Queens
Taking their first NCAA National Team Titles, the men’s and women’s swim teams of Queens University of Charlotte took hold of the Division II Swimming and Diving Championship on Saturday, March 14, 2015, with an astonishing 540.5 on the women’s side and 433.5 points on the men’s side. The Royals grabbed a total of 12 national records during the four day competition with two more coming in tonight’s events.
Queens would upset Drury University who had an impressive 10 run on the men’s side and took six of the last eight on the women’s side.
Patricia Castro-Ortega broke the first record of the evening, setting a new NCAA national record in the 100 Yard Freestyle with a time of 48.92 and adding to her list of four individual NCAA Standards.
Queens’ second record of the evening fell in the women’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay which grabbed a 3:18.75. Castro-Ortega took lead in the race followed by Lillian Gordy, Alexandra Marshall, and Caroline Arakelian, respectively.
Nicholas Arakelian took a first place in the men’s 1650 Yard Freestyle. His time took the school record with a 15:10.33 touch. Alex Menke joined Arakelian on the podium taking the third overall place for the meet with a 15:16.84.
Continuing to dominate the meet, Matthew Josa added the 200 Yard Backstroke to his list of accomplishments. Josa’s swim of 1.41.45 took the first place spot for the competition.
Queens proved powerful in the 1650 Yard Freestyle with Meridith Boudreaux taking a sixth place touch at 16:53.23 with Kathryn Johnston following close behind with the 12th seeding time of 17:00.62. McKenzie Stevens added on more to the score board with 17:04.50 and a 14th overall rank.
Lillian Gordy combined with Castro-Ortega in the 100 Yard Freestyle finding her way to the wall for a seventh place finish with a time of 50.08.
Continuing to add points to the board, C. Arakelian raced for a third place finish in the 200 Yard Backstroke with a time of 1:57.66.
Niclas Eriksson took the podium in the 200 Yard Breaststroke finding a second place touch. Eriksson flew threw the water to take a 1:55.65 time narrowly missing the gold medal.
The men's side of the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay found Hayden Kosater, Zachary Phelps, Eriksson, and Ben Taylor, respectively, taking seventh place with a time of 2:58.33.
Taking the top spot in the 100 Yard Freestyle, Alexandra Marshall touched first with a time of 50.59, adding to Royals’ success in the consolation heat for ninth overall.
In a highly competitive race, Phelps, John Suther, and Taylor put points on the board for the team as they worked their way through the consolation heat. Phelps took a 1:46.96 11th place touch. Suther took the 12th rank with a 1:47.10 while Taylor took 14th with a 1:48.50.
Continuing the success of the consolation heats, William Hicks found a third place touch in the 200 Yard Breaststroke with a time of 1:59.31, improving from his seed time of 2:01.32, a personal best.
The College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) announces the following award recipients from the 2015 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships.
Diving Awards:
The CSCAA DII Female Diver of the Year Award was presented to Elizabeth Rawlings from Wayne State University, while the Male Diver of the Year Award went to Collin Vest from Clarion University. Rawlings won the 3-Meter competition with a score of 555.70 and finished 2nd on the 1-Meter board to help lead the Warriors to a 5th place team finish. Her coach, Kelly LaCroix, was selected as the CSCAA DII Women’s Team Diving Coach of the Year for the third time. Vest won the 1-Meter competition, defending his title from 2014 with a score of 564.25 after finishing 3rd on the 3-Meter board the first night of the meet. His coach, Dave Hrovat earned his 11th CSCAA DII Men’s Diving Coach of the Year honor. His athletes have earned 43 individual NCAA DII titles and over 250 CSCAA All-America citations.
Swimming Awards:
Queens University of Charlotte Sophomore Patricia Castro-Ortega was named the CSCAA DII Female Swimmer of the Year after winning four individual titles, all in record time leading the Royals to their first NCAA team title. Castro-Ortega will go into the record books individually in the 200 Individual Medley (1:58.91), 200 Freestyle (1:45.27), 500 Freestyle (4:43.37), 100 Freestyle (48.92) as well as in the 800 Freestyle Relay .
Sophomore Matthew Josa, from Queens University of Charlotte, was named the CSCAA DII Male Swimmer of the Year for the second straight year setting records in three individual events on his way to winning four. Josa established new records in the 200 Individual Medley (1:41.94), 100 Butterfly (44.89) and 200 Butterfly (1:42.96). Josa also won the 200 Backstroke en route to the first ever NCAA DII Swimming and Diving Men’s Championship Title for Queens.
