Division II Meet Recap: Wingate Wins SCAD Invite

This weekend featured a second round of invitationals for many top Division II schools, with several teams getting the chance to show what they can do with a little rest at the end of the fall semester. Read below to see some of the highlights from this weekend’s meets.

SCAD Invitational

The #9 and #10 ranked women and men from Wingate University won the SCAD Invitational this weekend, continuing what has been a strong season for the Bulldogs. The women posted a number of top ranked times throughout the meet, including senior Vika Arkhipova, who won the 200 backstroke (1:58.34), good for the top time in the country. She was also 55.79 in the 100 backstroke, which is the 10th ranked time in the country. Arkhipova was also a part of a 400 freestyle relay team that included sophomore Maria Madsen, sophomore Hanna Van Horen, and junior Alex Divelbiss which won the 400 free relay in 3:23.51, the 3rd fastest time in the country. Other highlights from the meet for the Bulldogs included:

Senior Jessika Weiss set a new team record for the Bulldogs in the 200 breaststroke (2:14.96) that puts her 2nd overall so far this season.
Senior Leif-Henning Kluver posting a 1:37.68 in the prelims of the 200 free, good for 4th in the country. The senior was also 1:47.84 in the 200 backstroke, which cracks the top 10 for this season.
Freshman Leo Zabudkin set a new team record in the 200 breaststroke (1:58.76), good for 2nd overall in the country.

Full results of the meet can be found here.

Eastern Michigan Invitational

Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rivals Wayne State University, Ashland University, and Tiffin University competed this weekend at the 2016 Eastern Michigan Invitational. Wayne State was the highest Division II finisher at the meet, securing second place in both men’s and women’s scoring with 736 and 924 points respectively. Ashland finished third and fourth for women and men respectively, while Tiffin was fourth and fifth for women and men respectively.

A highlight for the Warriors was the women’s 200 medley relay team of senior Brenna Gabrielson, senior Manuela Ferreira, junior Abi Johns, and sophomore Lezlie Bueno Estrada, who touched the wall in 1:43.55 to move to fifth in the country. Three members of that relay were part of the quartet that placed third at NCAA’s last year and will definitely be looking to find another top 8 finish at the end of this year. Wayne State men medley relays were also competitive, with their 400 medley posting a 3:18.08, good for sixth in the country, and the 200 medley posting a 1:30.71, good for ninth in the country. Both of those relays qualified and finaled at NCAA’s last year.

Other notable swims included:

Sophomore Dima Drobnych’s 100 backstroke lead-off of the 400 medley relay of 48.65 that is just .03 off his lifetime best and puts him seventh in the country. Drobnych also posted a 1:47.98 in the 200 backstroke, a personal best and good for ninth in the country.
Sophomore Rasmus Olsen winning the 200 butterfly with a 1:47.34, good for fourth in the country. He also won the 100 butterfly in 48.84.

Full results of the meet can be found here.

Duke vs. Queens

Duke University defeated Queens men and women’s teams this weekend in a fast dual meet in the Royals home pool. The Duke women were absolutely dominant, with Queens just winning just 1 of the 14 contested events with Duke winning 169.5 to 87.5. The Duke men won their meet 146-111, with the Royal men winning just 5 events in their meet.

A huge highlight of the meet for Queens had to be Dion Dreesens winning the 200 free in 1:36.80, which broke his own pool record by more than a second and was just off his second ranked time of 1:36.54 from the Wingate Fall Frenzy Invitational. Junior transfer Paul Pijulet also posted a new top time in the 100 backstroke in his win at the meet, touching the wall in 47.65 for a new personal best. Ben Mayes also recorded a win in the 50 free (20.82). Nick Arakelian was the only double event winner for the Royals, as he took first in the 500 free (4:38.68) and 200 IM (1:50.33). The Lady Royals sole win came from breaststroker Dasha Talanova, who took the 200 breaststroke in 2:17.82, which is a little more than a second off of her season best.

Full meet results can be found here.

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