NCAA Division II Championships , Day 1: Prelims a Go, but Finals Postponed by Tornado Threat

Swimming World March 2020 - College Previews - NCAA Division II and III - Tori Sopp - Drury - By PHB

The first NCAA swimming and diving championships of 2021 is off to a very 2020 start, with the Division II Championships able to get their preliminary heats in Wednesday morning. After the session, however, it was announced that due to expected dangerous weather in the Birmingham, Alabama, area, the CrossPlex would close for the rest of the day, postponing finals.

Due to weather warnings in the Birmingham area, the City of Birmingham will be closing the CrossPlex for the remainder of the day. The #NCAAD2 Swimming & Diving Championship will be postponed until Thursday at Noon ET. pic.twitter.com/BpS0GOn3KL

— NCAA Division II (@NCAADII) March 17, 2021

That means Thursday will feature morning prelims and two sets of finals, at noon at the regularly scheduled ones at night.

An event-by-event rundown of what did actually get contested on Wednesday.

Women’s 20o IM

Two swimmers cracked two minutes in the morning, neither of them the only one to have done it during the regular season. Lexie Baker of Queens is the top seed with a drop of more than three seconds to 1:59.12. Second is Indy’s Marizel van Jaarsveld in 1:59.31. Bec Cross of Drury, who entered as the top seed, is lurking in third.

Event 5  Women 200 Yard IM
==================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 1:55.63  3/9/2016  Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC)
         Meet: M 1:55.63  3/9/2016  Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC)
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Baker, Lexie           SR Queens (NC)       2:02.21    1:59.12  
                 25.66        55.80 (30.14)
        1:31.48 (35.68)     1:59.12 (27.64)
  2 Van Jaarsveld, Marize  SR Indy              2:00.92    1:59.31  
                 26.17        56.54 (30.37)
        1:31.36 (34.82)     1:59.31 (27.95)
  3 Cross, Bec             JR Drury             1:59.89    2:00.65  
                 26.23        57.27 (31.04)
        1:32.66 (35.39)     2:00.65 (27.99)
  4 McCoy, Katie           JR Indy              2:00.03    2:00.73  
                 26.23        55.63 (29.40)
        1:31.95 (36.32)     2:00.73 (28.78)
  5 Foster, Hannah         JR Queens (NC)       2:01.99    2:01.44  
                 26.19        56.92 (30.73)
        1:33.00 (36.08)     2:01.44 (28.44)
  6 Rizzetto, Ester        JR West Florida      2:02.70    2:01.95  
                 25.92        57.97 (32.05)
        1:33.54 (35.57)     2:01.95 (28.41)
  7 Aringsmann, Sara       SR Wingate           2:01.97    2:02.29  
                 27.17        58.54 (31.37)
        1:33.46 (34.92)     2:02.29 (28.83)
  8 Jensen, Cecilie        SR Carson-Newman     2:03.26    2:02.95  
                 26.75        57.87 (31.12)
        1:33.90 (36.03)     2:02.95 (29.05)

Men’s 200 IM

It looks like a two-horse race in the men’s 200 IM, the top two finishers a second and a half clear of the field. Alex Kunert of Queens set the pace in 1:45.09. Second was Delta State’s Emanuel Fava.

