2019 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships: Kusch, Nunn Cruise (PHOTO GALLERY)

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The first morning of the 2019 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships will start Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. EST in Indianapolis, Indiana at the legendary IU Natatorium. Queens is looking for its fifth straight team title on the men’s and women’s side as they don’t look to be getting challenged this year.

The 200 IM, 50 free and 200 medley relay will be on the schedule today as the 1000 free timed finals will be later.

Ups, Downs (Women)

Queens, 5, 4
Drury, 4, 0
UCSD, 2, 0
Nova Southeastern, 1, 2
Oklahoma Baptist, 1, 2
Northern Michigan, 1, 1
Tampa, 1, 1
Wayne State, 1, 1
West Chester, 1, 1
Delta State, 1, 0
Grand Valley, 1, 0
Lindenwood, 1, 0
Northern State, 1, 0
Simon Fraser, 1, 0
St. Cloud State, 1, 0
Western State, 1, 0
West Florida, 1, 0
Wingate, 0, 4
Carson Newman, 0, 2
Bellarmine, 0, 1
CSU East Bay, 0, 1
Findlay, 0, 1
Indianapolis, 0, 1
Sioux Falls, 0, 1

Ups, Downs (Men)

Queens, 6, 1
Delta State, 4, 1
Florida Tech, 2, 0
Indianapolis, 2, 0
Wayne State, 1, 4
Grand Valley, 1, 2
Northern Michigan, 1, 2
Florida Southern, 1, 1
Missouri S&T, 1, 1
UCSD, 1, 1
Drury, 1, 0
Fresno Pacific, 1, 0
McKendree, 1, 0
Oklahoma Baptist, 1, 0
Colorado Mesa, 0, 2
Emmanuel, 0, 2
Tampa, 0, 2
Carson Newman, 0, 1
Gannon, 0, 1
Lindenwood, 0, 1
Nova Southeastern, 0, 1
Wingate, 0, 1

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Women’s 200 IM

Drury junior Bailee Nunn shut it down on the final 50 of the 200 IM prelims on Wednesday at the 2019 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships. Nunn swam a 1:58.79 as she coasted into the wall for the top seeded time. She is ahead of Queens senior Josephina Lorda (1:59.93) who was the only other swimmer under 2:00 in the heats. Nunn will have a chance to get the NCAA record of 1:55.63 from Patricia Castro Ortega from 2016.

Northern State senior Hannah Kastigar (2:00.31) is the third seed for finals tonight.

Drury got the meet started with three swimmers advancing to the A-Final with freshmen Tori Sopp (2:00.79) and Rebecca Cross (2:01.51) showing out in their first NCAAs. Queens had one other swimmer advance to the final with sophomore Lexie Baker (2:00.59) in fourth.

Northern Michigan’s Rachel Helm (2:01.19) and West Chester’s Julia McCarthy (2:01.46) also qualified for the final.

 Event 3  Women 200 Yard IM
==================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 1:55.63  3/9/2016  Patricia Castro Ortega, Queens (NC)
         Meet: M 1:55.63  3/9/2016  Patricia Castro Ortega, Queens (NC)
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Nunn, Bailee           JR Drury             1:57.68    1:58.79  
    r:+0.77  25.40        55.29 (29.89)
        1:30.15 (34.86)     1:58.79 (28.64)
  2 Lorda, Josephina       SR Queens (NC)       2:02.04    1:59.93  
    r:+0.69  26.13        55.24 (29.11)
        1:31.08 (35.84)     1:59.93 (28.85)
  3 Kastigar, Hannah       SR Northern State    1:59.57    2:00.31  
    r:+0.75  26.87        56.22 (29.35)
        1:31.55 (35.33)     2:00.31 (28.76)
  4 Baker, Lexie           SO Queens (NC)       2:00.88    2:00.59  
    r:+0.63  26.43        56.58 (30.15)
        1:31.98 (35.40)     2:00.59 (28.61)
  5 Sopp, Tori             FR Drury             2:00.33    2:00.79  
    r:+0.78  25.75        56.66 (30.91)
        1:33.00 (36.34)     2:00.79 (27.79)
  6 Helm, Rachel           JR NMU               2:00.79    2:01.19  
    r:+0.70  26.89        57.53 (30.64)
        1:32.08 (34.55)     2:01.19 (29.11)
  7 McCarthy, Julia        SO West Chester      2:01.84    2:01.46  
    r:+0.80  26.93        57.10 (30.17)
        1:32.11 (35.01)     2:01.46 (29.35)
  8 Cross, Rebecca         FR Drury             2:01.44    2:01.51  
    r:+0.79  26.76        56.98 (30.22)
        1:33.63 (36.65)     2:01.51 (27.88)

Men’s 200 IM

Queens’ Marius Kusch took after Nunn in the 200 IM heats as he cruised in to a 1:45.58 on Wednesday morning at the 2019 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships. Kusch will be chasing his 1:41.61 NCAA record he set last season as he is looking to close out his senior year in style.

