NCAA Division II Champs (Women): Danielle Melilli, Queens Finish Off Title Run in Style

NCAA Division II Champs (Women): Danielle Melilli, Queens Finish Off Title Run

Queens University entered the last night of the NCAA Division II Championships in Greensboro with a nearly 100-point lead over Indianapolis and by the time it was over, the Royals had expanded that margin. Behind Danielle Melilli and the right complement of top-flight talent and depth, Queens cruised to the team championship.

Queens finished the four-day meet with 536.5 points, well clear of Indy, which ended with 423 points. Melilli not only won the 100 freestyle on the last day of competition, she helped Queens punctuate its title with a victory in the 400 freestyle relay.

2022 NCAA Division II Championship Links 2022

Team Scores

  1. Queens (Nc)                     536.5   2. Indy                              423
  3. Nova S'Eastern                  368.5   4. Drury                           342.5
  5. Colorado Mesa                     241   6. West Chester                      231
  7. Lindenwood                        213   8. Simon Fraser                      187
  9. Tampa                             150  10. Carson-Newman                     148
 11. Wingate                           144  12. West Florida                      125
 13. Nmu                               108  14. Lynn                               97
 15. Delta State                        85  16. Wayne State                        81
 17. Iup                                67  18. Msu Mankato                        58
 19. McKendree                          56  20. Saint Leo                          46
 21. Grand Valley                       45  22. Azusa Pacific                      43
 23. St Cloud St                        37  24. Augustana                          30
 24. Florida Tech                       30  26. Florida Southern                   26
 27. Rollins                          16.5  28. Mines                              16
 28. Henderson St.                      16  30. Umsl                               14
 31. Clarion University                 11  32. Saginaw Valley State Univ           8
 33. Umary                               7  34. Csu East Bay                        6
 35. Oklahoma Christian                  4  36. Sioux Falls                         1
 36. Gannon                              1

1650 Freestyle

Queens’ pursuit of the team championship received an immediate boost when Sophie Lange cruised to a dominant victory in the 1650 freestyle. Lange checked in with a time of 16:32.44, which handed her a win by nearly eight seconds over Drury’s Allison Weber (16:40.08). Queens added two more scorers in the event and saw its edge in the team-title race soar to 123.5 points.

