NSISC Swimming Off To Strong Start in 2014

Photo Courtesy: Kyle Staggs

By Rachel Ewart, Swimming World College Intern

ARKADELPHIA – The New South Intercollegiate Swimming Conference (NSISC swimming) includes nine teams this year, which are: Delta State, West Florida, Ouachita Baptist University, Henderson State University, Lindenwood Belleville and four new teams, which include St. Cloud State, Minnesota State University Mankato, Minnesota State Moorhead and Northern State.

DELTA STATE

Delta State has been selected by the coaches of NSISC as the preseason favorite in the nine-team league. The top three NSISC men’s ballot preseason all-conference swimmers include all Delta State men: Fabrice Wendel ranked first, Vlad Zinca second and Matteo Fraschi voted third. The top three women of NSISC preseason All-Conference swimmers include all Delta State women as well: Sophomore Anastasia Klyarovskaya voted first, Senior Dani Meerholz ranked second and sophomore Kierstin Page third. Drury defeated Delta State this past weekend, however Delta had many excellent swims at the meet. Vlad Zinca stole a win in the 100-butterfly (50.4) while also competing in the 200-medly relay with Yvan Nys, Matteo Fraschi and Fabric Wendel to finish second (1:34.54). For the women’s team Melanie Tombers claimed three victories in the 1,000-freestyle (10:23.23), 400-individual medley (4:28.14) and 500-freestyle (5:05.65). As a result of the meet, Zinca and Tombers were awarded NSISC swimmers of the week.

WEST FLORIDA

West Florida took the spotlight as two of their women were awarded NSISC athlete of the week. This honor went to swimmer Peggy de Villiers and diver Josie McKee. West Florida also got an excellent start to its early season as five of their individuals were selected for the preseason All-NSISC team. Swimmers Peggy de Villiers, Anna-Marie Macht and Emily Mitchell were chosen for the team along with divers Josie McKee and Meghan Zets. West Florida also claimed a win at its recent meet against Florida Tech with a final score of 132-72. The Argonauts earned victories in eight of 11 events. A school record was broken in 1,650-freestyle by freshmen Madeline Pitt with a time of 17:39.53. Pitt was only 0.12 seconds away from a NCAA B-cut qualification. Nicole Machado was also only 0.16 seconds away from a B-cut time in the 100-backstroke with a time of 57.59 in the 400-medley relay.

ST.CLOUD STATE

St. Cloud men’s team ranked second out of five teams for the NSISC Men’s Ballot Preseason All-Conference and its women ranked fourth out of nine teams. Senior Tyler Magails was named Diver of the Week for his excellent performance at the duel meet against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Magails achieved a score of 300.80 on the three-meter board and a score of 345.30 on the one-meter board. The scores qualified him for the NCAA Division II National Championships. Both men and women’s teams won their meet against the Wisconsin teams; the men took a 217-83 victory over Stevens Point and a 249-50 win over Eau Claire. The women had a dominant win over Stevens Point with a final score of 204-96 and 211.50-88.50 against Eau Claire. Over the past weekend, St. Cloud’s men’s and women’s swim and dive teams claimed second at the Phoenix 1-2-3 hosted by the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. Alex Bryson led the way for the men’s team as he won both individual events and also participated on a winning relay. Senior Kellyn Craig claimed wins in all three of her events. She won the 200-individual medley with a 2:11.24, the 400-individual medley (4:37.42) and the 200-breaststroke in 2:23.52.

MINNESOTA STATE MANKATO

Minnesota State, Mankato’s women’s team was ranked third for the NSISC Preseason All-Conference Ballot. Freshman Taylor Bass was named NSISC swimmer of the week for her performance at Northfield Colleges Quad Classic. The Mavericks won a total of three events at its meet against Northfield College Quad Classic and also claimed a win in the 200-freestyle relay, which included Bass, senior Emily Green, sophomore Nicole Bean and freshmen Cecilia Hake; the relay finished at a time of 1:39.77. Also at the meet, Freshman Katrina Nettleton scored 311.85 points in the one-meter diving event, while sophomore Megan George placed seventh with a score of 308.15 in the three-meter diving. This past weekend Minnesota State scored a total of 766 points against Gustavus Adolphus and UV-Stevens Point. Highlights of the meet included Bass and Freshmen Chelsea Calhoon. Bass won both the 100-freestlye (54.16) and the 200-freestyle (1:58.05), while Calhoon took second the 1,000-freestyle with a time of 11:13.65.

