2023 NCAA Division II Championships – Day 1 Live Recap

2023 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 7 – Saturday, March 11, 2023
• Location: Indiana University Natatorium, Indianapolis, IN
• Times: Prelims 10:00 AM / Finals 6:00 PM
• Defending Champs: Queens women (7x) & Queens men (7x)
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Women’s Psych Sheet (PDF)
• Men’s Psych Sheet (PDF)
• Day 1 Finals Results (PDF)

The 2023 NCAA Division II Women’s and Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships are taking place in Indianapolis this year, and will run five days from Tuesday, March 7 through Saturday, March 11. For the first time in 8 years, someone other than Queens University of Charlotte will be crowned NCAA Division II champions.

Division II has extended the meet to five days for the first time. Tonight’s session with kick off the meet with timed finals of the 800 free relay.

Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay – Timed Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 7:12.56 – Nova S’eastern (2023)
• Meet Record: 7:14.69 – Queens (Castro Ortega, Gordy, Stevens, Arakelian), 2015

Podium:

1. Nova S’eastern – 7:13.65
2. Drury – 7:14.86
3. West Chester – 7:17.11
4. Colorado Mesa – 7:18.46
5. Lynn – 7:18.95
6. Wingate – 7:19.71
7. Wayne State – 7:20.92
8. Indy – 7:21.52

Top-seeded Nova S’eastern won the final heat of women’s 800 free relays with 7:13.65. While just off the NCAA Division II record, that they had set at the Sunshine State Conference Championships in February, the Sharks nonetheless downed the meet record that had stood since 2015. Emilia Ronningdal (1:47.06), Ilaria Murzilli (1:50.06), May Lowy (1:49.32), and Emily Trieschmann (1:47.21) combined to beat runner-up Drury by 1.2 seconds for the gold medal and meet record.

Drury’s Ellie Walker (1:49.08), Josephine Bushell (1:48.15), Ashlyn Moore (1:49.32), and Mellie Wijk (1:48.31) led through the first three legs but couldn’t match Trieschmann’s anchor. The Panthers lopped 4.4 seconds off their seed time to finish with 7:14.86.

Third place went to West Chester (Ann Carozza, Mckenzie Hemingway, Mikayla Niness, and Keeley Durkin) in 7:1711. The same foursome finished second to Queens last year with 7:20.07.

UIndy won heat 2 in 7:21.52, dropping 2.3 seconds to beat Azusa Pacific (7:24.50) and McKendree (7:25.23).

Florida Southern, entered with no time, won heat 1 in 7:32.39, beating Carson-Newman and Colorado School of Mines.

Women’s Team Scores After Day 1

1. Nova S’Eastern – 40
2. Drury – 34
3. West Chester – 32
4. Colorado Mesa – 30
5. Lynn – 28
6. Wingate – 26
7. Wayne State – 24
8. Indy – 22
9. Tampa – 18
10. Azusa Pacific – 14
11. McKendree – 12
12. Grand Valley – 10
13. West Florida – 8
14. Florida Southern – 6
15. Northern Michigan– 4
16. Carson-Newman – 2

Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay – Timed Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 6:18.46 – Queens (2017)
• Meet Record: 6:18.46 – Queens (2017)

Podium:

1. McKendree – 6:22.46
2. Tampa – 6:22.52
3. Grand Valley – 6:24.18
4. Wingate – 6:24.57
5. Colorado Mesa – 6:25.73
6. Drury – 6:28.40
7. Nova S’eastern – 6:28.42
8. Indy – 6:29.40

The men’s meet kicked off with a handful of thrilling races in the final heat of the 800 free relay. 2022 runners-up, McKendree, upset Tampa, Colorado Mesa, Oklahoma Christian, and Drury en route to winning gold with 6:22.46. While McKendree finished second to Queens in this event last year, the Bearcats were seeded fifth coming into the 2023 championships and swam in lane 2 in the third heat.

McKendree’s Gregg Lichinsky led off in 1:34.76, getting his hand to the wall just ahead of Wingate’s Marcel Snitko (1:34.83) and Tampa’s Santiago Corredor (1:34.87).

Tampa took over the lead on the second leg, with Hayden Curley splitting 1:36.38. Wingate’s Viacheslav Ohnov notched a 1:36.71 to put the Bulldogs in second place. Grand Valley was in third after Austin Millard’s leg (1:36.86), while McKendree trailed in fourth place (Arthur Souza, 1:37.33).

Tampa stayed out front on the third leg, thanks to a 1:36.00 from Caleb Brandon. Gabriel Costa brought Wingate into second place with a split of 1:35.75. Eric Hieber maintained third place for Grand Valley with 1:36.22, and Leo Gandaria-Hernandez’s 1:36.43 kept McKendree in the mix headed into the anchor legs.

McKendree’s Alireza Yavari swam a thrilling anchor, clocking a massive 1:33.94 to overtake the three teams ahead of him. Santiago Aquilera of Tampa put up an impressive 1:35.27 and nearly sealed the win for the Spartans, but Yavari stopped the clock .06 before him to give the Bearcats a 6:22.46 to 6:22.52 victory.

Grand Valley just edged Wingate for third, 6:24.18 to 6:24.57. Colorado Mesa was alone in fifth, but Drury eked out a sixth-place finish by .02 over Nova S’eastern.

Indianapolis won heat 2 in 6:29.40, ahead of Carson-Newman and Saginaw Valley. Findlay came away with the heat 1 win in front of Wayne State and Northern Michigan.

Men’s Team Scores After Day 1

1. McKendree – 40
2. Tampa – 34
3. Grand Valley – 32
4. Wingate – 30
5. Colorado Mesa – 28
6. Drury – 26
7. Nova S’Eastern – 24
8. Indy – 22
9. Oklahoma Christian – 18
10. Carson-Newman – 14
11. Saginaw Valley – 12
12. Findlay – 10
13. Missouri S & T – 8
14. Florida Southern – 6
15. Delta State – 4
16. Wayne State – 2