 Event 32  Women 1650 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 16:17.66  3/15/2008 Kristen Frost, Southern Conn St
         Meet: M 16:17.66  3/15/2008 Kristen Frost, Southern Conn St
    Name                 Year School               Seed     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
  1 Lange, Sophie          SO Queens (NC)      16:30.04   16:32.44   20  
    r:+0.64  26.76        55.96 (29.20)
        1:25.63 (29.67)     1:56.07 (30.44)
        2:26.23 (30.16)     2:56.68 (30.45)
        3:27.16 (30.48)     3:57.62 (30.46)
        4:28.02 (30.40)     4:58.56 (30.54)
        5:28.91 (30.35)     5:59.12 (30.21)
        6:29.57 (30.45)     7:00.04 (30.47)
        7:30.13 (30.09)     8:00.42 (30.29)
        8:30.71 (30.29)     9:00.93 (30.22)
        9:31.23 (30.30)    10:01.47 (30.24)
       10:31.67 (30.20)    11:01.91 (30.24)
       11:31.95 (30.04)    12:01.91 (29.96)
       12:31.91 (30.00)    13:02.21 (30.30)
       13:32.49 (30.28)    14:02.72 (30.23)
       14:32.87 (30.15)    15:03.04 (30.17)
       15:33.31 (30.27)    16:03.36 (30.05)    16:32.44 (29.08)
  2 Weber, Allison         SR Drury            16:44.68   16:40.08   17  
    r:+0.69  27.27        56.85 (29.58)
        1:27.19 (30.34)     1:57.68 (30.49)
        2:28.38 (30.70)     2:58.64 (30.26)
        3:29.33 (30.69)     3:59.86 (30.53)
        4:30.17 (30.31)     5:00.55 (30.38)
        5:30.85 (30.30)     6:01.21 (30.36)
        6:31.65 (30.44)     7:01.89 (30.24)
        7:32.09 (30.20)     8:02.43 (30.34)
        8:32.82 (30.39)     9:02.87 (30.05)
        9:33.12 (30.25)    10:03.55 (30.43)
       10:33.90 (30.35)    11:04.47 (30.57)
       11:34.86 (30.39)    12:05.50 (30.64)
       12:36.14 (30.64)    13:06.84 (30.70)
       13:37.58 (30.74)    14:08.33 (30.75)
       14:39.02 (30.69)    15:09.88 (30.86)
       15:40.70 (30.82)    16:11.23 (30.53)    16:40.08 (28.85)
  3 Agger, Kate            SR Wingate          16:41.69   16:40.44   16  
    r:+0.74  27.83        57.69 (29.86)
        1:27.91 (30.22)     1:58.46 (30.55)
        2:29.06 (30.60)     2:59.70 (30.64)
        3:30.33 (30.63)     4:01.19 (30.86)
        4:31.83 (30.64)     5:02.38 (30.55)
        5:33.03 (30.65)     6:03.73 (30.70)
        6:34.46 (30.73)     7:05.15 (30.69)
        7:35.70 (30.55)     8:06.10 (30.40)
        8:36.70 (30.60)     9:07.47 (30.77)
        9:38.09 (30.62)    10:08.49 (30.40)
       10:39.26 (30.77)    11:09.68 (30.42)
       11:40.29 (30.61)    12:10.74 (30.45)
       12:40.96 (30.22)    13:11.29 (30.33)
       13:41.63 (30.34)    14:11.83 (30.20)
       14:42.14 (30.31)    15:12.44 (30.30)
       15:42.76 (30.32)    16:12.59 (29.83)    16:40.44 (27.85)
  4 Beagle, Taylor         5Y Augustana        16:58.27   16:45.83   15  
    r:+0.77  28.33        58.95 (30.62)
        1:29.65 (30.70)     2:00.52 (30.87)
        2:31.86 (31.34)     3:02.92 (31.06)
        3:34.07 (31.15)     4:05.26 (31.19)
        4:36.30 (31.04)     5:07.16 (30.86)
        5:38.10 (30.94)     6:08.91 (30.81)
        6:39.73 (30.82)     7:10.26 (30.53)
        7:40.93 (30.67)     8:11.40 (30.47)
        8:41.78 (30.38)     9:12.16 (30.38)
        9:42.54 (30.38)    10:12.92 (30.38)
       10:43.18 (30.26)    11:13.61 (30.43)
       11:43.91 (30.30)    12:14.34 (30.43)
       12:44.60 (30.26)    13:14.82 (30.22)
       13:45.17 (30.35)    14:15.43 (30.26)
       14:45.69 (30.26)    15:16.18 (30.49)
       15:46.86 (30.68)    16:16.76 (29.90)    16:45.83 (29.07)
  5 Amorim, Marina         JR Drury            17:02.38   17:01.56   14  
    r:+0.83  28.50        59.17 (30.67)
        1:30.01 (30.84)     2:01.10 (31.09)
        2:32.33 (31.23)     3:03.64 (31.31)
        3:34.90 (31.26)     4:06.30 (31.40)
        4:37.54 (31.24)     5:08.68 (31.14)
        5:39.84 (31.16)     6:10.57 (30.73)
        6:41.73 (31.16)     7:12.91 (31.18)
        7:44.13 (31.22)     8:15.48 (31.35)
        8:46.76 (31.28)     9:17.46 (30.70)
        9:48.89 (31.43)    10:19.83 (30.94)
       10:50.90 (31.07)    11:21.99 (31.09)
       11:52.76 (30.77)    12:23.82 (31.06)
       12:55.25 (31.43)    13:25.95 (30.70)
       13:57.29 (31.34)    14:28.35 (31.06)
       14:59.77 (31.42)    15:31.37 (31.60)
       16:02.09 (30.72)    16:32.80 (30.71)    17:01.56 (28.76)
  6 Rydzewski, Amber       FR Queens (NC)      16:58.32   17:02.54   13  
    r:+0.73  27.79        57.93 (30.14)
        1:28.66 (30.73)     2:00.00 (31.34)
        2:31.62 (31.62)     3:03.27 (31.65)
        3:34.95 (31.68)     4:06.56 (31.61)
        4:38.31 (31.75)     5:10.17 (31.86)
        5:41.35 (31.18)     6:12.56 (31.21)
        6:43.79 (31.23)     7:15.10 (31.31)
        7:46.51 (31.41)     8:17.48 (30.97)
        8:48.25 (30.77)     9:19.17 (30.92)
        9:50.35 (31.18)    10:21.49 (31.14)
       10:52.40 (30.91)    11:23.32 (30.92)
       11:54.14 (30.82)    12:25.17 (31.03)
       12:56.24 (31.07)    13:27.29 (31.05)
       13:58.07 (30.78)    14:28.89 (30.82)
       14:59.89 (31.00)    15:30.90 (31.01)
       16:02.03 (31.13)    16:32.74 (30.71)    17:02.54 (29.80)
  7 Peden, Rachel          JR Carson-Newman    17:11.32   17:02.99   12  
    r:+0.75  28.75      1:00.16 (31.41)
        1:31.68 (31.52)     2:02.47 (30.79)
        2:33.61 (31.14)     3:04.93 (31.32)
        3:35.80 (30.87)     4:06.70 (30.90)
        4:37.74 (31.04)     5:08.89 (31.15)
        5:39.51 (30.62)     6:10.37 (30.86)
        6:41.24 (30.87)     7:11.99 (30.75)
        7:42.94 (30.95)     8:13.73 (30.79)
        8:44.54 (30.81)     9:15.36 (30.82)
        9:46.49 (31.13)    10:17.58 (31.09)
       10:48.92 (31.34)    11:20.14 (31.22)
       11:51.18 (31.04)    12:22.67 (31.49)
       12:54.02 (31.35)    13:25.21 (31.19)
       13:56.27 (31.06)    14:27.50 (31.23)
       14:58.65 (31.15)    15:30.29 (31.64)
       16:01.62 (31.33)    16:32.96 (31.34)    17:02.99 (30.03)
  8 Slowey, Meghan         JR Mines            16:58.06   17:03.11   11  
    r:+0.78  28.10        58.44 (30.34)
        1:29.69 (31.25)     2:01.13 (31.44)
        2:32.73 (31.60)     3:04.35 (31.62)
        3:35.94 (31.59)     4:07.23 (31.29)
        4:38.65 (31.42)     5:10.10 (31.45)
        5:41.39 (31.29)     6:12.71 (31.32)
        6:44.19 (31.48)     7:15.43 (31.24)
        7:46.67 (31.24)     8:17.99 (31.32)
        8:48.98 (30.99)     9:20.19 (31.21)
        9:51.15 (30.96)    10:22.10 (30.95)
       10:53.35 (31.25)    11:24.51 (31.16)
       11:55.68 (31.17)    12:26.68 (31.00)
       12:57.83 (31.15)    13:28.86 (31.03)
       13:59.78 (30.92)    14:30.91 (31.13)
       15:01.87 (30.96)    15:33.01 (31.14)
       16:03.68 (30.67)    16:33.96 (30.28)    17:03.11 (29.15)

