Division II Meet Preview: Second Round Of Invitationals Underway

Photo Courtesy: Kyle Staggs

This week will feature a second round of invitationals for some of the top schools across Division II swimming following the Thanksgiving holiday. The results of some of these invitationals will give a much clearer picture of what we can expect from certain teams at the end of the year and give teams themselves a sense of where they stand as they head into winter training. Take a look at this week’s Division II Meet Preview below!

Meet Of The Week: Calvin Winter Invitational

The Calvin Winter Invitational will feature two strong Division II conference rivals, Grand Valley State University and Northern Michigan University, battling it out amongst some good Division III competition. Both teams are in the GLIAC conference, and Grand Valley is the current defending conference champion on the women’s side. Northern Michigan finished third on both the men’s and women’s competitions last year, while the Grand Valley men finished second.

Grand Valley and Northern Michigan are both ranked within the top 10 in Division II so far this year according to the latest CSCAA Coaches poll. GVSU is 7th on both sides, while Michigan’s men are ranked 4th and the women’s team 5th. That should give Northern Michigan some confidence heading into the competition and make this a match-up to watch given the shake-up it could predict in the conference standings at the end of the year. We will provide a full recap of the meet later in the week, but take a look below for some of the major swimmers to watch for:

Senior Leonie Van Noort (Grand Valley), who was the NCAA Champion in the 200 free (1:47.32) and 1,650 free (16:34.44) in addition to second place finishes in the 1,000 free (9:52.51) and 500 free (4:47.95).
Junior Sam Postmus (Grand Valley), who was top 8 in the 400 IM at NCAA’s and 2016 GLIAC Champion in the event (4:22.46).
Junior Gabriel Souza (Grand Valley), who was third at NCAA’s 100 fly (47.01).
Freshman Rachel Helm (Northern Michigan), who has already put up competitive times in the 100 free (51.86), 100 breast (1:04.74), and 200 IM (2:04.02).
Freshman Lajos Budai (Northern Michigan), who is already ranked sixth in the 100 free (44.67), and has provisional cuts in the 100 back (48.44) and 50 free (20.82).
Sophomore Ryan Leonard (Northern Michigan), who was fourth in the 400 IM (3:50.23) and seventh in the 200 IM (1:48.01) at last year’s NCAA’s. Has already been as fast in the 200 IM (1:52.67) this year as he was last year at the Calvin Invitational in 200 IM (1:52.51).

SCAD Invitational

Wingate University will be heading to a second invitational at Savannah College of Art and Design this weekend following their own Fall Frenzy invitational from before Thanksgiving. The Bulldogs didn’t appear to rest for the Fall Frenzy Invitational as they traditionally have done in the past, meaning they are likely saving their rest for this meet, which is a new addition to their schedule.

Swimmers to watch include senior Leif-Henning Kluever, who has been top 8 in the 200 and 500 free at NCAA’s. He has already been 1:40.50 in dual meet against Queens, where he touched out Dion Dreesens, the national record holder in the event. That was likely a big source of confidence for the senior, who was out of the Championship finals in individual events at NCAA’s last year. On the women’s side, senior backstroker Vika Arkhipova and senior breaststroker Jessika Weiss are also ones to watch. Arkhipova is currently ranked second in the country in the 200 backstroke (2:00.31), while Weiss has been top 16 at NCAA’s in the breaststroke events over the last three years.

Eastern Michigan Invitational

Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rivals Wayne State University, Ashland University, and Tiffin University will all come together to compete at the Eastern Michigan Invitational this week. Wayne State’s women were GLIAC conference champions last year, while their men were second. Tiffin University finished fourth on the men’s side and eighth on the women’s side, while Ashland finished seventh on both sides. Wayne State is the only team of the three to be ranked in the Top 25 so far this year, but none of these three teams have rested yet. The meet will begin Friday, December 2nd at 3:30pm. Live results can be found on the Eastern Michigan University Swimming & Diving page.

Queens vs. Duke

Division II powerhouse Queens University of Charlotte will take on rising Division I school Duke University this weekend. While Queens likely won’t have the depth to challenge Duke for a win on either side, there should be some exciting match-ups to watch for nonetheless.

On the women’s side, the women’s breaststroke events will be a close one. Queens sophomore Michelle Prayson comes in with the fastest seed time of the 100 breast field (1:02.15), while Queens junior Dasha Talanova will have the fastest seed time of the 200 breast field (2:16.14). Senior Hannah Peiffer also matches up well with Duke’s top backstrokers, giving her the possibility of taking both events.

The men’s match-up should provide more close races than the women’s meet, as the Royals depth matches up with Duke’s better on the men’s side. The sprint and mid-distance freestyle events could go either way, and with Paul Pijulet and Dion Dreesens leading the way Queens has the experience to potentially do some damage in those events. Senior Nick Arakelian should be able to help out in the distance and IM events as well, but what will hurt Queens is their lack of depth relative to Duke in some of the stroke events, particularly in the backstroke and breaststroke. That meet will begin at 1:00pm on Saturday in Charlotte.

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Geoff

7 years ago

The A3 Performance Colorado Mesa Invite is set to begin in Grand Junction, CO tomorrow through Saturday as well

Kelly McCommons

7 years ago

shout out to the photo of NMU’s @NMUSwimDiveTeam