Event 6  Men 200 Yard IM
==================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 1:41.61  3/14/2018 Marius Kusch, Queens (NC)
         Meet: M 1:41.94  3/11/2015 Matthew Josa, Queens (NC)
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Kunert, Alex           JR Queens (NC)       1:48.51    1:45.09  
                 22.31        49.64 (27.33)
        1:20.60 (30.96)     1:45.09 (24.49)
  2 Fava, Emanuel          JR Delta State       1:45.51    1:45.33  
                 22.99        49.09 (26.10)
        1:19.19 (30.10)     1:45.33 (26.14)
  3 Berecz, Balazs          S Queens (NC)       1:48.00    1:46.85  
                 23.44        50.43 (26.99)
        1:21.42 (30.99)     1:46.85 (25.43)
  4 Mateos-Mongelo, Mathe  FR Lindenwood        1:47.49    1:47.27  
                 23.73        50.56 (26.83)
        1:21.85 (31.29)     1:47.27 (25.42)
  5 Rodriguez, Andrew      JR Drury             1:48.30    1:47.29  
                 23.71        50.81 (27.10)
        1:21.74 (30.93)     1:47.29 (25.55)
  6 Jones, Stephen         JR Henderson St.     1:47.64    1:47.38  
                 22.11        49.09 (26.98)
        1:20.98 (31.89)     1:47.38 (26.40)
  7 Winiatowski, Patryk    SO Lindenwood        1:49.02    1:47.60  
                 23.32        51.73 (28.41)
        1:22.99 (31.26)     1:47.60 (24.61)
  8 Brown, James           JR Drury             1:45.09    1:47.63  
                 23.41        50.36 (26.95)
        1:21.72 (31.36)     1:47.63 (25.91)

Women’s 50 Free

Danielle Melilli of Queens continued their strong morning with a 22.82 in the 50 to nab the top seed. Indy’s Johanna Buys is second with Yasmin Preusse of Drury third in 23.26.

Event 7  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 Melilli, Danielle      SO Queens (NC)         22.93      22.82  
                 11.03        22.82 (11.79)
  2 Buys, Johanna          JR Indy                23.06      23.02  
                 11.11        23.02 (11.91)
  3 Preusse, Yasmin        JR Drury               23.29      23.26  
                 11.15        23.26 (12.11)
  4 Wieberg, Mackenzie     SR Drury               23.37      23.34  
                 11.26        23.34 (12.08)
  5 Rogowska, Katarzyna    SO Drury               22.95      23.37  
                 11.27        23.37 (12.10)
  6 Van Noy, Natalie       JR Queens (NC)         23.30      23.39  
                 11.23        23.39 (12.16)
  7 Rizzetto, Ester        JR West Florida        23.31      23.43  
                 11.32        23.43 (12.11)
  8 Winnett, Lexie         SR Lindenwood          23.52      23.44  
                 11.33        23.44 (12.11)
  8 Vaselli, Leticia       SO Indy                23.21      23.44  
                 11.29        23.44 (12.15)
 Swim-Off Required ----------------------------------------------

Men’s 50 Free

No points for guessing who the top seed in the men’s 50 free is: It’s Drury freshman Karol Ostrowski, the DII recordholder in the event. He didn’t match that speed in the morning, going 19.31. And he is only the top seed by a small margin, with fellow frosh Matej Dusa of Queens second in 19.35. Could we see the first 18 in D2 history?

Also of note: The two swimmers who tied for 16th place both did so at a 19.99.

Event 8  Men 50 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 19.08  11/19/2020Karol Ostrowski, Drury
         Meet: M 19.18  3/10/2016 Serghei Golban, Lindenwood
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Ostrowski, Karol       FR Drury               19.09      19.31  
                  9.33         19.31 (9.98)
  2 Dusa, Matej            FR Queens (NC)         19.33      19.35  
                  9.30        19.35 (10.05)
  3 Bowen, Alex            JR Drury               19.51      19.47  
                  9.28        19.47 (10.19)
  4 Brugnoni, Giulio       SR Delta State         20.01      19.63  
                  9.38        19.63 (10.25)
  5 Glass, Kham            JR Drury               20.08      19.68  
                  9.45        19.68 (10.23)
  6 Cook-Weeks, Skyler     JR Queens (NC)         19.88      19.74  
                  9.52        19.74 (10.22)
  7 Wolsek, Michael        FR Wayne State         20.18      19.81  
                  9.62        19.81 (10.19)
  8 Ohnov, Viacheslav      JR Wingate             19.76      19.87  
                  9.69        19.87 (10.18)

Those two sets of events, plus the timed final of the 1,000 freestyle and the 200 medley and 200 free relays were all due to be competed Wednesday night, as well as the prelims and finals of the women’s one-meter diving.

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