NCAA Division II Championship Blog, Day 2: Southern Connecticut’s Shane Pelton

COLUMBIA, Missouri, March 12. THIS week, Swimming World is proud to present an athlete blog to give a bit of an inside look to the NCAA Division II Championships held in Columbia. Shane Pelton of Southern Connecticut State University will be checking in with regular content from the meet.

Pelton is a senior swimmer and business management major. Pelton, a Malvern, Pa., native, is a three-time Metropolitan Conference champion and is swimming in his first NCAA Division II Championship meet this season.

Hey Guys. Today was the first day of competition and it sure was exciting. The crowd and swimmers were pretty up and ready for both sessions. It's a great atmosphere, especially for a swimmer like me at his first NCAA Championship.

I swam the 200 IM today and had a solid swim, a little off my best, but I was happy. I also was a big fan of having reactions times off the start, considering I think I've had the fastest reaction of the day at .63. We'll see if someone can get off the block quicker in the next few days.

The night session brought a great deal of excitement right of the bat. Kristen Frost from Southern Connecticut started the meet further improving her national record in the 1000 yard freestyle with a time of 9:50.49. Look for her to shine at this meet, as she is seeded first in many events. And my money is on more national records falling for her.

The men's race was a back and forth shootout with 4 different swimmers. Very exciting race, but Drury's Mitch Snyder ousted Max Bernardes of West Chester. Another great match up came in the men's 200 IM. This was a showdown between the past and present. Tomas Kuzvard squared off against his ex-teammate Jakub Jiracek. This race was all Tomas as he won the race with a time of 1:48.06. Carissa Gormall broke the 23 barrier and won the 50 free with a 22.97. Pretty impressive.

But the biggest trend going on in this meet is disqualifications in the relays. A total of six 200 medley relays were disqualified today: three in prelims and three more in finals and consolations.

I'm a little nervous with these reactions pads. It seems many people are getting over excited and jumping a little early. I'm hoping I don't make the same mistake, considering I have a tendency to push the start!

Well, I got my big event tomorrow, 400 IM, so I better be getting my rest. Have a good night, and I'll be back to keep you posted tomorrow night.

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