2022 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships – Day 1 Prelims 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)
• Digital Meet Program
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Psych Sheet – Men
• SwimSwam Fan Guide – Men

The first morning session of the 2022 NCAA Division II Championships will consist of prelims of the men’s 200 IM and 50 free, followed by 1-meter diving and the slower heats of the 1000 free.

In the 200 IM, last year’s first-, second-, and third-place finishers are all back and will jockey for position, hoping for the middle lane in tonight’s final. Less than 1.3 seconds separate the first seed (2021 runner-up Alex Kunert of Queens, 1:45.68) from the eighth (JT Amrein of Oklahoma Christian, 1:46.95). Defending champion Emanuel Fava from Delta State (1:46.83), who won this even in 2020 before the meet was canceled, and in 2021, will be seeking a three-peat.

Matej Dusa of Queens is top seed in the 50 free, but defending champion and NCAA Division II record-holder Karol Ostrowski of Drury is here to defend his title. Dusa leads the field by half a second with 19.06, which is .06 faster than Ostrowski’s winning time a year ago. McKendree’s Gregg Lichinsky, runner-up in 2020 and ninth last year, is one to watch, as is Drury’s Alex Bowen who finished second last year, one spot ahead of Dusa.

UIndy divers Julio Osuna and Cade Hammond qualified first and second for the 1-meter diving event, while Isaiah Cheeks from Colorado Mesa will be hoping to keep the Mavericks’ winning streak alive with the third qualifying slot.

It’s a rather deep field in the men’s 1000 free, whereby several afternoon swimmers will have the opportunity to steal a podium spot away from the night swimmers. Aidan Henry of Queens (9:12.96), Florida Southern’s Elder Oliveira (9:13.21), and Grand Valley’s Jon Kantzenbach (9:14.02) are the top seeds for the afternoon timed finals.

Men’s 200 Individual Medley – Prelims

• 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

Finals qualifiers:

1. Alex Kunert, Queens – 1:44.25
2. Emanuel Fava, Delta State – 1:46.19
3. Collyn Gagne, Simon Fraser – 1:46.38
4. Matheo Mateos-Mongelos, Lindenwood – 1:46.70
5. Balazs Berecz, Queens – 1:46.87
6. Andrew Rodriguez, Drury – 1:46.94
7. James Brown, Drury – 1:47.15
8. Jarryd Baxter, Nova S’eastern – 1:47.16
9. Erikas Kapocius, Northern Michigan – 1:47.19
10. Jan Delkeskamp, Queens – 1:47.32
11. Yannick Plasil, Queens – 1:47.57
12. (tie) JT Amrein, Oklahoma Christian / Andreas Marz, Queens – 1:47.61
13. –
14. Bartlomiej Swiderski, Indy – 1:47.65
15. Ludo Viberti, Florida Southern – 1:47.66
16. Ben Sampson, Colorado Mesa – 1:47.68

Lindenwood’s Gerald Brown won heat 1, dropping 2.5 seconds from his seed time to stop the clock at 1:48.52. Indy’s Bartlomiej Swiderski dominated heat 2, already pulling away from the field from the butterfly leg. He was up by two body lengths headed into the breaststroke and ended up winning the heat by more than 2 seconds with 1:47.65, a drop of 2.1 seconds from his seed time. Colorado Mesa’s Mahmoud Elgayar placed second in the heat (1:49.75), improving his entry time by .6.

Heat 3 went to Erikas Kapocius of Northern Michigan (1:47.19), whose strong breast/free second half led him past Yannick Plasil (1:47.57) and Andreas Marz (1:47.61) of Queens. Kapocius, swimming in lane 6, dropped nearly 2.2 seconds from his seed time. Plasil and Marz improved by 2 and 1.8 seconds, respectively.

Emanuel Fava of Delta State dominated the back half of heat 4, leading to a decisive victory in 1:46.19. The defending champion came home in 56.6, blowing past Jarryd Baxter of Nova S’eastern (1:47.16) and Jan Delkeskamp of Queens (1:47.32).