MINNESOTA STATE MOORHEAD

MSU Moorhead women’s team is ranked fifth for the NSISC Preseason All Conference Ballot. The Dragon’s had several successful races at the College and Contentment Classic as senior Susie Kitzman and junior Jackie Woods led the way for MSU swimming. Kitzman won the 200-butterfly with a time of 2:16.69 and also placed top eight in two other races. Woods claimed a win in the 100-breaststroke with a 1:07.32 and also took fourth in the 200-breaststroke at 2:31.52. Additionally, junior Jackie Woods was named NSISC swimmer of the week, which was the first honor to be awarded this year to a Dragon. This past weekend MSU Moorhead also took a win over Concordia College with a final score of 134-60. As a result of the meet, Junior Emily Pascavis was titled NSISC diver of the week. Pasvais’s total score was 409.55, which qualified her for the national pre-qualifying meet. Sophomore Ashley Higgins also performed well at the meet; she won the 100-butterfly with a time of 1:03.75 and also swam best times in the 200-medley relay and the 200-freestyle relay.

OUACHITA BAPTIST

Ouachita Baptist University’s Tiger Sharks started off the season with a duel meet against their rival team Henderson State University. For the women’s team, junior Rachel Ewart took the win in the 500-freestyle with a time of 5:24.04. Ewart also placed second the in both the 1000-freestyle (11:03.4) and the 200-individual medley (2:17.65). Junior Elizabeth Willis anchored the women’s 200-freestyle relay with a time of 24.44 and placed second in the 100-backstroke finishing with a time of 1:01.12. Junior Karen Wray took second in both the 200-freestyle (2:03.22) and 100-freestyle (56.31). Highlights of the men’s team included senior Emile Maritz, junior David Wray and freshmen Tristen Parish. Matriz stole a win in the 100-backstroke with a time of 50.94, finished third in the 50-free (22.09) and also lead the 200-medley relay. Wray finished top four in all three of his events and placed second in the both the 1000-freestyle (10:06.97) and the 500-freestyle (4:59.96). Parish won the 100-breastsroke with a time of 1:01.09. This past weekend both men’s and women’s teams earned third place overall out of four teams at the HSU Invitational.

HENDERSON STATE

Henderson State University had a successful duel meet against Ouachita Baptist University as both men and women’s teams took the win. Then final score for the men’s team was 149-82 and 131-84 for the women’s team. Jeanne Miller and Lauren Sutton led the way for the women’s team. Miller achieved three first place finishes in the 1000-freestyle (10:51.38), the 200-individual medley (2:14.45) and the 100-butterfly (59.95). Sutton won both the 100 and 200 freestyle events with times of 54.32 in the 100 and 1:58.13 in the 200. The men’s team was led by Colton Laramore as he claimed a victories in both the 1000 and 500 freestyle, with a time of 9:57.7 in the 1000 and 4:52.02 in the 500-freestyle. Elliot Hill also stole a win in the 200-freestyle with a time of 1:48.39. In addition to an excellent start to the swim season, sophomore Adam Zmijewski was named NSISC Diver of the week for his achievements at the Hendrix Relays and the Hendrix Classic. Zmijewski won both the one and three meter diving events with scores of 234.40 (1-meter) and 227.00 (3-meter). Last weekend both men’s and women’s teams also took the overall win at the HSU Swimming Invitational. The women’s team scored a total of 421 points while the men’s team tailed 406.5 points.

LINDENWOOD BELLEVILLE

Lindenwood University’s men’s team is currently ranked fourth for the NSISC Men’s ballot Preseason All-Conference and its women’s team ranked seventh. Both men and women’s teams won their first duel meet of the season against Millikin University with an overall score of 302-161. Lynx swimming was defeated by Rose Hulman, but came out of the meet with five individual event wins, a couple new school records and also several personal best times. Lindenwood had a very successful meet this past Saturday and finished third overall at a five team meet. A few meet highlights included the men’s 400-medley relay, which included Sebastian Bohm, Dmitry Suhushin, Sebastian Wegner and Jake Davies; the men finished sixth overall. Freshmen Amal Janabayev achieved his first individual NAIA National qualification time in the 200-butterfly with a time of 2:00.53. Also at the meet, Freshmen Olivia Brandt set a school record in the 500-freestyle with a time of 6:09.78.

NORTHERN STATE

Northern State University started the season off with 10 returning swimmers and the addition of three incoming freshmen. Northern took a dominant victory at its meet against Concordia Moorhead with a final score of 137-58. Megan Hanson, Kayla Sproles and Katelyn Rhodes each claimed three first place finishes for the night, leading the Wolves to a win. Last weekend Northern also defeated Minnesota Morris with a final score of 173-110. The Wolves earned 14 first places in the 16 even meet. The 400-medley relay included Megan Hanson, Eliza Jacob, Katelyn Rhodes and Amy Wockenfuss; the Wolves claimed the win in the relay by just over seven seconds and finished at a time of 4:16.50.

The NSISC swim team currently ranked number one is West Florida, followed by Saint Cloud and then Delta State. Each team will continue to train hard for the NSISC championships, which are set for Feb. 18-21, 2015 in Cleveland, Miss.

Rachel Ewart is a junior competing at Ouachita Baptist. Ewart has been swimming competitively since 1999 as part of Swim Omaha (1999-2001) and the City of Shreveport Swim Team (2001-12).

 

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