2022 BMC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- February 10-13, 2022
- Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Day 1 Results (PDF)
- Day 2 Results (PDF)
The Queens University men and women continued their dominance at the 2022 Bluegrass Mountain Championships with seven event victories.
The Queens men and women are both 6-time defending NCAA Division II Champions; the men have won the last seven MBC championships, while the women have claimed the last six trophies.
Women’s Day 2
Team Standings:
- Queens (D2) – 988
- Wingate (D2) – 642
- Carson-Newman (D2) – 578
- SCAD (NAIA) – 337
- Lenoir-Rhyne (D2) – 298
- Mars Hill (D2) – 167
- Catawba College (D2) – 164
- Emory & Henry (D2) – 148
The Queens women pulled off a perfect four-for-four on day 2 of the competition, including two NCAA Championships “A” Standards.
That started with junior Cece Mayer, who is a transfer this season from D1 program Grand Canyon. She won the session-opening 100 fly in 53.05, which knocks three tenths off her lifetime best swim. That also puts her under the “A” standard of 53.37 and removes any doubt from her individual NCAA qualification in the event.
The Queens women finished 1-2-4-5 in the race, with Kayla Tennant placing 2nd in 54.59. She was the conference champion in this event, and the 200 fly, last season, and placed 4th in the 100 fly at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Swedish freshman Tova Andersson won the women’s 400 IM in 4:22.53. She almost hit an “A” cut in the event midseason, where she swam a 4:17.7.
Meredith Ginn locked up a likely NCAA invite with a 4:24.60 for 2nd place. She finished 5th in the event at last year’s NCAA Championship meet in a school record of 4:16, but has only swum the race once so far this season, mid-year at the Tennessee Invite, where she was only 4:28.16.
The Queens women were dominant in the 800 free relay, even by their standards, finishing 1-2-3-4-5. They were led by Monica Gumina in 1:47.03, which is an NCAA “A” standard. She was already the top-ranked D2 swimmer in the country this season, and has extended that gap over West Chester’s Ann Carozza to 1.6 seconds. She’s also the only “A” cut in the NCAA in that event this year.
Gumina is a transfer from Arizona and returns to NCAA swimming a season-and-a-half after her last meet for the Wildcats.
Unlike most meets, the 800 free relay comes at the end of the BMC Championships, where Queens is a clear favorite.
The Queens women wrapped the session by winning the 400 medley relay in 3:40.75. There, the team of Vladyslava Maznytska, Danielle Melilli, Mayer, and Andersson combined for 3:40.75. Maznytska had the fastest backstroke leg (55.02) and Mayer had the fastest fly leg (53.50) in the field. Carson-Newman’s Kailee Morgan had the fastest breaststroke split in 1:01.26 as part of her team’s runner-up finish, while Wingate’s Kelsea Munro had the fastest free split in 50.23.
Gumina, who wasn’t on this relay, will be the favorite in the individual 100 free later in the meet, but that lines up as a competitive race.
Men’s Day 2
Team Standings:
- Queens University of Charlotte (D2) – 983
- Wingate University (D2) – 797
- Carson-Newman University (D2) – 505
- Lenoir Rhyne University (D2) – 266
- SCAD (NAIA) – 247
- Catawba College (D2) – 214
- Emory & Henry College (D2) – 161
- Mars Hill University (D2) – 160
The Queens men continued their dominance as they went 1-2 in the 100 butterfly. Matej Dusa touched first in best time of 47.34 ahead of Alexander Bauch who finished second in 47.90. Bauch took the event out fast touching in 21.84 at the 50, but Dusa closed in a 25.03 compared to Bauch’s 26.06 to earn the win. Dusa broke the 50 freestyle conference record on day 1 of the meet.
Queens placed five men into the A final of the 400 IM finishing 1-3-4-5-8. Mohamed Hegazy won in a time of 3:51.18 which was over four seconds faster than he went in prelims. Hegazy’s freestyle leg was the difference maker as his last 50 split was a 25.89, the fastest last 50 of the field. Lenoir Rhyne’s Micah McRea finished second in a time of 3:52.83.
Marcel Snitko of Wingate captured the win in the 200 freestyle touching in a time of 1:36.79, almost a second faster than his prelims time. Snitko used his last 50 splitting a 24.74 to narrowly finish ahead of Balazs Berecz and Luke Erwee of Queens. Snitko’s split was the only last 50 split under 25 seconds.
The Queens men closed out the night with a win in the 400 medley relay with in a time of 3:12.08 finishing ahead of Wingate who finished second in a time of 3:13.98. Finn Howard split a 47.38 on the backstroke leg to give Queens the lead right off of the bat. That split places him third for NCAA Divsion II men so far this season. Three out of four of the legs for Queens were also a part of the winning 200 medley relay previously in the meet. The Queens B relay would have finished third if it were allowed to score.