Simon Fraser’s Collyn Gagne (1:46.38) took 2.1 seconds off his entry time to win the next heat from out in lane 1. He put up an even faster back half than Fava (55.4) to eclipse Drury’s Andrew Rodriguez (1:46.94), Oklahoma Christian’s JT Amrein (1:47.61), and Florida Southern’s Ludo Viberti (1:47.66).

Top-seeded Alex Kunert of Queens took the final heat in 1:44.25, two full body lengths ahead of the rest of the field. Lindenwood’s Matheo Mateos-Mongelos made up a .6-second deficit at the 150 to edge Queens’ Balazs Berecz, 1:46.70 to 1:46.87, for second place. Drury’s James Brown touched fourth with 1:47.15.

Men’s 50 Freestyle – Prelims

• NCAA DII Record: 18.92 – Karol Ostrowski, Drury (2021)
• Meet Record: 18.92 – Karol Ostrowski, Drury (2021)
• 2021 Champion: Karol Ostrowski, Drury – 19.12

Finals qualifiers:

1. Karol Ostrowski, Drury – 19.30
2. Matej Dusa, Queens – 19.34
3. Skyler Cook-Weeks, Queens – 19.37
4. Luka Cvetko, Wayne State – 19.43
5. Kyle Micallef, Florida Southern – 19.62
6. Alex Brown, Drury – 19.63
7. Abe Townley, St. Cloud State – 19.66
8. Tim Stollings, Findlay – 19.69
9. Gregg Lichinsky, McKendree – 19.70
10. Finn Howard, Queens – 19.71
11. Diego Mas, Indy – 19.75
12. Kham Glass, Drury – 19.85
13. (tie) Victor Antonon, Indy /Igor Brestas, Carson-Newman / Viacheslav Ohnov, Wingate – 19.86
14. –
15. –
16. Xander Skinner, McKendree – 19.90

Drury’s Dominik Karacic got the sprint frees off to a great start with a half-second drop from his seed time to win heat 1 in 20.02. Rueben Van Leeuwen of Lewis was .01 faster in heat 2, edging DaVante Carey of McKendree (20.16) and Daniel Aizenberg of Florida Tech (20.25) for the win.

Tim Stollings of Findlay knocked .3 off his entry time to eke out a win heat 3 with 19.69. Finn Howard of Queens (19.71) improved his seed time by .4 to finish in second place, while Zach Linder of Lindenwood touched third (19.91) with a .2 improvement.

Luka Cvetko of Wayne State kicked off the circle-seeded heats with 19.43, bettering his entry time by .26. Kyle Micallef from Florida Southern (19.62) and St. Cloud’s Abe Townley (19.66) came to the wall just behind.

Drury’s Alex Bowen (19.63) edged McKendree’s Gregg Lichinsky (19.70) and Indy’s Diego Mas (19.75) in heat 5.

Defending champion Karol Ostrowski took the final heat from out in lane 1, where he was relegated with the 19th-fastest seed time coming into the meet. Ostrowski dominated the heat from start to finish, ending up with 19.30 for the fastest time of the morning. Top-seeded Matej Dusa of Queens came in second in the heat (19.34) ahead of teammate Skyler Cook-Weeks (19.37). Igor Bretas of Carson-Newman and Victor Antonon from Indy tied for fourth with 19.86.

Wayne State’s Michael Wolsek and Lindenwood’s Linder ended up tied for 17th place and had to swim off for the right to be first alternate tonight. Both improved on their 19.91 performances from prelims, but it was Wolsek with the win, 19.73 to 19.88.

