2022 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships – Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2022 NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 9 – Saturday, March 12, 2022
• Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
• Times: Prelims 10:00 AM / Finals 6:00 PM
• Defending Champs: Queens women (6x) & Queens men (6x) – (Results)
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Psych Sheet – Men
• SwimSwam Fan Guide – Men
• Day 1 Finals Heat Sheets

Day One will begin with timed finals of the 200 medley relay and end with timed finals of the 200 free relay. The men’s individual events include the 1000 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and 1-meter diving.

Men’s 200 Medley Relay – Timed Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 1:24.69 – Drury (2021)
• Meet Record: 1:24.69 – Drury (2021)
• 2021 Champion: Drury – 1:24.69

Podium:

1. Drury – 1:24.87
2. Queens (NC) – 1:25.19
3. Indy – 1:25.22
4. Findlay – 1:25.66
5. McKendree – 1:25.71
6. Colorado Mesa – 1:27.00
7. Missouri S&T – 1:27.19
8. Florida Southern – 1:27.26

Drury successfully defended their title in the 200 medley relay, though they fell just short of the NCAA Division II record that they set a year ago. Mikita Tsmyh (21.44), Dawid Nowodworski (23.62), Dominik Karacic (20.29), and Alex Bowen (19.52) combined for 1:24.87 to secure their second consecutive gold medal in the event.

Queens got to the wall just ahead of Indy, finishing second in 1:25.19. Finn Howard (21.12), Balazs Berecz (24.24), Matej Dusa (20.63), and Skyler Cook-Weeks (19.20) contributed to the effort.

Indy finished .03 behind the Royals with Jeron Thompson (21.70), Jan Zuchowicz (23.34), Kael Yorke (20.99), and Diego Mas (19.19).

Grand Valley and Missouri-St. Louis were disqualified for early take-offs.

Men’s 1000 Freestyle – Fastest Heat

• NCAA DII Record: 8:54.10 – Fabio Dalu, McKendree (2021)
• Meet Record: 8:54.10 – Fabio Dalu, McKendree (2021)
• 2021 Champion: Fabio Dalu, McKendree – 8:54.10

Podium:

1. Ward Lockhart, Rollins – 9:00.93
2. Cedric Buessing, Indy – 9:03.42
3. Miguel Marcos, Wingate – 9:05.29
4. Victor Rosado, Oklahoma Christian – 9:06.39
5. Jonas Soerensen, Wingate – 9:07.69
6. Eric Hieber, Grand Valley – 9:08.53
7. Ondrej Zach, Northern Michigan – 9:08.57
8. Aidan Henry, Queens – 9:09.71

The action took place in the outside lanes in the fast heat of the men’s 1000 free. Indy freshman Cedric Buessing took it out early and set the pace from lane 1. He held the lead for the first 700 yards, while Rollins sophomore Ward Lockhart steadily closed the gap from lane 8. Lockhart took over at the 750 and built his lead over the final 250 yards to end up with 9:00.93 for the national title. Buessing held on for second place, clocking a 9:03.42.

Miguel Marcos of Wingate took third place with 9:05.29 from lane 2. Oklahoma Christian freshman Victor Rosado was next (9:06.39), beating last year’s bronze medalist Jonas Soerensen of Wingate (9:07.69).

Aidan Henry of Queens, who posted the top time in morning heats, made the top-8 with his 9:09.71.

Men’s 200 Individual Medley – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 1:41.61 – Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) (2018)
• Meet Record: 1:41.61 – Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) (2018)
• 2021 Champion: Emanuel Fava, Delta State – 1:43.92

Podium:

1. Alex Kunert, Queens – 1:43.95
2. Collyn Gagne, Simon Fraser – 1:45.03
3. Emanuel Fava, Delta State – 1:45.80
4. Matheo Mateos-Mongelos, Lindenwood – 1:46.19
5. Andrew Rodriguez, Drury – 1:46.92
6. Balazs Berecz, Queens – 1:47.09
7. James Brown, Drury – 1:47.29
8. Jarryd Baxter, Nova S’eastern – 1:47.76

2021 runner-up Alex Kunert of Queens secured the gold medal over defending champion Emanuel Fava with a dominant performance from lane 4. Kunert led the entire race, splitting 21.8-26.5-30.3-25.2 for a 1:43.95. Fava was in second place through the first half of the race, but Simon Fraser’s Collyn Gagne out-split Fava by 1.5 seconds on the breaststroke to move past him headed into the freestyle. Gagne came home in 24.9 to take second place over Fava by .77.

JT Amrein of Oklahoma Christian won the B final with 1:46.15.