Jeff Dugdale, Queens University of Charlotte Head Coach, was honored as both the Men’s and Women’s CSCAA DII Coach of the Year after leading both the men and women of Queens to team titles in just their fifth year of competition. In that five-year span Dugdale has mentored nearly 30 All-Americans, one Elite-89 Award Winner and his athletes currently hold 12 NCAA DII Records.
California - San Diego
Michael Cohn's school record in the morning and a second fantastic come-from-behind finish at night in the 200-yard backstroke was the top highlight Saturday as UC San Diego completed the 2015 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships. The four-day meet was hosted inside the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI by the University of Indianapolis and the Indiana Sports Corp.
The Triton women totaled 201 points to take sixth, while the men moved up from 20th into a tie for 18th with Clarion at 57 points apiece. Queens, of Charlotte, N.C., finished off title performances on both the men’s (433.5) and women’s (540.5) sides, ending an incredible 10-year reign for the men of Drury (417.5). The Drury women (489.5) had won the last two championships, and six of the last eight.
"It was a balanced performance on all sides for the women," said UCSD men's head coach Daniel Perdew. "We had very few finals swims, but were able to get a lot of consolation qualifiers, and coupled with our relay performances, the points added up. We lost some studs from last year, but we saw some people step up, particularly on relays, and our relay finishes were the result of great balance. That's good to see."
Cohn, a local product from Solana Beach and first-year Triton transfer from Grossmont College, first rallied to a mark of 1:45.85 in morning preliminaries to get under his own school standard of 1:46.04. He was seventh after 50 yards of a seven-swimmer second of three heats, and moved up to fifth at the halfway mark. Cohn remained in fifth but got .55 seconds closer to the next closest competitor, John Suther (1:46.65) of Queens, at the 150-yard mark, before tracking him down. That effort earned him a huge reward in the form of the difference between a championship and consolation final, as Cohn settled into the eighth and final spot for the evening’s main event, clinching All-America recognition. His final 50 yards of 26.81 was a full second faster than Suther (25.82), third-fastest of 21 competitors, and would serve as a sign of things to come.
Remarkably, it was more of the same from the sophomore in the championship final. Swimming in lane eight as the No. 8 seed, Cohn was in eighth place through 150 yards, before surging up into fourth by the time he touched the wall in 1:45.91, just off his school record from earlier. His split for the final 50 yards was a second-best 26.47 seconds. Male Swimmer of the Meet Matthew Josa, a super sophomore from champion Queens who set no fewer than three national records during a mind-blowing week, was first in 1:41.45, falling short of his own meet mark from 2014.
"I'm still in a little bit of shock," remarked Cohn. "After setting the record this morning, I just came here to race tonight, stay out of my head, and not worry about the competition. I knew there were some big, fast guys and big names out there, and it was an incredible way to finish the meet. It's humbling to see my name up there with some of those guys.
"I usually don't remember much from my races, but I remember two things from tonight's. I remember flipping at the halfway point and seeing I was eighth by about a body length. And then, at about the 160 mark, coming off the second-to-last wall I found another gear, started surging forward and said, 'here we go.' I had no idea where I was, but just kept my head back, kept my stroke together, and finished really strong."
"This morning was really about placing, about time," added Perdew about Cohn. "He did exactly what he needed to do. He broke his school record, but more importantly, he was eighth. Eighth is so much better than ninth. You can only move up, and he did that tonight. He swam his own race, which is tough to do in a field of guys like that, and moved up four places, which was big for the men at this meet."
Natalie Tang, fellow sophomore Catherine Woo, and juniors Maddy Huttner and captain Colleen Daley combined for a season-best mark of 3:25.05 in prelims of the 400 free relay, with Tang's opening 100-yard split of 51.09 a lifetime-best that moved her up to No. 4 all-time in program history. In the championship final to round out UCSD’s involvement at this year’s NCAA meet, the foursome went another season best in 3:24.55 for fifth place and All-America honors for each.
Freshman Stephanie Sin completed the grueling 1650 free in 16:57.29. As the sixth seed, she swam out of lane seven in the final, fastest heat to begin the last session on Saturday evening. She toggled between second, third and fourth throughout the early going, finally settling into second for the middle portions behind West Chester senior Kendall Somer on the outside in lane eight. The rest of the field in the middle of the pool ultimately caught up, with Sin’s time dropping her to ninth when combined with earlier heats. She wound up exactly two seconds back of eighth and an All-America nod, settling instead for All-America honorable mention in the event.
