2022 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships – Day 4 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)
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Psych Sheet – Men
• SwimSwam Fan Guide – Men
• Saturday morning heat sheets

Saturday morning heats will determine the finalists for the 100 free, 200 back, and 200 breast. We will also have all but the fastest heat of the 1650 free, which will swim with finals.

NCAA Division II record-holder Karol Ostrowski of Drury is the headliner in the 100 free; he comes in with a seed time of 42.62. Ostrowski won the 200 free on Thursday and was runner-up in the 50 free on Wednesday. The winner of that event, Matej Dusa of Queens, is seeded with 42.69. Gregg Lichinsky of McKendree (42.89) and Alex Kunert of Queens (42.97), are also seeded with sub-43s.

Ben Sampson of Colorado Mesa (1:42.68) and Drury’s Mikita Tsmyh (1:43.19) and Nathan Bighetti (1:43.44) lead the qualifiers in the 200 back. Bighetti is hoping to defend his 2021 title.

Oklahoma Christian’s JT Amrein comes in with the top time in the 200 breast (1:55.22). He was runner-up in the 100 breast on Friday to Ludo Viberti of Florida Southern, who is seeded sixth in the 200 with 1:56.62. Liki Prema (1:55.63) and Davi Mourao of Drury (1:55.76) are the other sub-1:56s.

Men’s 100 Freestyle – Prelims

• NCAA DII Record: 41.25 – Karol Ostrowski, Drury (2021)
• Meet Record: 41.25 – Karol Ostrowski, Drury (2021)
• 2021 Champion: Karol Ostrowski, Drury – 41.25

Finals qualifiers:

1. Gregg Lichinsky, McKendree – 42.71
2. Alex Kunert, Queens – 42.86
3. Karol Ostrowski, Drury – 42.87
4. Matej Dusa, Queens – 43.07
5. Skyler Cook-Weeks, Queens – 43.43
6. Slava Ohnov, Wingate – 43.46
7. Xander Skinner, McKendree – 43.48
8. Zach Linder, Lindenwood – 43.50
9. Kyle Micallef, Florida Southern – 43.53
10. Alex Bowen, Drury – 43.68
11. Lamar Taylor, Henderson State – 43.70
12. Camilo Marrugo, Findlay / Patryk Winiatowski, Lindenwood – 43.74
13. –
14. Luka Cvetko, Wayne State – 43.81
15. Joao Silva, Indy – 43.86
16. Ruben Van Leeuwen, Lewis – 43.88

Wayne State’s Luka Cvetko ripped a 43.81 to open heats of the men’s 100 free, winning heat 1 by almost a body length over Kiba Kiszczak of Colorado Mesa (44.78).

Drury’s Dominik Karacic went 44.23 to win heat 2 from the outside lane, edging out Ward Lockhart of Rollins (44.35) and Steven Aimable of Nova S’eastern (44.40). All three dropped from their seed times.

Patryk Winiatowski of Lindenwood and Camilo Marrugo of Findlay stopped the clock at exactly the same time with 43.74 to win heat 3. Grand Valley’s Matthew Bosch was third from the outside lane with 44.30.

McKendree went 1-2 in the first circle-seeded heat, as Gregg Lichinsky, last year’s bronze medalist, took .2 off his seed time to win in 42.71 ahead of teammate Xander Skinner (43.48). Zach Linder of Lindenwood (43.50) and Alex Bowen of Drury (43.68) were just behind.

Matej Dusa, the 50 free champion, won heat 5 by half a body in 43.07. The next wave came to the wall together: Henderson State’s Lamar Taylor (43.70), Joao Silva of Indy (43.86), and Ruben Van Leeuwen of Lewis (43.88).

Alex Kunert of Queens touched out Drury’s Karol Ostrowski, the defending champion, by .01 to win the final heat in 42.86. His teammate Skyler Cook-Weeks edged Slava Ohnov of Wingate, 43.43 to 43.46, for third.

Men’s 200 Backstroke – Prelims

• NCAA DII Record: 1:40.74 – Matthew Josa, Queens (NC) (2014)
• Meet Record: 1:40.74 – Matthew Josa, Queens (NC) (2014)
• 2021 Champion: Nathan Bighetti, Drury – 1:43.51

Finals qualifiers:

1. Mikita Tsmyh, Drury – 1:41.85
2. Ben Sampson, Colorado Mesa – 1:42.37
3. Nathan Bighetti, Drury – 1:42.99
4. Alexander Bauch, Queens (NC) / Raf Hendriks, St Cloud St – 1:43.38
5. –
6. Andreas Marz, Queens (NC) – 1:44.34
7. Collyn Gagne, Simon Fraser – 1:45.28
8. Brandon Dyck, Florida Southern – 1:45.32
9. Jayden Cole, Simon Fraser / Andras Tiszai, Indy – 1:45.39
10. –
11. Finn Howard, Queens (NC) – 1:45.40
12. Daniel Aizenberg, Florida Tech – 1:45.56
13. Bartlomiej Swiderski, Indy – 1:45.57
14. Roger Miret Sala, Grand Valley – 1:45.63
15. Andrew Rodriguez, Drury – 1:45.93
16. Erikas Kapocius, NMU – 1:46.00

Alexander Bauch of Queens dropped 3.1 seconds en route to a heat 1 victory with 1:54.38, ahead of Daniel Aizenberg of Florida Tech (1:45.56) and Erikas Kapocius of Northern Michigan (1:46.00). All three dropped time and earned second swims.