The battle for second will be tight with Northern Michigan senior Ryan Leonard (1:46.54) currently sitting in the lane 5 spot after the heats this morning. Queens freshman Jan Delkeskamp (1:47.08) and Indianapolis senior Rodrigo Codo Berti (1:47.08) are tied for third as both have chances to finish second behind Kusch.

Last year’s 400 IM champion Matthew Holmes of Florida Southern (1:47.21) is fifth while Grand Valley junior Harry Shalamon (1:47.30) is sixth. Drury’s Pavel Semochkin (1:47.32) and Delta State’s Emanuel Fava (1:47.33) also qualified for the final.

Kusch, Leonard, Codo Berti, Holmes and Semochkin all return to the final after finishing in the top eight in 2018.

 Event 4  Men 200 Yard IM
==================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 1:41.61  3/14/2018 Marius Kusch, Queens (NC)
         Meet: M 1:41.61  3/14/2018 Marius Kusch, Queens (NC)
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Kusch, Marius          SR Queens (NC)       1:44.99    1:45.58  
    r:+0.71  21.39        46.72 (25.33)
        1:18.14 (31.42)     1:45.58 (27.44)
  2 Leonard, Ryan          SR NMU               1:47.10    1:46.54  
    r:+0.65  23.31        50.29 (26.98)
        1:20.78 (30.49)     1:46.54 (25.76)
  3 Delkeskamp, Jan        FR Queens (NC)       1:47.87    1:47.08  
    r:+0.71  23.30        51.08 (27.78)
        1:20.85 (29.77)     1:47.08 (26.23)
  3 Codo Berti, Rodrigo    SR Indy              1:47.66    1:47.08  
    r:+0.66  23.03        49.23 (26.20)
        1:20.23 (31.00)     1:47.08 (26.85)
  5 Holmes, Matthew        SR Florida Southern  1:45.34    1:47.21  
    r:+0.65  23.49        50.45 (26.96)
        1:21.30 (30.85)     1:47.21 (25.91)
  6 Shalamon, Harry        JR Grand Valley      1:47.45    1:47.30  
    r:+0.65  22.75        49.12 (26.37)
        1:20.38 (31.26)     1:47.30 (26.92)
  7 Semochkin, Pasha       JR Drury             1:49.55    1:47.32  
    r:+0.70  22.57        49.27 (26.70)
        1:20.92 (31.65)     1:47.32 (26.40)
  8 Fava, Emanuel          FR Delta State       1:46.15    1:47.33  
    r:+0.63  23.09        49.79 (26.70)
        1:21.60 (31.81)     1:47.33 (25.73)

Women’s 50 Free

Queens junior Polina Lapshina had the quickest 50 free on Wednesday morning at the 2019 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships in Indianapolis as she was a 22.37 in the heats. Lapshina and the rest of the field will be chasing the 22.20 NCAA record held by Bailee Nunn from Drury set two years ago. Lapshina should get some serious pressure from Oklahoma Baptist senior Victoria Fonville, who was third last year. Fonville is the second seed at 22.51 and is one of two finalists returning this year.

The other returning finalist was Queens senior Kyrie Dobson as she is fifth at 23.13. Defending champion Wanda Dollmayer finished in tenth at 23.24 and will not have a chance to defend her national title.

Western State’s Randi Yarnell finished in third in the heats (22.92) as she was the third and final swimmer to break 23 in the heats. It will be Yarnell’s first time in the A-Final of the 50 free at NCAAs.

Drury’s Yasmin Preusse (23.09), UCSD’s Brittney Miles (23.18) and St. Cloud State’s Chelsea Gehrke (23.20) and West Florida’s Ester Rizzetto (23.23) also qualified for the final. Rizzetto won a swim-off for eighth place over Lindenwood’s Lexie Winnett.

