NCAA Division II Championships: Drury Remains in Lead, Sets NCAA D2 Relay Record

CANTON, Ohio, March 11. THE second day of swimming at the NCAA Division II Championships featured another strong day from Drury, including an NCAA D2 record in the women's 400 medley relay.

The Drury women look to be well on their way to winning three out of the last four national team titles, and sixth since 1997, after pushing their lead to more than 100 points on day two. Drury finished the day with 343 points, well ahead of Wayne State's tally of 241 points. West Chester (155.5), UC San Diego (142), Ashland (136), Clarion (126) and Truman State (120) are all in the mix for third-place honors heading into the third day of action tomorrow.

The men's race is a bit closer, but Drury likely is on its way to its sixth straight team title, including eight of the last 12 after finishing the day with 264 points. Incarnate Word is second heading into day three with 199 points, while Grand Valley State (162), Ouachita Baptist (159), Wayne State (156), Wingate (155), West Chester (123), Ashland (108) and UC San Diego (105) all have the potential to make some noise the final two days.

Relay action began the evening, Ashland's Julie Widmann, Jennifer Knight, Rachael Ausdenmoore and Allison Morgan won the women's 200 free relay in 1:32.88, just .88 back of the NCAA D2 record of 1:32.00 set by Drury a year ago. Drury's Tiffany Van Dongen, Kelsey Ward, Ekaterine Alyabyeva and Jing Hua finished second in 1:33.21. Ouachita's Marcus Holland, Radu Badalac, Tim Ferris and Daniel Karkoska touched out Wingate and UCSD, 1:20.79 to 1:20.90 and 1:20.98. Mason Norman, Gus Chagas, Dwight Richardson and Daniel Defrancisco represented Wingate, while Dan Perdew, Todd Langland, Sam Stromberg and Blake Langland swam for UCSD.

UCSD's Alexandra Henley topped the women's 400 IM with a time of 4:18.71, while Drury's Yuan Qing Li placed second in 4:19.57. Wayne State's Elainea Hogle finished third overall in 4:23.24. Wayne State's Joaquin Abascal Gallegos followed in the men's 400 IM with a winning time of 3:50.90. Drury's Jun Han Kim turned in a second-place 3:53.76, while Incarnate Word's Alex Yatsko finished third in 3:54.27.

Drury's Li Tao captured the women's 100 fly with a time of 54.51, while Indy's Erica Smith finished second in 55.26. Ouachita's Ksenia Gromova snagged third in 55.59. Meanwhile, Henderson's Zach Interrante cruised to victory in the men's 100 fly with a 48.08. Grand Valley State's Aaron Beebe (48.32) and Incarnate Word's Daniel Murata (48.81) rounded out the top three.

West Chester's Jackie Borkowski held off a hard-charging Kate Aherne of Truman, 1:49.31 to 1:49.97, in the women's 200 free. Aherne closed the race in 27.91 but did not have enough time to track down Borkowski, who went out in 51.48. Wayne State's Ashley St. Andrew wound up third in 1:50.51. Wingate's Gus Chagas turned in a 1:37.53 for the men's 200 free triumph. Drury went 2-3 with Alexander Protsenko (1:38.02) and Michael Winiewicz (1:38.23) completing the top three.

During the diving break, Clarion's Logan Pearsall put up a 545.65-point tally to win the men's one-meter event. Wayne State's Cayce Bolt finished second with 505.60 points, while West Chester's Adam Vance placed third with 485.15 points.

Drury's Jing Hua, Abbey Musch, Li Tao and Kelsey Ward completed the night with a record-setting time of 3:42.27 in the women's 400 medley relay. The Drury foursome had to close out Wayne State's Sara Franklin, Courtney Roberts, Elaine Hogle and Ashley Corrieveau, who also cleared the previous NCAA D2 record with a second-place 3:42.91. Drury held the previous mark with a 3:43.11 set a year ago.

Drury's Protsenko, Jesse Lawrence, Jun Han Kim and Winiewicz closed the curtains on day two of the NCAA Division II Championships with a winning time of 3:16.49 in the men's 400 medley relay. Grand Valley State's Raphael Santos, Hans Hill, Beebe and Matt Witkowski finished second in 3:16.97.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x