Victor Rocha Furtado, Florida Tech – 19.71
3. –
4. Xander Skinner, McKendree – 19.84
5. Mattia Schirru, Delta State – 19.94
6. Dmytro Sydorchenko, Queens (NC) – 19.95
7. Dmitry Belolipetskiy, Fresno Pacific – 19.99
8. Skyler Cook-Weeks, Queens (NC) – 20.08

The Royals of Queens picked up their third straight win of the night with a 19.47 victory for junior Brody Heck in the 50 free. Heck led from start to finish out of lane 4, maintaining a slight lead on the pack from the outset. Giulio Brugnoni of Delta State and Florida Tech senior Victor Rocha Furtado, swimming next to Heck in lanes 5 and 6, put up the strongest challenge and ended up tying for second with 19.71. Rocha Furtado was runner-up in 2018, as well. McKendree sophomore Xander Skinner touched 4th with 19.84. Delta State senior Mattia Schirru moved up one place from last year to finish 5th. Queens junior Dmytro Sydorchenko, 10th in 2018, placed 6th this year, .01 behind Schirru. Fresno Pacific junior Dmitry Belolipetskiy improved on his 11th-place finish of 2018 with a 7th, going 19.99. Queens freshman Skyler Cook-Weeks rounded out the A final with 20.08.

Men’s 3 Meter Diving – Finals

• NCAA DII: 624.80 3/17/2018 Ammar Hassan, Colorado Mesa
• Meet: 624.80 3/17/2018 Ammar Hassan, Colorado Mesa

Podium:

1. Ammar Hassan, Colorado Mesa – 593.10
2. Otto Lehtonen, Oklahoma Baptist – 562.90
3. Payton Staman, Indy – 541.70
4. Noah Macomber, Colorado Mesa – 531.30
5. Joshua Zylstra, Indy – 522.85
6. Cary Johns, Clarion – 517.05
7. Kyle Weesner, Delta State – 464.90
8. Christopher Kelly, Grand Valley – 463.65

Defending champion and Division II record-holder, sophomore Ammar Hassan of Colorado Mesa, won his second consecutive 3-meter title with 593.10 points. Oklahoma Baptist junior Otto Lehtonen moved up to second place this year with 562.90; he was 4th in 2018 (with 528.95). Indy junior Payton Staman came in third after finishing 7th a year ago. Noah Macomber of Colorado Mesa, runner-up in 2018, was 4th.

Men’s 200 Yard Medley Relay – Finals

• NCAA DII: 1:24.83 3/14/2018 Queens (NC) (Pijulet, Arakelian, Kusch, Sydorchenko)
• Meet: 1:24.83 3/14/2018 Queens (NC) (Pijulet, Arakelian, Kusch, Sydorchenko)

Podium:

1. Queens (NC) – 1:25.22
2. Wayne State – 1:25.23
3. Delta State – 1:26.93
4. UCSD – 1:27.15
5. Indy – 1:27.68
6. Florida Tech – 1:28.10
7. Missouri S&T – 1:28.61

The medley relay was full of intrigue and proved an exciting end to Day One. Top-seeded Queens was 4th after the backstroke behind Wayne State (Dima Drobnych, 21.30), Delta State (Giulio Brugnoni, 21.47), and Oklahoma Baptist (Robinson Molina, 21.80). The Royals’ backstroker Alen Mosic (22.11) put Queens 1/100 ahead of UIndy (Rodrigo Codo Berti).

Queens was 5th in breaststroke and now trailed Wayne State (Sasha Palazzo, 23.53), Oklahoma Baptist (Davion Conley, 24.12), Indy (Jan Zuchowicz, 23.90), and Delta State (Daniel Gayuk, 24.80).

Marius Kusch then split a 19.73 butterfly to pull Queens into second place behind Wayne State.

Brody Heck anchored in 19.02 to Ryan Katulski’s 19.28 and Queens won the relay over Wayne State by 1/100.

Oklahoma Baptist was DQd for an early start.

                      Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 9                       
 
  1. Queens (Nc)                       165   2. Delta State                     110.5
  3. Indy                               99   4. Colorado Mesa                      63
  5. Grand Valley                       51   5. Missouri S & T                     51
  7. Wayne State                      48.5   8. Florida Tech                     42.5
  9. Ucsd                               39  10. Simon Fraser                       27
 10. McKendree                          27  12. Nmu                                22
 12. Florida Southern                   22  14. Lindenwood                         20
 14. Nova S'Eastern                     20  16. Oklahoma Baptist                   17
 17. Emmanuel                         16.5  18. Clarion University                 14
 19. Fresno Pacific                     12  20. Tampa                              10
 20. St. Cloud St.-W                    10  22. Carson-Newman                       7
 23. Wingate                             2  24. Gannon                              1