2021 NCAA Division II Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships
- Wednesday, March 17 – Saturday, March 20, 2021
- Birmingham CrossPlex / Birmingham, AL (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending champion: Queens (5x) – 2019 results
- Streaming
- Championship Central
- Live Results
- 2021 NCAA Division II Women’s psych sheet
Day One
Women’s 200 Yard Individual Medley – Prelims
- NCAA DII Record: 1:55.63 – Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC) (2016)
- Meet Record: 1:55.63 – Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC) (2016
Finals qualifiers:
- Lexie Baker, Queens – 1:59.12
- Marizel Van Jaarsveld, UIndy – 1:59.31
- Bec Cross, Drury – 2:00.65
- Katie McCoy, UIndy – 2:00.73
- Hannah Foster, Queens – 2:01.44
- Ester Rizzetto, West Florida – 2:01.95
- Sara Aringsmann, Wingate – 2:02.29
- Cecilie Jensen, Carson-Newman – 2:02.95
- Meredith Ginn Carson-Newman – 2:02.97
- Beata Maruszczyk, Lindenwood – 2:03.55
- Anne-Sofie Nissen, Wingate – 2:03.60
- Liily Borgenheimer, Colorado Mesa – 2:03.86
- Kayla Tennant, Queens – 2:04.01
- Allison Kopas, Nova S’eastern – 2:04.06
- Maike Hoener, Wingate – 2:04.55
- Lisa Boernigen, Lenoir-Rhyne – 2:04.71
Defending champion Queens senior Lexie Baker cranked out a 1:59.12, nearly .9 faster than her winning time in 2020 (2:00.00), to qualify first for finals in the 200 IM. Marizel Van Jaarsveld, a senior from UIndy, improved her seed time by 1.6 to finish second with 1:59.31.
Drury junior Bec Cross, the top seed in this event, added .7 to cruise to a 2:00.65 win in her heat. She ranks third heading into finals.
Hannah Foster of Queens, West Florida junior Ester Rizzetto, and Carson-Newman senior Cecilie Jensen all dropped time to make the A final.
Women’s 50 Yard Freestyle – Prelims
- NCAA DII Record: 22.20 – Bailee Nunn, Drury (2017)
- Meet Record: 22.20 – Bailee Nunn, Drury (2017)
Finals qualifiers:
- Danielle Melilli, Queens – 22.82
- Johanna Buys, UIndy – 23.02
- Yasmin Preusse, Drury – 23.26
- Mackenzie Wieberg, Drury – 23.34
- Kasia Rogowska, Drury – 23.37
- Natalie Van Noy, Queens – 23.39
- Ester Rizzetto, West Florida – 23.43
- Leticia Vaselli, UIndy / Lexie Winnett, Lindenwood – 23.44 (tie)
- –
- Laura Pareja, Drury – 23.45
- Rachel Massaro, Queens – 23.46
- Jia Yi Koh, Wayne State / Lucia Martelli, Delta State – 23.47 (tie)
- –
- Cassie Wright, Nova S’eastern – 23.53
- Elizaveta Bazarova, Tampa – 23.60
- Kirsten Votava, Lindenwood – 23.61
Queens sophomore Danielle Melilli held onto her top seeding by clocking a 22.82 to lead the field with the only sub-23 50 free of the morning. She improved her seed time by .1. Melilli placed third in this event in 2020, going 22.81 in finals.
UIndy junior Johanna Buys went .04 faster than her seed time to post the morning’s second-fastest time (23.02). Drury junior Yasmin Preusse and senior Mackenzie Wieberg were third and fourth. In 2020, Preusse finished fourth in finals with 23.08.
Drury and Queens each got another A final qualifier with Kasia Rogowska and Natalie Van Noy, respectively.
Ester Rizzetto from West Florida, 12th in 2020, qualified seventh. There was a tie for eighth between UIndy sophomore Leticia Vaselli and Lindenwood senior Lexie Winnett, both of whom went 23.44 in their heats. In the swim-off, the pair flipped together at the 25 wall but Winnett came out ahead and never let up over the final 25 yards. She won 23.37 to 23.46 and will contest the A final. Vaselli was ninth in last year’s final.
Women’s 1000 Yard Freestyle – Slower Heats
- NCAA DII Record: 9:43.70 – Georgia Wright, West Chester (2020)
- Meet Record: 9:48.87 – Georgia Wright, West Chester (2017)
Top 8 from morning:
- Jana Hellenschmidt, Lindenwood – 10:01.03
- Neta Shiff, Grand Valley – 10:08.40
- Taylor Beagle, Augustana – 10:08.61
- Rebecca Dany, Queens – 10.09.48
- Mackenzie Harris, Drury – 10:12.56
- Jessie Tobin, Tampa – 10:12.80
- Emma Bliss, Grand Valley – 10:13.31
- Robyn Naze, Colorado Mesa – 10:13.91
Junior Jana Hellenschmidt of Lindenwood won the first heat with 10:01.03, taking 6.8 seconds off her seed time. Sophomore Neta Shiff from Grand Valley (10:08.40) and senior Taylor Beagle from Augustana (10:08.61) were second and third in the heat. Hellenschmidt was 4.7 seconds faster than last year, when she placed 11th in the 1000 free on Day 1.
Drury junior Mackenzie Harris, who had a comfortable lead for much of the race, had to fend off late challenges from Tampa senior Jessie Tobin and Colorado Mesa junior Robyn Naze. Tobin and Naze had been closing over the final 200 yards and turned just about even with Harris as they all got their bells. Harris wasn’t about to let all that work go to waste, though, and she kicked it into a whole other gear over the final 25 yards to win the heat with 10:12.56. Tobin went 10:12.80 and Naze was third with 10:13.91. Her time was a Colorado Mesa school record, breaking a 4-year-old mark of 10:16.33.
Junior Victoria Murillo from University of Mary won the final heat in 10:20.13 just ahead of McKendree junior Hallie Dixon (10:20.68).
