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

2019 NCAA Division II Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Day One

Women’s 1000 Yard Freestyle – Fastest Heat

  • NCAA DII: 9:46.63 12/15/2017Emma Sundstedt, Nova S’eastern
  • Meet: 9:48.87 3/8/2017  Georgia Wright, West Chester

Podium:

  1. Georgia Wright, West Chester – 9:45.86
  2. Francesca Bains, Queens – 9:51.13
  3. Emma Sundstedt, Nova S’eastern – 9:55.96
  4. Caroline Jouisse, Delta State – 9:56.63
  5. Melina Goebel, Grand Valley – 9:56.92
  6. Jana Hellenschmidt, Lindenwood – 10:01.90
  7. Sarah Reamy, Queens – 10:02.50
  8. Erica Dahlgren, Drury – 10:03.27

Caroline Jouisse of Delta State was the first out of the chute, establishing an early lead from lane 8 and moving to a half body-length lead by the 200. Queens sophomore Francesca Bains began to close the gap and took over the lead by the 350, with defending champion Georgia Wright of West Chester just behind her. Wright put it into another gear after the 500. She took over the lead and continued to leave everyone in her wake. Wright finished with a new meet record and new NCAA Division II record of 9:45.86. She had set the old meet record in 2017 but it was Emma Sundstedt of Nova S’eastern who held the Division mark. Sundstedt passed Jouisse at the 700 and finished third with 9:56.63.

Jana Hellenschmidt of Lindenwood went 10:01.90 in the morning, improving her seed time by 9.3 seconds. She wound up 6th overall. Drury junior Erica Dahlgren, who placed 7th last year, won the first heat of 1000 freestyles in the morning with 10:03.27 and placed 8th overall.

Women’s 200 Yard Individual Medley – Finals

  • NCAA DII: N 1:55.63 3/9/2016  Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC)
  • Meet: M 1:55.63 3/9/2016  Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC)

Podium:

  1. Bailee Nunn, Drury – 1:57.97
  2. Hannah Kastigar, Northern State – 1:59.78
  3. Lexie Baker, Queens – 2:00.20
  4. Rebecca Cross, Drury – 2:00.96
  5. Rachel Helm, NMU – 2:01.07
  6. Tori Sopp, Drury – 2:01.66
  7. Julia McCarthy, West Chester – 2:02.20
  8. Josephina Lorda, Queens – 2:02.35

Drury junior Bailee Nunn won her third consecutive NCAA Division II title in the 200 IM, and on her birthday to boot. Nunn was out in 25.11, already a half body-length up on the field at the fly-to-back wall. She led by the same margin at the 100, turning in 54.40. Queens senior Josephina Lorda was second at the 100, followed by her sophomore teammate Lexie Baker. Northern State senior Hannah Kastigar was trailing by about half a body length in 4th. But the breaststroke, which often changes everything, put Nunn and Kastigar solidly out front. Nunn split her 50 in 34.37 while Kastigar went 34.63 to pull ahead of Lorda and Baker. At the end it remained Nunn (1:57.97), Kastigar (1:59.78), and Baker (2:00.20), with freshman Rebecca Cross of Drury picking up 4th with 2:00.96.

Women’s 50 Yard Freestyle – Finals

Podium:

  1. Polina Lapshina, Queens – 22.34
  2. Victoria Fonville, Oklahoma Baptist – 22.55
  3. Randi Yarnell, WSCU – 22.81
  4. Kyrie Dobson, Queens – 22.99
  5. Yasmin Preusse, Drury – 23.07
  6. Brittney Miles, UCSD – 23.24
  7. Chelsea Gehrke, St. Cloud St. – 23.29
  8. Ester Rizzetto, West Florida – 23.30

Top-seeded Polina Lapshina won the 50 free but by a smaller margin than expected as Oklahoma Baptist junior Victoria Fonville put up a strong challenge. Fonville, third in this event last year with 22.80, turned first at the 25 but couldn’t hold off Lapshina over the second half of the race. Lapshina came off the 25 wall and moved to the front of the pack, touching first in 22.34. Fonville was second in 22.55. Western State Colorado senior Randi Yarnell took third with 22.80; she had placed 10th last year. Queens senior Kyrie Dobson finished 4th for the second year in a row, while freshmen Yasmin Preusse of Drury and Brittney Miles of UC San Diego took 5th and 6th. St. Cloud State junior Chelsea Gehrke, 49th in prelims a year ago, was 7th, a mere .01 ahead of West Florida freshman Ester Rizzetto.

Women’s 200 Yard Medley Relay – Finals

  • NCAA DII: 1:38.49 2/14/2018 Queens (NC) (DaCruz, Dobson, Massaro, Prayson)
  • Meet: 1:38.65 3/14/2018 Queens (NC) (Massaro, Prayson, DaCruz, Dobson)

Podium:

  1. Queens (NC) – 1:38.58
  2. UCSD – 1:40.00
  3. Tampa – 1:41.44
  4. Delta State – 1:41.81
  5. Nova S’eastern – 1:42.04
  6. Simon Fraser – 1:42.31
  7. Grand Valley – 1:42.60
  8. Wayne State – 1:42.77

Queens University of Charlotte, challenged the entire way by UC San Diego, lowered their own meet record (but not their Division II record) in the medley relay with 1:38.58. Rachel Massaro (24.96), Shelly Prayson (27.16), Georgia DaCruz (24.04), and Kyrie Dobson (22.42) contributed to the final time. UCSD’s 3 freshman and 1 sophomore Olivia Parks (25.19), Gracie Murphy (27.67), Jordan Phillips (24.24), and Brittney Miles (22.90) went 1:40.00 for second place. Tampa took 3rd behind freshmen Courtney Sherwood and Elizaveth Bazarova and juniors Molly O’Hara and Megan Waddell.

                     Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 8                      
 
  1. Queens (Nc)                       161   2. Drury                              73
  3. West Chester                       55   4. Nova S'Eastern                     52
  5. Ucsd                               47   6. Delta State                        45
  7. Tampa                              38   7. Oklahoma Baptist                   38
  7. Grand Valley                       38  10. Wingate                            34
 11. Wayne State                        31  12. Simon Fraser                       26
 13. Nmu                                20  14. Lindenwood                         19
 15. Northern State                     17  16. Wscu                               16
 17. St. Cloud St.-W                    12  18. West Florida                       11
 19. Sioux Falls                        10  20. Findlay                             8
 21. Carson-Newman                       5  22. Csu East Bay                        4
 22. Bloomsburg                          4  22. Bellarmine                          4
 25. Mines                               3  26. Augustana                           2
 26. Indy                                2

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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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