CSCAA Open Water National Championships
- Friday, September 17th, 2021
- Lawrence, Kansas
- 5K
- Results
Team Standings
Women
- Nebraska
- Rice
- Purdue
- Southern Illinois
- Kansas
Men
- Northern Michigan
- Emmanuel College
- Carson-Newman
- Ashland
- Southern Illinois
The annual CSCAA National Championships were held in Lawrence, Kansas yesterday, with Nebraska coming away with the women’s team title, and Northern Michigan the men’s. The top 5 men’s and women’s finishers from this race receive invitations to the USA Swimming 5K Open Water National Championships.
Purdue’s Kate Beavon (1:03:09.60) won the women’s 5K by a huge margin, crossing the finish line 58 seconds ahead of Nebraska’s Illaria Muzilli, who came in 2nd (1:04.07.60). Nebraska had another racer in the top 5, with Shannon Stott coming in 4th (1:04:31.70). Eden Girloanta of Southern Illinois was the 3rd-place finisher (1:04:26.90), while Rice’s Shannon Campbell took 5th in 1:04:33.60.
Northern Michigan’s Zach Ondrej won the men’s 5K in a massive victory. Ondrej finished in 56:10.60, over 4 minutes ahead of the runner-up. Coming in 2nd was Emmanuel’s Enzo Kihara, who at 1:00:13.20, was just narrowly leading 3rd-place Samuel Jyawook of UMBC, who clocked a 1:00:16.20. Carson-Newman had a top 5 finisher, with Denilson Cyprianos coming in 4th with a 1:00:57.30. Rounding out the top 5 was another Emmanuel swimmer, Amadausz Kielczewski, who finished in 1:00:59.40.
PRESS RELEASE – CSCAA:
With a dominating performance from Ondrej Zach, Northern Michigan University captured the men’s CSCAA Open Water National Championship in Lawrence, Kan., on Friday morning. Purdue’s Kate Beavon captured the women’s individual title, besting Nebraska’s Illaria Muzilli by 58 seconds, but it was the Huskers who left Lone Star Lake with a team championship.
The top five finishers for each gender earn invites to the USA Swimming 5K Open Water Championships.
Zach, the NCAA Division II runner-up in the 1650 Freestyle, finished over four minutes ahead of Emmanuel College’s Enzo Kihara who finished fifth in the same event. With three top-ten finishers NMU topped Emmanuel for the team title. UMBC’s Samuel Jyawook finished third while Carson-Newman finished third in the team race.
The Boilermakers’ top distance swimmer, Beavon finished 10th at the 2021 Big Ten Championships in the 1,650-yard freestyle but overed the 5K course in 1:03.09.6. Murzilli, a true freshman from Rome, Italy, made her competitive debut for the Huskers followed less than a minute later. The Husker team title was determined by depth however with Murzilli joined in the top five by fellow Husker Shannon Stott. The senior from St. Albans, Great Britain took fourth (1:04.31.7), making Nebraska the only school among the 15 in the team competition with a pair of top five finishers.