"I thought tonight was good for the last race of a four-day meet," said Sin. "It was pretty smooth for the first 1000 (yards), but I really 'felt it' at the end. The most important thing about this meet is that I think I've gained confidence and know I'm more than ready to compete in any race. I plan to be back here next year. That’s my main goal."
Eva Chen's prelim time of 2:18.93 in the 200 breaststroke was 15th fastest and narrowly got the fourth-year Triton senior a final swimming in the consolation final at night. Chen went 2:17.74 in that race for 13th overall in the event. It was just short of her personal record of 2:17.38.
Freshman Julia Toronczak (Santee/West Hills HS) ended her first NCAA Championships experience with an All-America honorable mention 16th-place showing in the 200 back, going 2:04.25 in the consolation final (2:00.90 prelims for 11th). Sophomore Zachary Yong duplicated that effort in the 200 breast (2:00.92 finals; 2:01.00 prelims for 14th).
Sophomore Chandler Pourvahidi's time of 16:12.60 in the 1650 free was good enough for ninth following the morning heats, and slotted him into 17th overall.
Kevin Wylder, Howie Chang, Yong and junior captain Paul Li went 3:10.40 for 17th in prelims of the 400 free relay, and fell short of a second swim in finals. Wylder's leadoff leg for 100 yards of 45.69 was a personal record for the freshman.
Remaining Triton competitors in Saturday prelims included Tang (23rd, 51.48), Daley (28th, 51.88), Jaclyn Amog(36th, 52.09) and Angie Phetbenjakul (56th, 53.51) in the 100 free. Amog's time was a lifetime best for the fourth-year senior in the final race of her college career. Tang's was also a personal record, before she bettered it to 51.09 leading off the 400 free relay later in the morning. Huttner and Woo were scratched to focus on that relay. The only UCSD male in the 100 free was Wylder (55th, 46.29). Huttner competed in the 200 back (23rd, 2:05.20), and sophomore Austine Lee (22nd, 2:21.06) and Jaimie Bryan (24th, 2:24.96) in the 200 breast.
Triton Notes: The Tritons had a total of 19 All-America distinctions for these 2015 NCAA Championships ... Prior toMichael Cohn and the women’s 400 free relay on Saturday night, Stephanie Sin and the 200 medley relay ofAustine Lee, Jaimie Bryan, Jaclyn Amog and Colleen Daley earned top-eight finishes on Wednesday, the 200 free relay of Daley, Lee, Amog and Natalie Tang on Thursday, and Chandler Pourvahidi (500 free) and the 800 free relay of Julia Toronczak, Maddy Huttner, Dari Watkins and Tang on Friday ... First through eighth placements at the NCAA meet constitute All-America, with ninth through 16th good for All-America honorable mention ... Sin’s time in Wednesday’s 1000 free and Cohn’s prelim mark in the 200 back Saturday were the only UCSD school records this week ... The Triton men finished out of the top 10 for the first time since placing 14th at the 2003 NCAA Division II Championships ... Former Triton national champion Nicholas Korth, who was present all week in Indianapolis, had his meet record of 1:54.45 in the 200 breaststroke, set last year for the second time in his career as a senior for a second national championship in the event, shattered Saturday night by Nova Southeastern freshman Anton Lobanov in 1:51.71 ... A total of 34 meet records were set in the fastest NCAA Division II Championships in history.
Catawba
Sebastian Holmberg (Akersberga, Sweden/Skolan) broke the Catawba record in the 100 free and finished 10th on Saturday in his final swim at the 2015 NCAA II Swimming & Diving Championships at the IUPUI Natatorium. Holmberg collected 25 points at the meet, allowing the Catawba Indians to finish tied for 24th as a team.
Holmberg swam a time of 44.25 in the final to best his previous record of 44.47 set exactly one month ago at the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships. He was beaten by two one-hundredths of a second for the B final win by Carson-Newman's Stephen Parsons.
The sophomore was three-tenths faster in the final than his prelim time of 44.56. That time is now third all-time.
Nova Southeastern
Closing out a record-breaking season, Nova Southeastern University's Anton Lobanov (Fr., Novosibirisk, Russia) and Thiago Sickert (So., Vila Velha, Brazil) won their second national championships in the men's 200-yard breaststroke and the men's 100-yard freestyle, respectively. Lobanov, Sickert and the men finish in seventh place with 260 points, while the women finish in fourth place with 216 points.
