Division II Meet Preview: Top Teams Wrap Up Dual Meets

This week’s Division II Meet Preview features some of the last dual meets of the season as teams begin to set their sights on conference championship meets that begin in just a few short weeks. With athletes coming down from winter training and preparing to rest you can never know what to expect in terms of performance at this time of the year, so it could be an exciting weekend of close match-ups.

Meet Of The Week: Grand Valley State vs. Indianapolis

This week two top 16 schools will face off in a dual meet, as the #7 (men) and #8 (women) Grand Valley State University teams will host the #13 (men) and #16 (women) Indianapolis University teams in their final dual meet of the season. Grand Valley State has won on both sides the last few seasons when matching up with Indianapolis and should be favored heading into the weekend, but that doesn’t mean

Senior Leonie Van Noort is a major contributor on this women’s team. The 2016 NCAA Champion currently has the second fastest times in the country in the 200 and 500 free from the Calvin Winter Invitational, and also currently sits fourth in the 1650. Her freestyle range essentially helps to guarantee two to three individual wins for the Lakers, and she has a strong enough 100 free to be a difference-maker on a 400 medley or 400 free relay as well. In terms of team depth outside of the mid-distance and distance events, Indy and GVSU match up pretty well across the board which could make for a lot of close races this weekend.

The men’s meet on paper looks to be a closer match-up than the women’s meet. Grand Valley State will have the advantage in the sprint freestyle led by sophomore Benjamin Walling, who currently has top times of 20.21 and 43.90 in the 50 and 100 freestyles this season, both his lifetime bests. They will also be helped by junior Gabriel Souza, who currently leads the country in the 100 butterfly (46.85) and can also contribute in sprint freestyle. However, Indy should have the advantage in the longer freestyle events, with All-American sophomore Vitor Botana a clear favorite in the 200, 500 and 1000 with their second fastest 200 freestyler, sophomore Guilherme Zavaneli, nearly 2 seconds faster than GVSU’s fastest this season in the event. While their sprint depth may end up helping them in the dual meet format, if Indy can ride some momentum from early event wins they could keep this meet close.

The two teams will face off on Saturday at 1:00pm at Grand Valley State University.

Tampa vs. Florida Tech

Two Sunshine State Conference teams, Florida Tech and University of Tampa, will meet this week in one of their last conference dual meets of the season. Tampa is the current #12 (men) and #15 (women) teams in the nation, while Florida Tech boasts a #14 ranking for their men’s team. Florida Tech’s women’s team is not currently ranked.

Between the two teams, Tampa should be the favorite to win both meet. They were third at the conference meet last season on both sides, while Florida Tech was fourth (men) and sixth (women). While the men’s meet should be closer than the women’s meet, the depth of the Tampa team will make it hard for Florida Tech to come away with a win.

However, Tampa lost some key members of their sprint group from last season to graduation, meaning Florida Tech may have more of a fighting chance than in the past. Senior Martin Hammer is the only returner from the sprint group that won NCAA titles in the 200 and 400 free relays last year, but Florida tech Nir Barnea has been about a tenth faster this season in the 50 (20.07 to 20.16) and is the defending Sunshine State Conference champion in the event. Sophomore Victor Furtado could provide more individual points in the 100 free and 100 fly, but where Tampa has an advantage in the backstroke, breaststroke, and distance free events. Depending on how many points Florida Tech can hold on to individually, this meet may come down to relays, and right now Florida Tech has posted faster times than Tampa in all relays but the 400 free relay.

On the women’s side of the meet, Tampa shouldn’t have much of a problem holding of Florida tech, with Marisa Barton (sprints), Brittany Bayes (distance), and Sophie Long (butterfly) all far and away favorites in their events with plenty of event depth to back them up. The meet will begin at 11:00am at Florida Tech on Saturday.

Drury vs. Missouri State / Missouri (Double Header)

Drury University will be taking on a monster double header this weekend, swimming against Division I schools Missouri State University and University of Missouri this Thursday and Friday, respectively. Drury is just returning from their training trip in Hawaii, and these will be their final two dual meets before heading to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships in February.

These back to back meets will be great practice for some of their top swimmers to rehearse the intense, back to back racing conditions that they can expect to see at their conference meet and NCAA’s. Swimming first against Missouri St., Drury may be able to sneak out a win against the school. On the women’s side, senior Wen Xu should be a sure bet in the sprint free events, while freshman phenom Bailee Nunn could conceivably provide wins in a multitude of events, including both breaststrokes, both butterfly events, or the 200 IM. Freshmen Erica Dahlgren and Ella Bryan should also have a chance to earn some major points in the distance free events, giving Drury a lot of individual chances to build a lead.

The story is much the same on the men’s side, with Rodrigo Caceres (sprint free), freshman Konrad Stiepen (distance free) and junior Jun Kim (200 IM, 200 butterfly) all capable of giving Drury multiple individual wins throughout the meet. As with any close meet, relays will be key for the Panthers to win this meet, and they have been faster than Missouri State in all of their relays so far this season.

Mizzou, the #6 (men) and #12 (women) ranked Division I teams in the country, will be a much tougher opponent for the Panthers despite their current #1 (women) and #3 (men) rankings in Division II. What will be interesting to see is how Drury’s top swimmers will handle back to back racing against two very competitive opponents. Drury will take on Missouri St. on Thursday at 6:00pm and then travel to Columbia, MO to take on Mizzou on Friday at 5:00pm.

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