 Event 5  Women 50 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 22.20  3/9/2017  Bailee Nunn, Drury
         Meet: M 22.20  3/9/2017  Bailee Nunn, Drury
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Lapshina, Polina       JR Queens (NC)         22.47      22.37  
    r:+0.71  10.83        22.37 (11.54)
  2 Fonville, Victoria     JR Oklahoma Baptist    22.71      22.51  
    r:+0.67  10.65        22.51 (11.86)
  3 Yarnell, Randi         SR WSCU                22.88      22.92  
    r:+0.75  11.23        22.92 (11.69)
  4 Preusse, Yasmin        FR Drury               22.90      23.09  
    r:+0.73  11.16        23.09 (11.93)
  5 Dobson, Kyrie          SR Queens (NC)         22.93      23.13  
    r:+0.65  11.16        23.13 (11.97)
  6 Miles, Brittney        FR UCSD                23.16      23.18  
    r:+3.77  11.27        23.18 (11.91)
  7 Gehrke, Chelsea        JR St. Cloud St.-W     22.93      23.20  
    r:+0.71  11.40        23.20 (11.80)
  8 Rizzetto, Ester        FR West Florida        23.23      23.23  
    r:+0.73  11.17        23.23 (12.06)

Men’s 50 Free

Queens junior Brody Heck (19.58) dropped nearly a full half second off his best time in the 50 free heats on Wednesday morning at the 2019 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships. Heck will be the top seed ahead of Delta State’s Giulio Brugnoni (19.71) and Queens freshman Skyler Cook-Weeks (19.87).

Florida Tech’s Victor Rocha Furtado (19.90) was the top seed coming in to the meet but fell to fourth place this morning. Furtado was the runner-up last year to record holder David Lambert.

Delta State’s Mattia Schirru (19.94), Fresno Pacific’s Dmitry Belolipetskiy (19.98), McKendree’s Xander Skinner (19.90) and Queens’ Dmytro Sydorchenko (20.04) also qualified for the A-Final.

Only Furtado and Schirru were in the A-Final in 2018.

 Event 6  Men 50 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 19.17  11/30/2017David Lambert, Oklahoma Baptist
         Meet: M 19.18  3/10/2016 Serghei Golban, Lindenwood
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Heck, Brody            JR Queens (NC)         20.05      19.58  
     r:+0.71  9.44        19.58 (10.14)
  2 Brugnoni, Giulio       SO Delta State         19.97      19.71  
     r:+3.58  9.50        19.71 (10.21)
  3 Cook-Weeks, Skyler     FR Queens (NC)         20.00      19.87  
     r:+0.61  9.49        19.87 (10.38)
  4 Rocha Furtado, Victor  SR Florida Tech        19.75      19.90  
     r:+0.61  9.56        19.90 (10.34)
  5 Schirru, Mattia        SR Delta State         20.19      19.94  
     r:+0.63  9.62        19.94 (10.32)
  6 Belolipetskiy, Dmitry  JR Fresno Pacific      20.09      19.98  
     r:+0.66  9.57        19.98 (10.41)
  6 Skinner, Xander        SO McKendree           19.85      19.98  
     r:+0.68  9.80        19.98 (10.18)
  8 Sydorchenko, Dmytro    JR Queens (NC)         19.99      20.04  
     r:+0.62  9.50        20.04 (10.54)

Women’s 200 Medley Relay

Queens just missed its NCAA record in the women’s 200 medley relay heats on Wednesday morning at the 2019 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships as the Royals swam a 1:39.00. Queens has the NCAA record of 1:38.49 from last season as they are over a second and a half ahead of second place UC San Diego (1:40.69).

Rachel Massaro (25.18), Shelly Prayson (27.39), Georgia Da Cruz (23.99) and Kyrie Dobson (22.44) are the top seeds for Queens. Drury would have been the third seed but was disqualified for an early take-off as that is a big blow to the Panthers’ pursuit of second place.

Wayne State finished in third at 1:41.93.

The fastest splits outside of Queens came from Wayne State’s Ashlen Michalski (25.39), Bellarmine’s Sophia Noren (27.60), Oklahoma Baptist’s Victoria Fonville (24.01) and Wayne State’s Lezlie Bueno Estrada (22.78).

Simon Fraser (1:42.23), Delta State (1:42.35), Nova Southeastern (1:42.41), Tampa (1:42.53) and Grand Valley (1:42.77) also qualified to swim in the A-Final.

