2021 NCAA Division II Women’s Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2021 NCAA Division II Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Day One

Women’s 1000 Yard Freestyle – Fastest Heat

  • NCAA DII Record: 9:43.70 – Georgia Wright, West Chester (2020)
  • Meet Record: 9:48.87 – Georgia Wright, West Chester (2017)

Top 8:

  1. Allison Weber, Drury – 9:53.12
  2. Sophie Lange, Queens – 9:55.89
  3. Francesca Bains, Queens – 10:00.51
  4. Jana Hellenschmidt, Lindenwood – 10:01.03
  5. Katie Agger, Wingate – 10:05.74
  6. Leticia Rodrigues, Lindenwood – 10:08.30
  7. Neta Shiff, Grand Valley – 10:08.40
  8. Taylor Beagle, Augustana – 10:08.61

Freshman Sophie Lange from Queens got out to a fast start from lane 1 and led the field through the 200. Her teammate senior Francesca Bains in lane 3 took over the lead at the 250 with top-seeded Allison Weber, a junior from Drury, just behind. Soon thereafter Weber moved to take over the lead with the two Royals half a body length behind. Weber continued to build her lead over the second half of the race. By the 650 she led the Queens swimmers by a body; by the 750 it was closer to two body lengths.

Meanwhile, Lange erased half a body deficit to Bains and pulled into second place by the 750. While Weber continued to extend her lead, Lange shot pasts Bains and cemented her position in second place.

The top three finishers from the slower heats on Wednesday afternoon, Jana Hellenschmidt of Lindenwood, Neta Schiff of Grand Valley State, and Taylor Beagle from Augustana, finished among the top eight overall.

Women – Top 10 Teams – Through Event 3

  1. Queens (Nc) 82
  2. Drury 67
  3. Lindenwood 50
  4. Wingate 46
  5. Tampa 32
  6. Indy 30
  7. S’Eastern 28
  8. Carson-Newman 24
  9. Grand Valley / Delta State 18 (tie)

Women’s 200 Yard Individual Medley – Finals

  • NCAA DII Record: 1:55.63 – Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC) (2016)
  • Meet Record: 1:55.63 – Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC) (2016

Top 8:

  1. Marizel Van Jaarsveld, UIndy – 1:57.84
  2. Katie McCoy, UIndy – 1:58.73
  3. Lexie Baker, Queens – 1:59.31
  4. Bec Cross, Drury – 1:59.37
  5. Ester Rizzetto, West Florida – 2:01.45
  6. Cecilie Jensen, Carson-Newman – 2:01.46
  7. Hannah Foster, Queens – 2:01.80
  8. Sara Aringsmann, Wingate – 2:02.07

Defending champion and Queens senior Lexie Baker, UIndy senior Marizel Van Jaarsveld, and her teammate junior Katie McCoy, flipped together at the butterfly wall, leading the rest of the field by about .4. McCoy took over the lead on the backstroke leg, moving half a second in front of Van Jaarsveld and a full second ahead of Baker. Van Jaarsveld crushed her breaststroke leg and pulled to the front of the field. She held onto her lead over the final 50 yards of freestyle and took home the victory with 1:57.84. McCoy fended off Baker to finish second in 1:58.73.

Meredith Ginn from Carson-Newman won the consolation final in 2:01.85.

Women – Top 10 Teams – Through Event 5

  1. Queens (Nc) 117
  2. Drury 82
  3. Indy 67
  4. Wingate 62
  5. Lindenwood 55
  6. Carson-Newman 46
  7. Nova S’Eastern 34
  8. Tampa 32
  9. West Florida 24
  10. Colorado Mesa 21

Women’s 50 Yard Freestyle – Finals

  • NCAA DII Record: 22.20 – Bailee Nunn, Drury (2017)
  • Meet Record: 22.20 – Bailee Nunn, Drury (2017)

Top 8:

  1. Danielle Melilli, Queens – 22.57
  2. Johanna Buys, UIndy – 22.84
  3. Kasia Rogowska, Drury – 22.90
  4. Yasmin Preusse, Drury – 23.02
  5. Mackenzie Wieberg, Drury – 23.11
  6. Natalie Van Noy, Queens – 23.28
  7. Ester Rizzetto, West Florida – 23.58
  8. Lexie Winnett, Lindenwood – 23.59

Queens sophomore Danielle Melilli held onto her top seeding with a 22.57 win in the 50 free final. Melilli flipped first at the 25 wall in 10.9 and powered home in 11.6 to finish .27 ahead of UIndy’s Johanna Buys (22.84).

