2019 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships – Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2019 NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Day Three

Men’s 500 Yard Freestyle – Finals

  • NCAA DII: 4:17.09 3/11/2016 Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC)
  • Meet: 4:17.09 3/11/2016 Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC)

Podium:

  1. Alex Sobers, Emmanuel – 4:21.09
  2. Adrian VanderHelm, Simon Fraser – 4:22.23
  3. Adam Rosipal, Indy – 4:23.23
  4. Luke Erwee, Queens (NC) – 4:25.10
  5. Mackenzie Hamill, Simon Fraser – 4:26.22
  6. Ivan Kurakin, UCSD – 4:26.89
  7. Nathan Sawicki, Delta State – 4:27.37
  8. Mohamed Hegazy, Queens (NC) – 4:32.72

Emmanuel junior Alex Sobers, who was runner-up in the 200 free on Thursday, pulled off a wire-to-wire win in the 500 free from lane 2 after having qualified 5th in the morning. He was out in 48.40 for the first 100 and by the 150 wall he was about a body length ahead of Simon Fraser senior Adrian VanderHelm in lane 4. VanderHelm, meanwhile, held a half body-length lead over UCSD freshman Ivan Kurakin. At the halfway mark, Indy sophomore Adam Rosipal had moved into third. The top 3 held their positions until the end of the race. Sobers won with 4:21.09. VanderHelm touched second in 4:22.23. Rospial came in third with 4:23.23.

Men’s 100 Yard Backstroke – Finals

  • NCAA DII: 45.88 3/16/2018 Paul Pijulet, Queens (NC)
  • Meet: 45.88 3/16/2018 Paul Pijulet, Queens (NC)

Podium:

  1. Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) – 45.09
  2. Iskender Baslakov, Fresno Pacific – 46.23
  3. Harry Shalamon, Grand Valley – 46.59
  4. Dima Drobnych, Wayne State – 47.04
  5. Rodrigo Codo Berti, Indy – 47.11
  6. Renars Bundzis, NMU – 47.17
  7. Robinson Molina, Oklahoma Baptist – 47.44
  8. Seth Hughes, Carson-Newman – 47.73

Marius Kusch of Queens picked up his third national title and second Division II and meet record with a 45.09 victory in the 100 back on Friday. He also won the 200 IM on Thursday and the 100 fly with the 9th-fastest performance in history, on Friday. Kusch split 21.61 at the 50, already half a body length up on Carson-Newman’s Seth Hughes in lane 8, who turned second in 22.12. Harry Shalamon of Grand Valley and Fresno Pacific’s Iskender Baslakov were next with 22.28 and 22.29, respectively.

Over the second 50 yards, Kusch pulled further ahead and closed in 23.48. Baslakov outsplit Shalamon, 23.94 to 23.41 and earned the silver medal with 46.23. Shalamon took 3rd in 46.59. Wayne State senior Dima Drobnych held off the next wave of challengers to take 4th with 47.04.

Men’s 100 Yard Breaststroke – Finals

  • NCAA DII: 51.63 3/13/2015 Anton Lobanov, Nova S’eastern
  • Meet: 51.63 3/13/2015 Anton Lobanov, Nova S’eastern

Podium:

  1. Sasha Palazzo, Wayne State – 52.24
  2. Joao Santos, Emmanuel – 52.95
  3. Pasha Semochkin, Drury – 53.28
  4. Justin Winnett, Lindenwood – 53.30
  5. Jan Zuchowicz, Indy – 53.80
  6. Edgar Chin, UCSD – 53.86
  7. Giacomo Viazzo, Wingate – 54.13
  8. Marco Flores, Missouri S&T – 54.45

Wayne State junior Sasha Palazzo wasted no time going after the national title in the 100 breast. He shot out in 24.07, half a body length up at the 50 and just under record pace. Emmanuel sophomore Joao Santos turned second ahead of Drury junior Pasha Semochkin in lane 2. Palazzo came home in 28.17, winning the title but missing the record by 6/10. Santos hung on for 2nd with 52.95, while Semochkin held off a fast-charging Justin Winnett of Lindewood to secure 3rd in 53.28. Winnett finished 2/100 back with 53.30, a half-second in front of Indy sophomore Jan Zuchowicz and UCSD junior Edgar Chin.

Men’s 200 Yard Butterfly – Finals

Podium:

  1. Alex Kunert, Queens (NC) – 1:41.19
  2. Pedro Terres Illescas, Colorado Mesa – 1:44.28
  3. Federico Bracco, Delta State – 1:44.83
  4. Matthew Sims, Bellarmine – 1:46.33
  5. Leo Laporte, Southern Conn – 1:46.72
  6. Magnus Poulsen, Nova S’eastern – 1:46.91
  7. Brian Valedon, TAMPA – 1:48.55
  8. Aaron Taske, Missouri S&T – 1:48.80

Queens freshman Alex Kunert swam his 6th-ever 200-yard butterfly on Friday night and took an .85 bite out of the NCAA Division II and championship meet record of 1:42.04 set by his teammate Kusch in 2017. Kunert went out slower than Kusch but his back half was 1.3 second faster.