100 Freestyle

The Queens tandem of Danielle Melilli and Monica Gumina combined to add 37 points to their team’s ledger, with Melilli claiming the title in 48.91. Melilli led the race from wire to wire, going out in 23.15 and coming home in 25.76. Gumina secured runnerup honors with a time of 49.17 and was followed by West Florida’s Ester Rizzetto (49.30).

It took sub-50 to advance to the final of the 100 freestyle, but the toll of the meet showed itself at night when only five of the finalists cracked the 50-second barrier.

 Event 34  Women 100 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 48.16  3/16/2019 Polina Lapshina, Queens (NC)
         Meet: M 48.16  3/16/2019 Polina Lapshina, Queens (NC)
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Melilli, Danielle      JR Queens (NC)         49.16      48.91   20  
    r:+0.67  23.15        48.91 (25.76)
  2 Gumina, Monica         JR Queens (NC)         49.45      49.17   17  
    r:+0.69  23.48        49.17 (25.69)
  3 Rizzetto, Ester        SR West Florida        49.60      49.30   16  
    r:+0.67  23.76        49.30 (25.54)
  4 Caylor, Krystal        5Y Indy                49.95      49.81   15  
    r:+0.66  23.96        49.81 (25.85)
  5 Carozza, Ann           SR West Chester        49.95      49.87   14  
    r:+0.76  24.18        49.87 (25.69)
  6 Bazarova, Elizaveta    SR Tampa               49.97      50.04   13  
    r:+0.74  23.87        50.04 (26.17)
  7 Sharkey, Kaleigh       JR Simon Fraser        49.74      50.29   12  
    r:+0.72  24.38        50.29 (25.91)
  8 Pozvai, Kiara          FR Henderson St.       49.99      50.41   11  
    r:+0.74  24.71        50.41 (25.70)

200 Backstroke

Celina Marquez of Nova Southeastern had no difficulty winning the 200 backstroke, as her mark of 1:55.79 supplied a commanding win over Lynn’s Luna Mertins, who was the top seed in the final. Mertins was timed in 1:56.52 for runnerup honors and was followed by another Nova Southeastern competitor, as Cassie Wright went 1:57.02 for third place.

