NCAA Division II Championships, Day 5 Prelims: 200 Back May Decide Men’s Race
Two and a half points are all that separate first-place Drury and second-place Tampa as we enter the fifth and final day of the NCAA Division II Championships. Drury is looking to reclaim the title it won but had vacated last year, while Tampa was the runner-up last year and the champion in 2024.
Saturday night’s battle could come down to the 400 freestyle relay. Both teams put five swimmers into A finals on Saturday night. But Drury has the edge with the top two seeds in the 200 backstroke and the second seed in the 200 breaststroke. Tampa has a sixth swimmer in the top eight, with Jacob Hamlin as the second seed in the 1,650 free. Drury has the edge with two B finalists to Tampa’s one, while Drury has swimmers ranked ninth and 10th in the mile that could swing the balance.
The final night session includes women’s 1-meter diving, the 1,650 frees and the 400 free relayst o cap the meet.
The final prelims action of the meet at in Evansville:
NCAA Division II Championships Team Scores
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 30 1. Nova S'Eastern 374 2. Tampa 308.5 3. Drury 229 4. Colorado Mesa 224.5 5. Indy 220.5 6. West Florida 211.5 7. Findlay 197.5 8. Grand Valley 154 9. Delta State 149 10. Wingate 145 11. Catawba 129.5 12. Lynn 102 13. Simon Fraser 99 14. Clarion 66 15. Mines 58 16. Umsl 49 17. Carson-Newman 33 18. Csu East Bay 31 19. Saginaw Valley 26 20. Concordia 20 20. McKendree 20 22. Davenport 19 23. Iup 15 24. Augustana 14 25. Oklahoma Christi 12 26. Nmu 9 27. Msu Mankato 7 28. Rollins 6 29. Wayne State 5 30. Ouachita 4 31. Emmanuel 3 31. Lewis 3 33. Alaska Fairbanks 1
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 31 1. Drury 384 2. Tampa 381.5 3. Colorado Mesa 330 4. Indy 324 5. McKendree 198.5 6. Lynn 193 7. Wingate 135 8. Grand Valley 128 9. Findlay 125 10. Florida Southern 124 11. Catawba 107 12. Nmu 96 13. Clarion 81 14. Wayne State 70 15. St. Cloud St.-M 66 16. Delta State 61 17. Rollins 59.5 18. Carson-Newman 42.5 19. West Chester 38 20. Florida Tech 35 21. Missouri S & T 34 22. Davenport 24 23. Bridgeport 20 24. Roberts Wesleyan 12 25. Mines 8 25. Quincy 8 27. Barry U 2 28. Lewis 1
NCAA Division II Championships Links
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- NCAA Meet Information Page
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- NCAA Division II Swimming News
- Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap
- Day 2 Finals Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Recap
- Day 3 Finals Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Recap
- Day 4 Finals Recap
Women’s 100 freestyle
Let’s start at the end: A three-way tie for 15th place necessitating a swim-off. Vanessa Weatherford of Oklahoma Christian, Eniko Onofer of Catawba and Nina Azirovic of Wingate all went 50.73 in prelims. Weatherford won the swim-off in 50.43. She’s joined by Onofer’s 50.62 in the swim-off that edged Azirovic by .02.
At the other end. Kristina Orban is looking for another title. She’s the top seed in 48.57, but four swimmers are under 50 seconds. That includes new national champ Emily Mears-Bentley of Findlay in 49.71. Nova Southeastern may have the points it needs to clinch a fourth straight title, with Zsofia Kurdi in third and Maxine Egner in fifth.
Colorado Mesa’s Ada Qunell is fourth. The co-second seed entering the meet, Delta State’s Olivia Murphy, was ninth in 50.34.
Event 34 Women 100 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA DII: N 48.07 3/15/2025 Luna Mertins, Lynn
Meet: M 48.07 3/15/2025 Luna Mertins, Lynn
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Orban, Kristina SO Nova S'eastern 48.90 49.57
r:+0.66 23.65 49.57 (25.92)
2 Mears-Bentley, Emily SR Findlay 49.38 49.71
r:+0.65 24.01 49.71 (25.70)
3 Kurdi, Zsofia 5Y Nova S'eastern 49.22 49.85
r:+0.73 24.29 49.85 (25.56)
4 Qunell, Ada SR Colorado Mesa 49.40 49.99
r:+0.77 24.00 49.99 (25.99)
5 Hedley, Lucy SR Grand Valley 49.72 50.03
r:+0.71 23.94 50.03 (26.09)
6 Egner, Maxine SO Nova S'eastern 50.27 50.06
r:+0.77 24.15 50.06 (25.91)
7 Reckmann, Marit SR Catawba 50.14 50.31
r:+0.67 24.13 50.31 (26.18)
7 Tapia Sahagun, Luz SO Lynn 50.55 50.31
r:+0.68 23.97 50.31 (26.34)
Men’s 100 freestyle
Findlay’s Camillo Marrugo Montano was first in prelims at 42.56. But the favorite has to be Maurice Grabowski of Lynn after his three titles already this meet. He went 42.64 to get a middle lane. Colorado Mesa’s Guillaume Guth was third in 42.79. Tibor Tristan has a chance to step up big for Tampa, the fourth seed in 42.86. Ditto Drury’s Yuri Cabral in sixth. Lucas Minuer was ninth for the Panthers, with Marwane Sebbata 14th.