Drury picked up 45 team points with a sweep of 3rd through 5th from sophomore Kasia Rogowska (22.90), junior Yasmin Preusse (23.02), and senior Mackenzie Wieberg (23.11).

Elizaveta Bazarova of Tampa won the consolation final in 23.39.

Women’s 200 Yard Medley Relay – Timed Finals

  • NCAA DII Record: 1:38.49 – DaCruz, Dobson, Massaro, Prayson, Queens (NC) (2018)
  • Meet: 1:38.58 – R Massaro, M Prayson, G DaCruz, K Dobson, Queens (NC) (2019)

Top 8:

  1. Queens – 1:40.13
  2. Drury – 1:40.93
  3. Wingate – 1:41.10
  4. UIndy – 1:41.19
  5. Nova S’eastern – 1:41.43
  6. Tampa – 1:41.63
  7. Carson-Newman – 1:42.33
  8. Lindenwood – 1:42.41

Rachel Massaro (24.82), Danielle Melilli (27.88), Kayla Tennant (24.74), and Natalie Van Noy (22.69) of Queens won the fourth heat of women’s 200 medley relays in the overall fastest time of the meet, 1:40.13. That makes four years in a row for the Royals.

Placing second in that heat and earning the silver medal overall were Drury’s Laura Pareja (24.81), Kasia Rogowska (29.54), Mackenzie Wieberg (24.01), and Yasmin Preusse (22.57). Wingate (Anna Miram, Anne-Sofie Nissen, Maike Hoener, and Sara Aringsmann) came in third with 1:41.10.

In the previous heat, UIndy came from behind to beat Nova S’eastern over the final 50 yards. Johanna Buys’ 24.20 fly leg helped make up ground while Leticia Vaselli’s 22.56 anchor brought them home.

Women – Top 10 Teams – Through Event 7

  1. Queens – 151
  2. Drury – 130
  3. UIndy – 88
  4. Lindenwood – 73
  5. Wingate – 62
  6. Carson–Newman – 46
  7. Tampa – 41
  8. Nova S’eastern / West Florida – 36 (tie)
  9. Delta State – 24

Women’s 1-Meter Diving – Final

  • NCAA DII Record: 55 – Kayla Kelosky Clarion (2011)
  • Meet Record: 55 – Kayla Kelosky Clarion (2011)

Top 8:

  1. Graycn Segard, Grand Valley – 448.35
  2. Jolynn Harris, Colorado Mesa – 448.30
  3. Allyson Schafer, Grand Valley – 437.00
  4. Nicole Taormina, Grand Valley – 432.70
  5. Kelsey DeJesus, West Florida – 429.70
  6. Elle Christie, Lindenwood – 420.60
  7. Dani Reyes, West Florida – 419.35
  8. Mandy Baird, NMU – 418.25

Gracyn Segard from Grand Valley State eked out a narrow win in the 1-meter diving, scoring 448.35 points to beat Colorado Mesa’s Jolynn Harris by .05. Harris kept Grand Valley from sweeping the top three steps of the podium, though, with her 448.30 points. Allyson Schafer and Nicole Taormina finished third and fourth with 437.00 and 432.70 points, respectively. Schafer placed 12th in 3-meter diving last year, the only diving event that took place before the 2020 championship meet was called due to COVID.

Women – Top 10 Teams – Through Event 9

  1. Queens (Nc) 151
  2. Drury 130
  3. Indy / Lindenwood 93
  4. Grand Valley 72
  5. West Florida 66
  6. Wingate 62
  7. Carson-Newman 46
  8. Tampa 41
  9. Colorado Mesa 39

 

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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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