Defending champion Nathan Bighetti of Drury went 1:41.99 in heat 2, winning by two body lengths over Andreas Marz from Queens (1:44.34) and Brandon Dyck of Florida Southern (1:45.32).

Mikita Tsmyh of Drury improved his seed time by 1.3 seconds, blasting a 1:41.85 to win heat 3. Raf Hendriks of St. Cloud State came to the wall two body lengths back in 1:43.48, yet still a body ahead of third-place Collyn Gagne of Simon Fraser (1:45.28).

The last heat was just as uneven, with Colorado Mesa’s Ben Sampson winning by a large margin with 1:42.37. Indy’s Andras Tiszai touched out teammate Bartlomiej Swiderski, 1:45.39 to 1:45.57, for second place.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke – Prelims

• NCAA DII Record: 1:51.71 – Anton Lobanov, Nova S’eastern (2015)
• Meet Record: 1:51.71 – Anton Lobanov, Nova S’eastern (2015)
• 2021 Champion: Filipe Pinheiro, McKendree – 1:55.80

Finals qualifiers:

1. Ludo Viberti, Florida Southern – 1:55.55
2. JT Amrein, Oklahoma Christian – 1:55.64
3. Davi Mourao, Drury – 1:55.74
4. Gerald Brown, Lindenwood – 1:57.14
5. Liki Prema, Indy – 1:57.54
6. Felipe Pinheiro, McKendree – 1:57.89
7. Roberto Camera, Northern Michigan – 1:57.93
8. (tie) Matteo Zampese, Florida Southern / Jan Delkeskamp, Queens – 1:57.99
9. –
10. Andy Huffman, Missouri S&T – 1:58.05
11. Ludwig Mueller, Florida Southern – 1:58.74
12. Rhys Taylor, Lewis – 1:58.89
13. Henrique Januario, Carson-Newman – 1:59.01
14. Jan Zuchowicz, Indy – 1:59.22
15. Thanos Diamantidis, Carson-Newman – 1:59.31
16. Balazs Berrecz, Queens – 1:59.37

Henrique Januario of Carson-Newman improved his seed time by 1.3 seconds to win heat 1 in 1:59.01 ahead of Colorado Mesa’s Mahmoud Elgayar (1:59.67). Florida Southern’s Ludo Viberti just touched out Davi Mourao of Drury, 1:55.55 to 1:55.74, to get the edge in heat 2. Roberto Camera of Northern Michigan dropped 1.4 to finish third in the heat with 1:57.93.

It was Gerald Brown of Lindenwood who came out ahead in a close finish in heat 3. He stopped the clock at 1:57.14, just ahead of Liki Prema of Indy (1:57.54) and McKendree’s Filipe Pinheiro (1:57.89).

JT Amrein of Oklahoma Christian, who came in with the fastest seed time, handily won heat 4 with 1:55.64. Matteo Zampese of Florida Southern and Jan Delkeskamp of Queens tied for second with 1:57.99. Ludwig Miller of Florida Southern came in fourth with 1:58.74.

Zampese and Delkeskamp tied for 8th place and had to swim off for the right to lane 8 in tonight’s final. Delkeskamp beat Zampese, 1:57.80 to 1:59.97, but the latter was disqualified for a stroke violation.

Men’s 1650 Freestyle – Slower Heats

• NCAA DII Record: 14:55.12 – Fabio Dalu, McKendree (2021)
• Meet Record: 14:55.12 – Fabio Dalu, McKendree (2021)
• 2021 Champion: Fabio Dalu, McKendree – 14:55.12

Top 8:

1. Gavin Moak, Drury – 15:31.24
2. Elder Oliveira, Florida Southern – 15:31.37
3. Jonas Soerensen, Wingate – 15:32.85
4. Aidan Henry, Queens – 15:32.91
5. Anisse Djaballah, Drury – 15:37.25
6. Michele Orru, Wingate – 15:41.52
7. Stas Chalat, Indy – 15:42.61
8. Ean Vandergraaf, Drury – 15:46.26

Gavin Moak of Drury took control of the first heat early on from the outside lane and established a solid lead. Sebastian Wenk from Indy held onto second place for the first half of the race but fell back after the 800, when Wingate’s Jonas Soerensen took over.

It was still Moak followed by Soerensen at the 1100, but then Elder Oliveira from Florida Southern began his descent out in lane 7. Oliveira really took off at the 1300 and ate away at the enormous lead Moak had built up at the other end of the pool. Moak, who had been cruising along, averaging 28-mids, through the last third of the race, had only half a body on Oliveira when the bell rang.

Oliveira had the momentum going into the final 50 yards and it looked like he would shoot by Moak. But on the last turn, the right-side-breathing Moak must have seen Oliveira, because he turned on the jets and somehow got his hand on the wall first, preserving his victory. Moak finished in 15:31.24, improving his seed time by 3.9 seconds. Oliveira went 15:31.37. Soerensen held on for third with 15:32.85, just out-touching Aidan Henry of Queens (15:32.91).

In the next heat, Wingate’s Michele Orru led for the first half but Drury’s Anisse Djaballah took over the lead and ended up winning by 3 body lengths with 15:37.25 to Orru’s 15:41.52.

The last heat went to Ean Vandergraaf of Drury in 15:45.26.