Swimoff for 17th:

1. Michael Wolsek, Wayne State – 19.73
2. Zach Linder, Lindenwood – 19.88

Men’s 1000 Freestyle – Slower Heats

• 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

Top 8 finishers:

1. Aidan Henry, Queens – 9:09.71
2. Luke Erwee, Queens – 9:10.02
3. Radostin Krastev, Lindenwood – 9:10.35
4. Chance Ricca, Rollins – 9:14.11
5. Christian Hedeen, Indy – 9:14.17
6. Jon Kantzenbach, Grand Valley – 9:14.78
7. Stas Chalat, Indy – 9:18.06
8. Momo Masmoudi, Lynn – 9:18.24

The fastest heat by seed time (heat 1) of the men’s 1000 free will swim tonight with finals. The other four heats competed this morning, swimming fastest-to-slowest. Strategy was on display in heat 2, where Luke Erwee of Queens patiently paced the first 250 yards from the outside lane, allowing others to rush to lead the heat. He took over at the 300 and stayed out front until the bell rang. Meanwhile, Jon Kantzenback of Grand Valley, swimming in the other outside lane and Aidan Henry of Queens in the middle, were both chasing Erwee. When they heard the bell, it was a mad dash home. Henry ended up touching out his teammate, 9:09.71 to 9:10.02, while Kantzenbach finished third in 9:14.78.

Chase Ricca of Rollins controlled heat 3 from start to finish, already up by more than two body lengths at the halfway point. The more exciting race was between lanes 6 and 7 for second place. Ricca scored the win with 9:14.11 while Lynn’s Momo Masmoudi out-touched Missouri S&T’s Alexander Graham by .02 for second place in the heat, 9:18.24 to 9:18.26.

Heat 4 followed in its predecessor’s footsteps. Indy’s Stanislaw Chalat was untouchable with his wire-to-wire win in 9:18.06. Behind him, the battle was furious between Michele Orrù of Wingate in lane 5 and Mohamed Hegazy of Queens in lane 2. The two sprinted home after the bell rang and Hegazy got the touch, 9:22.58 to 9:22.63.

Indy’s Christian Hedeen swam all alone, way in front of the field, for the entire race. He dropped 15.8 seconds from his seed time to finish with 9:14.17 and move from 33rd seed to somewhere in the top-16 (we won’t know until the top-8 swim tonight). Drury’s Ean Vandergraaf dropped nearly 6 seconds to touch second in the heat with 9:21.89. He sits at 11th right now, so it will take three swimmers who go 9:22 or slower tonight for him to score.

Men’s 1-Meter Diving – Prelims

• NCAA DII Record: 618.70 – Dario DiFazio, Oakland (1994)
• Meet Record: 618.70 – Dario DiFazio, Oakland (1994)
• 2021 Champion: Ammar Hassan, Colorado Mesa – 568.50

Finals qualifiers:

1. Julio Osuna Kelly, Indy – 507.95
2. Cade Hammond, Indy – 467.95
3. Jason Lenzo, Indy – 442.25
4. Noah Luna, Colorado Mesa – 436.65
5. Cyrus Irwin, Grand Valley – 428.75
6. Jawone Blankenship, Delta State – 427.00
7. David Molina Fregenal, Lindenwood – 415.95
8. Isaiah Cheeks, Colorado Mesa – 412.10
9. Noah Boyd, Lindenwood – 399.55
10. Ethan Larson, McKendree – 396.00
11. Charles Earl, Drury – 389.65
12. Tanner Belliston, Colorado Mesa – 387.60
13. Zachary Schering, Clarion – 386.25
14. Wrigley Fields, Grand Valley – 384.95
15. Andrew Buehler, Southern Connecticut – 376.10
16. Matthew Lenzo, UT Permian Basin – 364.30

Indy swept the top three spots for tonight’s A final, with Julio Osuna, Cade Hammond, and Jason Lenzo all qualifying at the top of the heap after 11 rounds. The three Greyhounds were the only divers to average more than 40 points per dive. Osuna tallied 507.95 points, averaging 46.18 per dive. Hammond and Lenzo scored an average of 42.54 and 40.20 per dive, respectively.