Update: Original post said there were 7 #1 rankings – Arakelian’s 100 breast is actually ranked #2.
Queens (NC) vs Wingate
- Saturday, October 28th
- Wingate University
- Short course yards
- Results – Men
- Results – Women
Team Scores
Men
- Queens: 166
- Wingate: 79
Women
- Queens: 181
- Wingate: 64
Marius Kusch of Queens University (NC) came away from a dual against Wingate with 3 wins and 3 #1 rankings for NCAA D2. Kusch won the 100 fly (46.95), 200 fly (1:46.95), and was on the winning 400 free relay (3:01.54). Nick Arakelian of Queens also won 3 events and went 1 #1 ranking nationally. Arakelian won the 200 IM (1:49.36), the 200 breast (2:02.57), which would have ranked #1 nationally but Arakelian already holds the #1 rank with his season best of 2:01.22, and the 100 breast in 55.27 (ranks #2 nationally). Queens’ Paul Pijulet won 2 events, the 100 back (48.19) and 200 back (1:47.33), and posted 2 #1 rankings to bring Queens total #1 rankings achieved at the meet to 6.
The Queens women also handled Wingate convincingly, winning by almost 120 points. The highest NCAA D2 ranking to come from the women’s meet was Queens freshman SJ Atkinson, who won the 200 breast in a time of 2:18.75.
Queens and Wingate are currently ranked 1st and 4th respectively for men, and 1st and 17th for women by collegeswimming.com’s Division 2 team rankings.
Press Release – Queens:
WINGATE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte women’s swimming team, ranked No. 2 in the latest CSAA-TYR Top 25 Division II Poll, won 12 of 13 total events in a dual meet with fellow Bluegrass Mountain Conference member Wingate University.
The Bulldogs are No. 5 overall in the poll and picked up their only win in the 100-yard butterfly. Queens’ sophomore Georgia DaCruz finished second in the race with a time of 56.29, just .02 seconds behind Wingate’s Ebba Stillman.
“Our women and coaching staff have the utmost respect for the Wingate women, thus we showed up to race in a high quality way,” said Queens Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Planning and Leadership Development/ Director of Swimming Operations Jeff Dugdale. “I feel good closing out October with some fast swims. I was most impressed with how fierce our freshmen were.”
All three freshmen on the team collected wins in the meet, with Rachel Massaro beginning the afternoon with a victory in the 100-yard backstroke.
Massaro also finished second in the 200-yard backstroke, while Sarah Jane Atkinson was a two-time winner in the pool, taking first in the 200-yard I.M. and in the 200-yard breaststroke. Atkinson was the runner-up in the 100-yard breaststroke. Junior Amanda Tipton won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:07.77.
Queens’ final freshman, Francesca Bains, won the 500-yard freestyle race with a time of 5:01.82, good enough for an NCAA B Standard. Bains, also a winner in the 1000-yard freestyle, collected an NCAA B time of 10:16.80 in the event.
Junior Josefina Lorda-Taylor had two NCAA B times, winning both the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.97) and the 200-yard butterfly (2:04.39). Fellow junior Shelly Prayson also won twice, reaching the wall first in the 100-yard breaststroke and 50-yard freestyle. Prayson’s time of 1:04.22 in the 100-yard breaststroke was an NCAA B Standard.
The Royals’ final individual win came from senior Alexandra Marshall in the 100-yard freestyle (52.58), as the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Lorda-Taylor, Kyrie Dobson, Marshall and Prayson registered the team’s final win of the evening.
Queens returns to the pool for the annual Fall Frenzy on Nov. 17-19 at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center.
Press Release – Queens Men:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The top-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men’s swimming team secured 12 first-place finishes in a dual meet with No. 8 Wingate University on Saturday morning in the Levine Center.
Six different Royals won an event on the day, while the 400-freestyle relay team of Marius Kusch, Alen Mosic, Dmytro Sydorchenko and Ben Mayes reached the wall first with a time of 3:01.54.
Senior Paul Pijulet won two events against the Bulldogs, beginning the day with an NCAA B Standard time of 48.19 in the 100-yard backstroke. He followed with another NCAA B time in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing in 1:47.33 to take the win.
Pijulet’s third NCAA B time of the meet came in the 200-yard freestyle, where his time of 1:39.95 was good enough for a second place finish behind Mosic (1:39.85) who also had an NCAA B time
Fellow senior Nicholas Arakelian was three-time winner in the pool on Saturday, taking first in the 100-yard breaststroke (55.27), 200-yard I.M. (1:49.36) and 200-breaststroke (2:02.57). His times in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard I.M. were both good enough to qualify for NCAA B Standards.
Kusch won both the 100-yard butterfly (46.95) and 200-yard butterfly races with NCAA B times, while freshman Hendrik Faber collected two wins in the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:38.26) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:37.79).
Sydorchenko was also an individual winner for the Royals, reaching the wall first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.92.
The Bulldogs’ lone win came in the 100-yard freestyle race.
Queens returns to the pool for the annual Fall Frenzy on Nov. 17-19 at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center
Press Release – Wingate:
Wingate, N.C.—-The number two Queens University of Charlotte Royals won 12 of the 13 events Friday afternoon, taking a 181-64 Bluegrass Mountain Conference dual meet victory over number five Wingate University in the WU Natatorium (complete results). Four Queens student-athletes won two individual events each for the victors.
Wingate sophomore Ebba Stillman (Huskvarna, Sweden) won one gold, one silver and one bronze medal for the Bulldogs. Stillman touched first in the 100 Butterfly with her triumphant time of 56.27. She was second in the 200 Butterfly (2:05.79) and third in the 500 Freestyle (5:18.00).
Queens juniors Josefina Lorda-Taylor (La Pampa, Argentina) and Shelly Prayson (Dayton, Ohio) won three events each (two individual and one relay). Lorda-Taylor collected individual gold medals in the 200 Freestyle (1:52.97) and the 200 Butterfly (2:04.39). Prayson won the 100 Breaststroke (1:04.22) and the 50 Freestyle (24.13).
In the meet’s last event, Lorda-Taylor and Prayson swam the first and fourth legs, respectively, in the 400 Freestyle Relay. The Royals touched first with their time of 3:30.08. Queens junior Kyrie Dobson (Lexington, Ky.) and senior Alexandra Marshall (Winston-Salem, N.C.) joined Lorda-Taylor and Prayson on the victorious relay quartet.