 Event 8  Women 200 Yard Medley Relay
====================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 1:38.49  2/14/2018 Queens (NC)
                          DaCruz, Dobson, Massaro, Prayson
         Meet: M 1:38.65  3/14/2018 Queens (NC)
                          Massaro, Prayson, DaCruz, Dobson
    School                                 Seed    Prelims        
====================================================================
                       === Preliminaries ===                        
 
  1 Queens (NC)                         1:38.76    1:39.00  
     1) Massaro, Rachel SO            2) r:0.37 Prayson, Shelly SR    
     3) r:0.06 DaCruz, Georgia JR     4) r:0.17 Dobson, Kyrie SR      
    r:+0.51  12.45        25.18 (25.18)
          37.63 (12.45)       52.57 (27.39)
        1:03.58 (11.01)     1:16.56 (23.99)
        1:27.08 (10.52)     1:39.00 (22.44)
  2 UCSD                                1:41.57    1:40.69  
     1) Parks, Olivia FR              2) r:0.14 Murphy, Gracie SO     
     3) r:0.36 Phillips, Jordan FR    4) r:0.10 Hargadon, Alexis FR   
         r:+0.58          25.60 (25.60)
                              53.41 (27.81)
                            1:17.77 (24.36)
        1:40.69 (22.92)                    
  3 Wayne State                         1:42.74    1:41.93  
     1) Michalski, Ashlen JR          2) r:0.34 Koh, Jia Yi SO        
     3) r:0.11 Groteler, Haley SO     4) r:0.35 Bueno Estrada, zlie SR
    r:+0.52  12.64        25.39 (25.39)
          38.24 (12.85)       53.76 (28.37)
        1:05.17 (11.41)     1:19.15 (25.39)
        1:29.94 (10.79)     1:41.93 (22.78)
  4 Simon Fraser                        1:43.41    1:42.23  
     1) Gibson, Jessie JR             2) r:0.06 Doner, Jordan FR      
     3) r:0.61 Sharkey, Kaleigh SO    4) r:0.23 Whelan, Sara SR       
    r:+0.50  12.71        25.93 (25.93)
          39.14 (13.21)       54.92 (28.99)
        1:06.09 (11.17)     1:19.24 (24.32)
        1:30.29 (11.05)     1:42.23 (22.99)
  5 Delta State                         1:41.02    1:42.35  
     1) Byrd, Madelyn FR              2) r:0.18 Lavoie, Maddy FR      
     3) r:0.47 Martelli, Lucia SO     4) r:0.06 Batsel, Celina SR     
    r:+3.53  13.28        26.39 (26.39)
          39.54 (13.15)       54.91 (28.52)
        1:05.98 (11.07)     1:19.31 (24.40)
        1:30.20 (10.89)     1:42.35 (23.04)
  6 Nova S'eastern                      1:41.89    1:42.41  
     1) Johns, Jenna SO               2) r:0.11 Friel, Caily JR       
     3) r:0.61 Maslova, Aleksandra FR 4) r:0.38 Nusbaum, Amilia FR    
         r:+0.55          26.07 (26.07)
                              54.14 (28.07)
                            1:19.10 (24.96)
        1:42.41 (23.31)                    
  7 TAMPA                               1:41.58    1:42.53  
     1) Sherwood, Courtney FR         2) r:0.28 Bazarova, Elizaveta FR
     3) r:0.40 O'Hara, Molly JR       4) r:0.34 Waddell, Megan JR     
         r:+0.61          26.21 (26.21)
                              54.42 (28.21)
                            1:19.11 (24.69)
        1:42.53 (23.42)                    
  8 Grand Valley                        1:43.47    1:42.77  
     1) De Cort, Melina FR            2) r:0.01 Deibel, Lara SR       
     3) r:0.15 Richard, Hannah SR     4) r:0.21 Martinez, Mercedes SR 
    r:+0.53  13.03        26.11 (26.11)
          39.06 (12.95)       55.04 (28.93)
        1:06.01 (10.97)     1:19.69 (24.65)
        1:30.59 (10.90)     1:42.77 (23.08)

Men’s 200 Medley Relay

Queens has the top time in the men’s 200 medley relay heats as the Royals used a strong back-half to take lane four for the final at 1:26.14. Alen Mosic (22.24), Jan Delkeskamp (24.46), Marius Kusch (20.07) and Brody Heck (19.37) qualified fastest as Kusch and Heck is a back-half that no one in Division II can compete with.

Wayne State is second at 1:26.22 as the team of Dima Drobnych (21.63), Sasha Palazzo (23.81), Rasmus Olsen (21.28) and Ryan Katulski (19.50) posed a serious threat to Queens.

The quickest splits outside of the top two teams came from Delta State’s Giulio Brugnoni (21.38), Indianapolis’ Jan Zuchowicz (23.95), Grand Valley’s Gabriel Souza (20.86) and UCSD’s Spencer Daily (19.31).