Event 35 Men 100 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA DII: N 41.25 3/20/2021 Karol Ostrowski, Drury
Meet: M 41.25 3/20/2021 Karol Ostrowski, Drury
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Marrugo Montano, Cami 5Y Findlay 43.32 42.56
r:+0.65 20.30 42.56 (22.26)
2 Grabowski, Maurice SR Lynn 42.19 42.64
r:+0.63 20.07 42.64 (22.57)
3 Guth, Guillaume JR Colorado Mesa 42.66 42.79
r:+0.70 20.38 42.79 (22.41)
4 Tistan, Tibor SR Tampa 44.27 42.86
r:+0.68 20.30 42.86 (22.56)
5 Gavrysh, Volodymyr SO McKendree 42.90 43.04
r:+0.60 20.81 43.04 (22.23)
6 Cabral, Yuri JR Drury 43.86 43.05
r:+0.63 20.59 43.05 (22.46)
7 Nolles, Leo SR NMU 44.02 43.15
r:+0.65 20.55 43.15 (22.60)
8 Minichowski, Maksymil JR Catawba 43.46 43.21
r:+0.64 20.66 43.21 (22.55)
Women’s 200 backstroke
Agata Naskret is the reigning champ and the NCAA record holder. She’s also the top seed in 1:54.84, looking to do the backstroke double again, this time for West Florida. Sidni Meister went 1:56.71 for second for Tampa, ahead of teammate Lindsay Louder. The Trojans also have swimmers seeded ninth and 11th.
Megan Corcoran of Carson-Newman is fourth.
Event 36 Women 200 Yard Backstroke
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NCAA DII: N 1:53.25 3/15/2025 Agata Naskret, Colorado Mesa
Meet: M 1:53.25 3/15/2025 Agata Naskret, Colorado Mesa
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Naskret, Agata SR West Florida 1:53.84 1:54.84
r:+0.60 26.94 55.97 (29.03)
1:25.68 (29.71) 1:54.84 (29.16)
2 Meister, Sidni JR Tampa 1:57.63 1:56.71
r:+0.57 27.57 56.75 (29.18)
1:26.16 (29.41) 1:56.71 (30.55)
3 Louder, Lindsey JR Tampa 1:57.88 1:57.35
r:+0.59 27.85 57.53 (29.68)
1:27.25 (29.72) 1:57.35 (30.10)
4 Corcoran, Megan SO Carson-Newman 1:59.46 1:57.96
r:+0.62 27.43 56.93 (29.50)
1:27.46 (30.53) 1:57.96 (30.50)
5 Proietti, Vittoria JR Grand Valley 1:57.30 1:58.18
r:+0.62 27.94 57.34 (29.40)
1:27.43 (30.09) 1:58.18 (30.75)
6 Marsicek, Amelia SO Lewis 2:00.68 1:58.33
r:+0.55 28.41 58.10 (29.69)
1:27.57 (29.47) 1:58.33 (30.76)
7 Stokes, Kasha JR IUP 1:59.38 1:59.23
r:+0.62 27.60 57.22 (29.62)
1:27.90 (30.68) 1:59.23 (31.33)
8 Masella, Valentina FR Indy 1:58.06 1:59.31
r:+0.62 28.14 57.94 (29.80)
1:28.14 (30.20) 1:59.31 (31.17)
Men’s 200 backstroke
If Drury is going to seize the national title, this might be the event to do it head to head with Tampa. The first seed in prelims was Alvaro Zornoza Quiros in 1:41.90. Second is fellow Panther Ivan Adamchuk, last year’s champ, in 1:42.28. Drury has Evaldas Babakinas sixth.
Tampa’s Will Beckstead-Holman is the third seed in 1:43.18. Teammate Joshua Noll is seventh.