"Simply put, this was a tremendous week for our men and women's swim teams," said Director of Athletics Mike Mominey. "The passion, energy and competitiveness at this championship is like no other. I am always amazed when I am around these student athletes - their commitment and talent level are beyond excellent. I commend the coaching staff for their leadership in continuing to bring our program to one of the nations elite."
Bryndis Hansen (So., Akureyri, Iceland) opened the final night for the Sharks, swimming a 49.37 on her way to a bronze medal in the women's 100-yard freestyle. Magnus Lundgren (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden) then swam a 44.81 in the men's 100-yard freestyle consolation final, taking fifth place.
In the next event, Marco Aldabe (So., Alicante, Spain) swam a 1:52.77 in the men's 200-yard backstroke consolation final to close the book on his sophomore campaign. Malin Westman (Fr., Harryda, Sweden) followed with a third-place finish in the women's 200-yard breaststroke consolation final, swimming a time of 2:16.74.
The night concluded with the men's and women's 400-yard freestyle relay. The women's team, consisting of Hansen, Jordan Shows (Fr., Alta Loma, Calif.), Brooke Munion (So., Bethlehem, Pa.) and Emma Lawrenz (Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.) swam a time of 3:27.04, finishing second in the consolation final. The men's team, consisting of Sickert, Shane Kleinbeck (Sr., San Antonio, Texas), Lobanov and Lundgren swam a time of 2:55.29 to finish in third place.
The Sharks have concluded their season, winning six individual national championships, the most in program history.
Tampa
The University of Tampa men's and women's swimming teams finished ninth and 13th respectively at the 2015 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships.
Queens University (N.C.) won both the men's and women's national championships with 433.5 and 540.5 points respectively. Tampa's men earned 176 points as the Spartan women finished with 109.5.
Freshman Brittany Bayes began the night with a 15th place finish in the 1,650 Free. Her time was clocked at 17:05.92.
Senior Erin Plachy then finished 13th in the 100 Free after she concluded the race at 51.01.
Jordan Augier was seventh in the men's 100 Free, becoming an All-American after his time of 44.36. Khalid Aldaboos was 12th (44.57) while Runar Borgen made it three Spartans in the top-16 with a 14th-place finish of 44.60.
Allison Chandler raced to a 12th-place finish in the 200 Back, being timed at 2:01.13 in the finals.
In the women's 400 Free Relay, the Spartans were eighth overall with a time of 3:26.90 from Marisa Barton, Briana Murphy, Erin Plachy and Amanda Fernandes.
Tampa's men finished the championships with a thrilling national runner-up performance in the 400 Free Relay. Achieving a school-record time of 2:55.11 was the team of Aldaboos, Jeremy Parker, Augier and Martin Hammer.
West Florida
The West Florida women’s swimming and diving team went into the NCAA Division II Championships hoping to make a statement in its second year as a program, and the Argonauts accomplished that with an 11th place finish on Saturday. UWF placed 23rd at the national meet in the program’s first year in 2014, and they made an impressive jump to finish 11th in their second try in 2015.
Queens (N.C.) won the national championship with 540.5 points, and Drury was close behind with 489.5. Nova Southeastern was the highest finishing team from the state of Florida in fourth place (216), followed by UWF in 11th place (117).
“This was a tremendous experience for our team,” said UWF head coach Andrew Hancock. “We thought we set the bar pretty high last year, and all year we were wondering how we were going to top that. I’m exceptionally proud of our girls. We learned a lot about our character and our resilience.”
UWF jumped from 15th to 11th place on the final day thanks to strong finishes across the board. Monica Amaral (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) was a second place finisher in the 3-meter diving event with a score of 530.65. She was 25 points behind the new Division II record holder Elizabeth Rawlings from Wayne State (555.70) and just nine points shy of the previous record.
Angelina Gallastegui (Brandon, Fla.) scored major points for UWF with a seventh place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle. She swam a time of 16:54.98 to break her own school record. Madeline Pitt (Trussville, Ala.) also scored in the event with a 16th place finish and a time of 17:07.60.
Paulina Szydlo (Wroclaw, Poland) performed well in the 200-yard breaststroke, especially in the morning prelim in which she posted a time of 2:16.81. She finished eighth in the prelim to clinch a spot in the championship final, and she then finished eighth in the final with a time of 2:18.25.
The Argos also scored in the 100-yard freestyle and the 400-yard freestyle relay. Peggy de Villiers (Somerset West, South Africa) made the cut in the 100 free for the consolation final with a time of 51.29 in the prelim; she then finished with a time of 50.97 to place third in the consolation and 11th overall.