Men’s 50 Freestyle – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 92 – Karol Ostrowski, Drury (2021)
• Meet Record: 92 – Karol Ostrowski, Drury (2021)
• 2021 Champion: Karol Ostrowski, Drury – 19.12

Podium:

1. Matej Dusa, Queens – 18.88
2. Karol Ostrowski, Drury – 19.18
3. Skyler Cook-Weeks, Queens – 19.42
4. Alex Bowen, Drury – 19.51
5. Abe Townley, St. Cloud State – 19.60
6. Tim Stollings, Findlay – 19.64
7. Luka Cvetko, Wayne State – 19.69
8. Kyle Micallef, Florida Southern – 19.73

It was Matej Dusa all the way in the final of the 50 free. Swimming in lane 5 next to NCAA Division II record-holder Karol Ostrowski of Drury, the Queens sophomore ripped a 18.88 to win the national title and take down Ostrowski’s meet and division marks of 18.92. Dusa was out in 9.19 and home in 9.69 to finish .30 ahead of Ostrowski.

Ostrowski came in second with 19.18, .24 ahead of third-place Skyler Cook-Weeks of Queens. Drury’s Alex Bowen was fourth (19.51). Abe Townley of St. Cloud State (19.60), Tim Stollings of Findlay (19.64), Wayne State’s Luka Cvetko (19.69), and Kyle Micallef of Florida Southern (19.73) came to the wall within .13 of each other.

McKendree’s Gregg Lichinsky won the B final (19.67) for a second year in a row.

Men’s 1-Meter Diving – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 70 – Dario DiFazio, Oakland (1994)
• Meet Record: 70 – Dario DiFazio, Oakland (1994)
• 2021 Champion: Ammar Hassan, Colorado Mesa – 568.50

Podium:

1. Cade Hammond, Indy – 525.20
2. Julio Osuna, Indy – 520.55
3. Jason Lenzo, Indy – 454.80
4. Isaiah Cheeks, Colorado Mesa – 440.55
5. David Molina-Fregenal, Lindenwood – 427.10
6. Noah Luna, Colorado Mesa – 424.35
7. Cyrus Irwin, Grand Valley – 423.35
8. Jawone Blankenship, Delta State – 422.90

UIndy swept the podium in 1-meter diving, winning the event for the first time. Cade Hammond earned the national title with a huge final dive that earned 71.4 points, taking his total to 525.20. Teammate Julio Osuna, who had led until the final round, scored 64.5 points on his last dive. While it wasn’t enough to catch Hammond, it was good enough for second place. Jason Lenzo came in third with 454.80 points.

Colorado Mesa, who had won this event in each of the last three championships, picked up a fourth with Isaiah Cheeks (440.55) and a sixth from Noah Luna (424.35).

David Molina-Fregenal of Lindenwood (427.10), Cyrus Irwin of Grand Valley (423.35), and Jawone Blankenship of Delta State (422.90) rounded out the top-8.

Men’s 200 Freestyle Relay – Timed Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 1:16.90 – Drury (2021)
• Meet Record: 1:16.90 – Drury (2021)
• 2021 Champion: Drury – 1:16.90

Podium:

1. Queens – 1:17.20
2. Drury – 1:17.42
3. Indy – 1:17.46
4. McKendree – 1:17.59
5. Findlay – 1:18.65
6. Wayne State – 1:18.74
7. Carson-Newman – 1:19.48
8. Henderson State – 1:19.54

Queens won a tightly-contested third heat of the men’s 200 free relays in 1:17.20, just touching out Drury (1:17.42), Indy (1:17.46), and McKendree (1:17.59). The Royals led off with the newly-minted NCAA record-holder in the 50 free, Matej Dusa, who swam another sub-19 (18.92) but not quite as quick as his individual event. Queens loaded up the front end of the relay, as Skyler Cook-Weeks (19.03) followed Dusa before handing off to Finn Howard (19.63) and Kimani Gregory (19.62).

Drury followed in second place throughout the race, with Karol Ostrowski (19.11), Kham Glass (19.59), Dawid Nowodworski (19.56), and Alex Bowen (19.16).

Indy (Jeron Thompson, Diego Mas, Joao Silva, and Victor Antonon) held off McKendree (Gregg Lichinsky, Calew Law, Emilio Perez, and Xander Skinner) for third place.

Fifth place went to Findlay (Camilo Marrugo, Tim Stollings, Angel Margaritov, and Kristofers Bregis), who had won heat 2 from lane 2 with a 1.6-second drop. Bloomsburg was disqualified in that heat.

Men’s Team Standings – Day 1

1. Queens (NC) – 181
2. Indy – 154
3. Drury – 144
4. McKendree – 79
5. Colorado Mesa – 74
6. (tie) Lindenwood / Findlay – 71
7. –
8. Wingate – 67
9. Wayne State – 48
10. Florida Southern – 45
11. Nova S’Eastern – 43
12. Carson-Newman – 34
13. (tie) Delta State / Grand Valley – 31
14. –
15. Oklahoma Christian – 30
16. Henderson St. – 28
17. Rollins – 25
18. Missouri S & T – 24
19. St Cloud St – 22
20. Simon Fraser – 17
21. Northern Michigan – 13
22. Clarion University – 4
23. Southern Conn – 2
24. (tie) Lynn / UT Permian Basin – 1
25. –