Event 37 Men 200 Yard Backstroke
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NCAA DII: N 1:40.34 3/16/2024 Benjamin Sampson, Colorado Mesa
Meet: M 1:40.34 3/16/2024 Benjamin Sampson, Colorado Mesa
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Zornoza Quiros, Alvar JR Drury 1:42.67 1:41.90
r:+0.55 23.38 48.93 (25.55)
1:15.20 (26.27) 1:41.90 (26.70)
2 Adamchuk, Ivan JR Drury 1:43.01 1:42.28
r:+0.60 23.24 48.86 (25.62)
1:15.25 (26.39) 1:42.28 (27.03)
3 Beckstead-Holman, Wil SR Tampa 1:44.25 1:43.18
r:+0.58 23.96 49.84 (25.88)
1:16.21 (26.37) 1:43.18 (26.97)
4 Nagy, Roland JR Nova S'eastern 1:44.86 1:43.76
r:+0.60 24.72 50.81 (26.09)
1:17.24 (26.43) 1:43.76 (26.52)
5 Basten, Nico SO Indy 1:44.73 1:43.83
r:+0.71 24.45 50.30 (25.85)
1:16.78 (26.48) 1:43.83 (27.05)
6 Babakinas, Evaldas FR Drury 1:44.81 1:44.09
r:+0.64 24.15 50.00 (25.85)
1:16.88 (26.88) 1:44.09 (27.21)
7 Noll, Joshua JR Tampa 1:44.89 1:44.25
r:+0.61 24.42 50.36 (25.94)
1:17.07 (26.71) 1:44.25 (27.18)
8 Schmiedefeld, Richard SO Colorado Mesa 1:45.02 1:44.32
r:+0.52 24.27 50.38 (26.11)
1:17.41 (27.03) 1:44.32 (26.91)
Women’s 200 breaststroke
Colorado Mesa’s Melina Giraudeau led the way in prelims at 2:13.10, but this one seems open. Gwen Bergum, the 100 breast champ, was second in 2:13.41. Top seed Celina Schmidt was third in 2:14.80. Chloe Skelt of Delta State was fourth.
Event 38 Women 200 Yard Breaststroke
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NCAA DII: N 2:08.59 3/15/2025 Jonette Laegreid, Drury
Meet: M 2:08.59 3/15/2025 Jonette Laegreid, Drury
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Giraudeau, Melina JR Colorado Mesa 2:11.89 2:13.10
r:+0.71 29.88 1:03.20 (33.32)
1:37.77 (34.57) 2:13.10 (35.33)
2 Bergum, Gwen JR Drury 2:11.78 2:13.41
r:+0.71 30.14 1:04.08 (33.94)
1:38.89 (34.81) 2:13.41 (34.52)
3 Schmidt, Celina 5Y Indy 2:11.23 2:14.80
r:+0.69 30.55 1:04.49 (33.94)
1:39.39 (34.90) 2:14.80 (35.41)
4 Skelt, Chloe JR Delta State 2:17.59 2:15.29
r:+0.77 30.68 1:04.80 (34.12)
1:39.45 (34.65) 2:15.29 (35.84)
5 Moll, Gabriella SR Catawba 2:15.29 2:15.40
r:+0.73 30.86 1:04.86 (34.00)
1:39.40 (34.54) 2:15.40 (36.00)
6 Acacio, Catalina FR Emmanuel 2:16.57 2:15.59
r:+0.79 30.68 1:04.81 (34.13)
1:39.94 (35.13) 2:15.59 (35.65)
7 Susi, Katie SR Findlay 2:14.32 2:15.60
r:+0.75 30.89 1:05.43 (34.54)
1:40.57 (35.14) 2:15.60 (35.03)
8 Rozova, Alena JR West Florida 2:13.64 2:15.88
r:+0.75 30.11 1:04.33 (34.22)
1:39.70 (35.37) 2:15.88 (36.18)
Men’s 200 breaststroke
Will it be four titles for Jeremias Pock? The Indy sophomore is the first seed in 1:53.06, a second clear of Drury’s Joao Nogueira. Lynn’s Maxim Tsyfarov was third in 1:55.97, a clear gap.
In the team race, Tampa has Britton Spann sixth and Cody Ano seventh in a crowded bottom four of the A final.
Event 39 Men 200 Yard Breaststroke
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NCAA DII: N 1:51.26 2/14/2026 Jeremias Pock, Indy
Meet: M 1:51.71 3/14/2015 Anton Lobanov, Nova S'eastern
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Pock, Jeremias SO Indy 1:51.26 1:53.06
r:+0.64 25.43 53.70 (28.27)
1:23.09 (29.39) 1:53.06 (29.97)
2 Nogueira, Joao SR Drury 1:56.14 1:54.23
r:+0.63 26.24 54.89 (28.65)
1:24.25 (29.36) 1:54.23 (29.98)
3 Tsyfarov, Maxim JR Lynn 1:56.60 1:55.97
r:+0.64 25.80 55.80 (30.00)
1:25.44 (29.64) 1:55.97 (30.53)
4 Jonsson, Aron SR Colorado Mesa 1:55.56 1:56.52
r:+0.69 26.30 55.73 (29.43)
1:26.02 (30.29) 1:56.52 (30.50)
5 Bichsel, Connor SR Missouri S & T 1:55.10 1:57.29
r:+0.70 26.37 56.40 (30.03)
1:26.76 (30.36) 1:57.29 (30.53)
6 Spann, Britton JR Tampa 1:57.44 1:57.32
r:+0.83 26.22 55.49 (29.27)
1:25.56 (30.07) 1:57.32 (31.76)
7 Ano, Cody FR Tampa 1:57.35 1:57.45
r:+0.62 26.69 56.47 (29.78)
1:26.73 (30.26) 1:57.45 (30.72)
8 Cariboni, Nicolo FR Wingate 1:58.27 1:57.83
r:+0.67 26.19 55.66 (29.47)
1:26.49 (30.83) 1:57.83 (31.34)