The 400 free relay team featured de Villiers, Anna-Marie Macht (Markkleeberg, Germany), Emily Mitchell (Allen Park, Mich.) and Mariana de Paula (Santos, Brazil). The foursome advanced to the consolation final with a time of 3:27.64 in the prelim, and they followed that by finishing fifth in the consolation and 13th overall with a time of 3:28.03.
Across all four days of the national meet, UWF totaled five All-America finishes (Amaral 1-meter and 3-meter; Gallastegui 1,650 free; Macht 200 IM; Szydlo 200 breast). All five relay teams scored points in consolation finals, and the Argos also had individual honorable mention All-American finishes by de Villiers (100 free), Macht (100 breast) and Pitt (1,650 free).
“I’m incredibly proud of the young ladies and what they’ve accomplished, not only at this meet but for the entire season,” said Hancock. “They’ve worked so hard all year. To be able to make a move like we did today, jumping up four spots over some amazing teams, it’s great. We thought we’d be able to have a good day, but this exceeded our expectations.”
Wingate
The Wingate University women's swimming team ends the program's search for NCAA team hardware, as the Bulldogs finish a program-best third at the 2015 NCAA Division II swimming and diving championships Saturday night. The Bulldog men finished 12th, one point behind 11th-place Delta State (Miss.). Wingate's men had finished 11th (or better) at the NCAA meet nine years in a row (complete 2015 NCAA Division II swimming and diving results).
"I could not be more proud of our women's team," Wingate head swimming coach Kirk Sanocki says. "As the coaching staff was putting this team together, we knew we had a chance at an elusive final four finish. I will remember most the resiliency this team showed throughout the season."
Sanocki is quick to acknowledge his pride in the men's NCAA finish. "With the changes in personnel we had from last year to this year, I am very proud of our 12th place performance," Sanocki says. "This group of guys scratched and clawed every step of the way...for individual and team victories. Their NCAA finish is a testimony to the team we want to build for the future."
Wingate women's recap
The Wingate women's 400 Free Relay quartet set a new school record time of 3:23.36 en route to a bronze medal performance Saturday night. Team members include junior Armony Dumur (Amiens, France), sophomore Sofia Petrenko (Arkhangelsk, Russia), freshman Leigh-Ann Clark (Newport News, Va.) and junior Ana Fish (Carthage, N.C.).
Wingate sophomore Vika Arkhipova (Seversk, Russia) claimed fourth place in the 200 Backstroke with her time of 1:58.10. She earns All-American honors in the 200 Backstroke for the second year in a row. Drury sophomore Katya Rudenko (Astana, Kazakhstan) won the race with a time of 1:55.71, barely missing the 2014 record of Queens junior Caroline Arakelian (Livonia, Mich.), who swam a 1:55.57 to win last year's title.
Dumur and redshirt junior Julie Wessler (Sprockhövel, Germany) received one honorable mention All-American distinction each on Saturday. Dumur was fourth in the 100 Freestyle consolation final with a time of 51.00 seconds flat. Wessler finished 11th in the grueling 1650 Freestyle with a time of 17:00.16.
Bulldog sophomore Jessika Weiss (Macon, Ga.) won the 200 Breaststroke consolation final with a time of 2:16.38. WU redshirt sophomore Olga Kosheleva (Yekaterinburg, Russia) earned fourth place in the same consolation race with her 2:17.07. Kosheleva won both the 100 and 200 Breaststroke competitions at the 2014 Bluegrass Mountain Conference meet.
Wingate men's recap
Wingate senior Issam Zeraidi (Brussels, Belgium) concluded his Bulldog career in an appropriate way, leading the men's 400 Freestyle Relay quartet to an eighth-place finish and All-American honors. The Bulldogs swam a 2:58.38, as Zeraidi teamed with sophomores Leif-Henning Klüver (Risum-Lindholm, Germany) and Lucas Cuadros (Cali, Colombia) and freshman Jerome Heidrich (Hamburg, Germany). Drury (Mo.) won the meet-concluding race with a time of 2:54.90.
Zeraidi finished fourth in the 100 Freestyle consolation finals with a time of 44.59. Sophomore Roman Kanyuka (Moscow, Russia) was seventh in the 200 Breaststroke consolation finals (2:00.07), while junior Ossian Arvidsson (Kungälv, Sweden) was 16th in the 1650 Freestyle (16:11.73).
Bluegrass Mountain Conference member Queens University of Charlotte won both the men's and the women's competitions. Drury was second on both team leader boards. Thirty-nine women's teams and 32 men's teams scored points in the 2015 NCAA Division II swimming and diving championships.
