2022 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships – Day 2 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
• Thursday Finals Heat Sheets

Day Two will feature finals of the men’s 100 fly, 400 IM, and 200 free, and the timed finals of the 400 medley relay.

Drury’s Dominik Karacic is top seed in the fly with 46.58 but he will be challenged by defending champion Tim Stollings of Findlay. Collyn Gagne of Simon Fraser clocked the fastest time in prelims of the 400 IM (3:48.14) by over 1.3 seconds. Co-defending champion Alex Kunert of Queens is seeking a two-peat in the 200 free, coming in with the top time of 1:35.17. He will be battling Drury’s Karol Ostrowski, with whom he tied for first place in this event last year.

Men’s 100 Butterfly – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 44.32 – Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) (2019)
• Meet Record: 44.32 – Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) (2019)
• 2021 Champion: Tim Stollings, Findlay – 45.57

Podium:

1. Dominik Karacic, Drury – 46.30
2. Tim Stollings, Findlay – 46.34
3. Gregg Lichinsky, McKendree – 46.45
4. Camilo, Marrugo, Findlay – 46.56
5. Michael Wolsek, Wayne State – 46.82
6. Matej Dusa, Queens (NC) – 46.84
7. Steven Aimable, Nova S’eastern – 47.01
8. Kael Yorke, Indy – 47.32

Defending champion Tim Stollings of Findlay went out quickly in lane 3, turning first at the 50 and leading his teammate Camilo Marrugo by .11 with 21.19. Dominik Karacic of Drury was in third place, a tenth behind Marrugo. The second half proved decisive, though, as Karacic came home in 24.9 to secure the win. He touched out Stollings by .04, 46.30 to 46.34, to deny the Findlay junior a repeat victory. McKendree’s Gregg Lichinsky came home with the second-fastest back half, 25.02, to slip past Marrugo for third place.

Michael Wolsek of Wayne State, who had made his way into the A final thanks to a swim-off, nailed his third 100 fly of the day to finish fifth in 46.82, just .02 ahead of Matej Dusa from Queens.

Men’s 400 IM – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 3:43.84 – Nick Arakelian, Queens (NC) (2015)
• Meet Record: 3:43.84 – Nick Arakelian, Queens (NC) (2015)
• 2021 Champion: Fabio Dalu, McKendree – 3:45.84

Podium:

1. Collyn Gagne, Simon Fraser – 3:42.49
2. Cedric Buessing, Indy – 3:48.40
3. Jarryd Baxter, Nova S’eastern – 3:48.49
4. Yannick Plasil, Queens (NC) – 3:50.14
5. Erikas Kapocius, NMU – 3:50.48
6. Keegan Hawkins, Grand Valley – 3:51.10
7. Mohamed Hegazy, Queens (NC) – 3:52.91
8. Andreas Marz, Queens (NC) – 3:55.95

Collyn Gagne of Simon Fraser crashed through the NCAA Division II and meet record, winning the men’s 400 IM with 3:42.49. Gagne chopped 1.35 seconds off the mark that Nick Arakelian set in 2015.

It was Yannick Plasil of Queens, in lane 7, who set the pace early on. He led on the butterfly, with Jarryd Baxter of Nova S’eastern in second place and Gagne just behind in third. Baxter moved into second place over the backstroke leg, while Gagne and Indy’s Cedric Buessing moved past Plasil.

Gagne’s breaststroke blew the field away; his 1:02.3 was the fastest by about three seconds, and he headed into the freestyle leg with a three-body-length lead. Gagne came home in 51.8, again the fastest, to finish nearly six seconds in front of Buessing. The Indy freshman, runner-up in the 1000 free on Wednesday, closed well to move past Baxter and get the silver medal by .09.

Men’s 200 Freestyle – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 1:32.46 – Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC) (2016)
• Meet Record: 1:32.46 – Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC) (2016)
• 2021 Champion: Karol Ostrowski, Drury / Alex Kunert, Queens – 1:33.29

Podium:

1. Karol Ostrowski, Drury – 1:33.68
2. Alex Kunert, Queens – 1:34.57
3. Ruben Van Leeuwen, Lewis – 1:35.20
4. Xander Skinner, McKendree – 1:35.38
5. Skyler Cook-Weeks, Queens – 1:36.02
6. Alireza Yavari, McKendree – 1:36.61
7. Balazs Berecz, Queens – 1:36.69
8. Ward Lockhart, Rollins – 1:37.03

Perhaps fueled on by having finished second in the 50 free last night and seeing his meet record go down to Matej Dusa, Karol Ostrowski took off like a shot out of lane 7 and established a big lead early on. Ostrowski flipped in 21.4, four-tenths ahead of Queens’ Alex Kunert in lane 4, with whom he had tied for the championship in last year’s final. At the 100 wall, Ostrowski still held the lead over Kunert by about half a second. Xander Skinner of McKendree and Ruben Van Leeuwen of Lewis were even in third place.

Ostrowski kept the pressure on from the outside lane the entire race, never taking his foot off the accelerator. In the end, he finished .9 ahead of his erstwhile co-champion and earned the solo crown with 1:33.68. Kunert was second in 1:34.57. Van Leeuwen slipped past Skinner to take third place by .18 with 1:35.20.

McKendree’s Alireza Yavari, who earned his spot in the A final after a swim-off, finished sixth in his third race of the day, with 1:36.61.

Men’s 400 Medley Relay – Timed Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 3:07.38 – Queens (NC) (2017)
• Meet Record: 3:07.38 – Queens (NC) (2017)
• 2021 Champion: Drury – 3:08.66

Podium:

1. Queens – 3:08.07
2. McKendree – 3:08.33
3. Florida Southern – 3:09.24
4. Drury – 3:09.54
5. Indy – 3:09.78
6. Findlay – 3:11.26
7. Lindenwood – 3:11.42
8. Delta State – 3:12.02

Queens robbed Drury of a sweep of the medley relays with a strong performance from Finn Howard (46.76 back), Balazs Berecz (53.88 breast), Alex Kunert (46.18 fly), and Matej Dusa (41.25 free). The Royals came from behind to snatch the gold medal away from McKendree, who had been out front after shooting past Florida Southern on the fly leg, thanks to a 45.94 split from Gregg Lichinski. McKendree’s sprinter, Xander Skinner, couldn’t hold off Dusa who came home in a 21.93 on the final 50.

Men’s Standings – Day Two

1. Queens (NC) – 330
2. Drury – 231
3. Indy – 217
4. McKendree – 161
5. Findlay – 129
6. Lindenwood – 111
7. Colorado Mesa – 92
8. Nova S’Eastern – 91
9. Wingate – 87
10. Florida Southern – 79
11. Wayne State – 72
12. Delta State – 60
13. Grand Valley – 46
14. Simon Fraser / 14. Oklahoma Christian – 43
15. –
16. Carson-Newman – 42
17. Rollins – 36
18. Missouri S & T – 35
19. Henderson St. – 28
20. Northern Michigan – 27
21. St Cloud St – 22
22. Lewis – 16
23. Lenoir-Rhyne – 5
24. Clarion University – 4
25. Florida Tech – 3
26. Southern Conn – 2
27. Fresno Pacific / Lynn /UT Permian Basin – 1