Kunert – 22.48 / 25.68 / 25.90 / 27.13 = 48.16 / 53.03
Kusch – 22.26 / 25.38 / 26.99 / 27.41 = 47.64 / 54.40

Nova Southeastern junior Magnus Poulsen went out with Kunert and turned second at the 50, in 23.17. He had faded to 4th at the 100, though, as Colorado Mesa’s Pedro Terres Illescas and Bellarmine’s Matthew Sims moved up to 2nd and 3rd. Terres Illescas held on to his spot over the second half of the race. Delta State freshman Federico Bracco had a monster 3rd 50 and pulled ahead of Sims. The top 4 stayed in that order through to the finish, while Southern Connecticut junior Leo Laporte moved in front of Poulson for 5th.

Men’s 1 Meter Diving – Finals

  • NCAA DII: 618.70 3/10/1994 Dario DiFazio, Oakland Univ
  • Meet: 618.70 3/10/1994 Dario DiFazio, Oakland Univ
  1. Ammar Hassan, Colorado Mesa – 581.40
  2. Payton Staman, Indy – 552.10
  3. Noah Macomber, Colorado Mesa – 517.90
  4. Joshua Zylstra, Indy – 517.10
  5. Otto Lehtonen, Oklahoma Baptist – 512.80
  6. Cary Johns, Clarion – 505.90
  7. Benjamin Rader, Indy – 481.40
  8. Chandler Livingston, Colorado Mesa – 442.60

Colorado Mesa sophomore Ammar Hassan swept the diving events for the second year in a row, adding a gold in 1-meter diving to the one he earned on the 3-meter board on Wednesday. Diving last, Hassan needed 29.9 points to pass Payton Staman. The Indy junior had just moved past Noah Macomber and Joshua Zylstra, scoring 73.6 points with his final dive. Hassan earned a score of 59.2 on his last dive, securing his second consecutive 1-meter national title.

Men’s 800 Yard Freestyle Relay – Fastest Heat

  • NCAA DII: N 6:18.46 3/10/2017 Queens (NC) (Dreesens, Pijulet, Kusch, Arakelian)
  • Meet: M 6:18.46 3/10/2017 Queens (NC) (Dreesens, Pijulet, Kusch, Arakelian)

Podium:

  1. Queens (NC) – 6:25.13
  2. Florida Southern – 6:29.64
  3. Simon Fraser – 6:32.00
  4. McKendree – 6:32.95
  5. TAMPA – 6:33.09
  6. Delta State – 6:34.20
  7. Indy – 6:34.39
  8. Lindenwood – 6:34.83

Queens, Florida Southern, and Simon Fraser swam in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd positions throughout the four legs of the 800 relay. For Queens, it was Kunert (1:33.58), Alen Mosic (1:35.50), Erwee (1:38.79), and Cook-Weeks (1:37.26) who combined for 6:25.13. The Royals were 1.45 slower than their seed time but fast enough to never really be threatened.

Florida Southern came to the wall second in 6:29.64 with legs from Holmes (1:36.16), Matias Lopez (1:38.05), Charles Gotsch (1:38.92), and Nico Campbell (1:36.51). Simon Fraser went 6:32.00 for third behind VanderHelm (1:37.02), Mathew Fuller (1:37.27), Mackenzie Hamill ( 1:39.40), and Gabriel Lee (1:38.22).

Tampa, the fastest relay out of morning heats with 6:33.09 (-1.16) finished 5th. Its swimmers included seniors Forrest Lundy (1:39.00) and Cameron Newton (1:36.55), sophomore Yannick Smith (1:39.04), and junior Brett Saunders (1:38.50).

                      Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 31                      
 
  1. Queens (Nc)                       450   2. Delta State                     273.5
  3. Indy                              270   4. Wayne State                     174.5
  5. Grand Valley                      170   6. Colorado Mesa                     166
  7. Missouri S & T                    149   8. Ucsd                              148
  9. Simon Fraser                      146  10. Lindenwood                        143
 11. Nova S'Eastern                    133  12. McKendree                         122
 13. Florida Tech                    109.5  14. Florida Southern                 97.5
 15. Emmanuel                         73.5  16. Tampa                              73
 17. Wingate                          52.5  18. Drury                              51
 19. Nmu                                48  20. Oklahoma Baptist                   43
 21. Carson-Newman                      35  22. Clarion University                 30
 23. Fresno Pacific                     29  24. St. Cloud St.-W                    17
 25. Bellarmine                         15  26. Southern Conn                      14
 27. Gannon                             10  28. Bridgeport                          6
 28. Henderson St.                       6  30. Concordia Irvine                    4
 30. Truman St.                          4

 

 

 

 

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About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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