[UPDATED] Division II Meet Preview Of The Week: Top Schools Battle To Start The Season

Photo Courtesy: Drury Athletics

Welcome to this week’s Division II Meet Preview of the Week! Each week Swimming World will bring you a list of meets across Division II to watch out for on the upcoming weekend. Reach below to check out the meets to see across the country and who to watch for!

Meet Of The Week: Show Me Showdown – Friday, October 7th

While we are just getting into the 2016-2017 competition season across the NCAA, this is one meet that is sure to set the tone of the season for many of the top teams across D2 swimming & diving. The Show Me Showdown, hosted this year by the University of Missouri, will feature four of the top Division II schools in the country, including two schools whose men’s and women’s teams scored within the top 10 at the 2016 NCAA Championships. Take a look at the schools below and where they stacked up at the end of the year last year:

Lindenwood: Men – 2nd at NCAA’s, Women – 9th at NCAA’s

Drury: Men – 6th at NCAA’s, Women – 4th at NCAA’s

Truman State: Men – 27th at NCAA’s, Women – 12th at NCAA’s

William Jewell: Women – 29th at NCAA’s

This will be the return to competition for many of the top stars from last year’s NCAA meet, including Lindenwood’s Serghei Golban, a senior who is the men’s NCAA record holder in the 50 freestyle and was a triple NCAA Champion in 2016 in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 backstroke. Also look out for Drury swimmer Wen Xu, who will be kicking off her senior year after winning the 50 freestyle at NCAA’s and breaking the NCAA record with a 22.36. Xu also finished second in the 100 freestyle at NCAA’s to Patri Castro Ortega, who has since graduated.

Other notable swimmers to watch out for will be Lindenwood’s Alecia McGillivray, who had three top 8 finishes at NCAA’s last year, and Truman State’s Nicole Sisson, who was fourth in the 100 free at NCAA’s last year.

St. Andrew vs. Wingate – Saturday, October 8th (POSTPONED)

The Wingate men and women will travel to St. Andrews this week to open their season in what should be a strong showing on the road for the visiting teams. The Wingate women were 2nd at NCAA’s last year behind Queens, making them a huge favorite in this match-up. Look out for senior Sofia Petrenko, who set a NCAA record en route to a win in the 200 butterfly (1:57.94) at NCAA’s last year. The senior was also third in the 200 IM and second in the 400 IM at that same meet, and will be looking to continue her momentum last year as she begins a season that could see her win multiple titles at the end of the year. Fellow senior Viktoriya Arkhipova, who won the 200 backstroke and was second in the 100 backstroke, will also be looking to make a similar splash in her first meet of the year. On the men’s side, look for Wingate to be dominate as well. The men were 16th at NCAA’s last year, and are returning junior Jerome Heidrich, who was third in the 200 freestyle and contributed to several relays at NCAA’s last year. UPDATE: Wingate Athletics has announced that the meet has been postponed due to the impending landfall of Hurricane Matthew.

Florida Southern vs. Nova Southeastern (CANCELLED)

Sunshine State Conference rivals Florida Southern and Nova Southeastern were set to face off this weekend in both team’s opening dual meets, but due to approaching Hurricane Matthew the meet was cancelled. While it has not been announced if there will be a make-up date, these are two powerhouse teams to watch in Division II. Florida Southern captured both the men’s and women’s conference titles last year, but Nova Southeastern was within striking distance behind them in second place. At NCAA’s, the Florida Southern men were third with Nova Southeastern less than forty points back in fourth, while the Nova women finished 11th at the meet, ahead of 15th place and conference champions Florida Southern. Nova Southeastern return with junior Anton Lobanov, who is the Division II record holder both breaststroke events and was NCAA champion last year.

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7 years ago

Wingate no longer has 3 out of 4 mentioned swimmers…

Carly Barker

7 years ago

Wohoo Doug Schranck!