Delta State (1:26.89), UC San Diego (1:27.50), Indianapolis (1:27.65), Oklahoma Baptist (1:27.95), Missouri S&T (1:28.32) and Florida Tech (1:28.45) also qualified for the final.

Event 9  Men 200 Yard Medley Relay
====================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 1:24.83  3/14/2018 Queens (NC)
                          Pijulet, Arakelian, Kusch, Sydorchenko
         Meet: M 1:24.83  3/14/2018 Queens (NC)
                          Pijulet, Arakelian, Kusch, Sydorchenko
    School                                 Seed    Prelims        
====================================================================
                       === Preliminaries ===                        
 
  1 Queens (NC)                         1:26.20    1:26.14  
     1) Mosic, Alen SO                2) r:0.04 Delkeskamp, Jan FR    
     3) r:0.23 Kusch, Marius SR       4) r:0.43 Heck, Brody JR        
    r:+0.53  11.03        22.24 (22.24)
          33.10 (10.86)       46.70 (24.46)
           55.60 (8.90)     1:06.77 (20.07)
         1:15.98 (9.21)     1:26.14 (19.37)
  2 Wayne State                         1:26.28    1:26.22  
     1) Drobnych, Dima SR             2) r:0.27 Palazzo, Sasha JR     
     3) r:0.36 Olsen, Rasmus SR       4) r:0.27 Katulski, Ryan JR     
    r:+0.63  10.74        21.63 (21.63)
          32.17 (10.54)       45.44 (23.81)
           55.31 (9.87)     1:06.72 (21.28)
         1:16.00 (9.28)     1:26.22 (19.50)
  3 Delta State                         1:27.91    1:26.89  
     1) Brugnoni, Giulio SO           2) r:0.16 Gayuk, Daniel SO      
     3) r:0.24 Bracco, Federico FR    4) r:0.31 Schirru, Mattia SR    
         r:+3.96          21.38 (21.38)
                              46.06 (24.68)
                            1:07.36 (21.30)
        1:26.89 (19.53)                    
  4 UCSD                                1:27.56    1:27.50  
     1) James, Tyler SO               2) r:0.20 Wihanto, William SR   
     3) r:0.25 Tse, Garrett SR        4) r:0.06 Daily, Spencer FR     
    r:+0.58  11.30        22.77 (22.77)
          33.72 (10.95)       47.12 (24.35)
           56.49 (9.37)     1:08.19 (21.07)
         1:17.26 (9.07)     1:27.50 (19.31)
  5 Indy                                1:28.22    1:27.65  
     1) Codo Berti, Rodrigo SR        2) Zuchowicz, Jan SO            
     3) r:0.25 Yorke, Kael FR         4) r:0.07 Antonon Rodriguctor SO
    r:+0.56  11.11        22.19 (22.19)
          32.58 (10.39)       46.14 (23.95)
           55.81 (9.67)     1:07.67 (21.53)
         1:17.07 (9.40)     1:27.65 (19.98)
  6 Oklahoma Baptist                    1:28.25    1:27.95  
     1) Molina, Robinson SO           2) r:0.12 Conley, Davion JR     
     3) r:0.26 Zapata, Felipe SR      4) r:0.14 Knaut, Gabriel SO     
    r:+0.50  10.91        22.17 (22.17)
          32.72 (10.55)       46.37 (24.20)
           56.20 (9.83)     1:08.04 (21.67)
         1:17.45 (9.41)     1:27.95 (19.91)
  7 Missouri S & T                      1:28.23    1:28.32  
     1) Shih, Ethan SR                2) r:0.24 Umrysh, Joshua SO     
     3) r:0.25 Taske, Aaron JR        4) r:0.02 Meyer, Morgan SR      
    r:+0.55  11.54        23.01 (23.01)
          34.04 (11.03)       47.54 (24.53)
           56.99 (9.45)     1:08.92 (21.38)
         1:17.90 (8.98)     1:28.32 (19.40)
  8 Florida Tech                        1:28.94    1:28.45  
     1) Rossi, Emanuele SR            2) r:0.11 Rust, Dain JR         
     3) r:0.38 Dujmic, Filip SR       4) r:0.03 Rocha Furtado, ctor SR
    r:+0.61  11.55        22.97 (22.97)
          33.98 (11.01)       47.63 (24.66)
           57.20 (9.57)     1:09.01 (21.38)
         1:18.21 (9.20)     1:28.45 (19.44)

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Coach Wayne McCauley

5 years ago

Please correct your wording “his 1:41.61 NCAA record” with Division II record.

It is no where near the NCAA record.