 Event 36  Women 200 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 1:54.48  3/11/2017 Hannah Peiffer, Queens (NC)
         Meet: M 1:54.48  3/11/2017 Hannah Peiffer, Queens (NC)
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Marquez, Celina        SR Nova S'eastern    1:56.64    1:55.79   20  
    r:+0.63  26.72        55.38 (28.66)
        1:25.10 (29.72)     1:55.79 (30.69)
  2 Mertins, Luna          SO Lynn              1:56.14    1:56.52   17  
    r:+0.70  26.74        56.11 (29.37)
        1:26.00 (29.89)     1:56.52 (30.52)
  3 Wright, Cassie         5Y Nova S'eastern    1:56.58    1:57.02   16  
    r:+0.74  26.92        56.74 (29.82)
        1:27.71 (30.97)     1:57.02 (29.31)
  4 McCoy, Katie           SR Indy              1:58.41    1:57.36   15  
    r:+0.67  27.21        56.48 (29.27)
        1:26.91 (30.43)     1:57.36 (30.45)
  5 Billings, Heidi        FR NMU               1:58.79    1:59.15   14  
    r:+0.57  27.99        57.68 (29.69)
        1:28.26 (30.58)     1:59.15 (30.89)
  6 Kasse, Shelby          JR Lindenwood        1:59.18    1:59.42   13  
    r:+0.76  28.09        58.02 (29.93)
        1:28.75 (30.73)     1:59.42 (30.67)
  7 White, Lauren          JR Colorado Mesa     1:59.30    1:59.87   12  
    r:+0.81  27.50        57.66 (30.16)
        1:28.83 (31.17)     1:59.87 (31.04)
  8 Marks, Stephanie       SO Lindenwood        1:59.11    1:59.95   11  
    r:+0.76  27.80        57.97 (30.17)
        1:29.11 (31.14)     1:59.95 (30.84)

200 Breaststroke

Top-seeded Lily Borgenheimer of Colorado Mesa wasn’t quite as fast as she was in the prelims, but she was plenty quick enough to claim first place. Borgenheimer was timed in 2:11.56, which was slightly off her morning showing of 2:11.34. Carson-Newman’s Kailee Morgan was the silver medalist, going 2:12.33, which was exactly a second clear of Indy’s Marize Van Jaarsveld.

 Event 38  Women 200 Yard Breaststroke
=========================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 2:09.12  3/11/2017 Bailee Nunn, Drury
         Meet: M 2:09.12  3/11/2017 Bailee Nunn, Drury
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Borgenheimer, Lily     SR Colorado Mesa     2:11.34    2:11.56   20  
    r:+0.72  30.18      1:02.88 (32.70)
        1:36.57 (33.69)     2:11.56 (34.99)
  2 Morgan, Kailee         JR Carson-Newman     2:13.86    2:12.33   17  
    r:+0.78  30.06      1:03.61 (33.55)
        1:37.96 (34.35)     2:12.33 (34.37)
  3 Van Jaarsveld, Marize  5Y Indy              2:13.73    2:13.33   16  
    r:+0.64  29.58      1:03.12 (33.54)
        1:37.98 (34.86)     2:13.33 (35.35)
  4 Mikesell, Claire       5Y IUP               2:12.96    2:13.97   15  
    r:+0.64  29.86      1:03.63 (33.77)
        1:38.10 (34.47)     2:13.97 (35.87)
  5 Roth, Isabelle         FR Simon Fraser      2:14.40    2:14.84   14  
    r:+0.74  30.22      1:04.52 (34.30)
        1:39.60 (35.08)     2:14.84 (35.24)
  6 Best, Savanna          SR Nova S'eastern    2:14.88    2:14.85   13  
    r:+0.73  29.57      1:03.32 (33.75)
        1:38.11 (34.79)     2:14.85 (36.74)
  7 Conover, Claire        FR Drury             2:14.79    2:15.22   12  
    r:+0.67  30.82      1:05.07 (34.25)
        1:40.06 (34.99)     2:15.22 (35.16)
  8 Koehle, Maddy          FR West Chester      2:16.56    2:18.03   11  
    r:+0.66  30.84      1:05.57 (34.73)
        1:41.24 (35.67)     2:18.03 (36.79)

One-Meter Diving

Grand Valley’s Gracyn Segard was a dominant winner on the one-meter springboard, as her final score of 459.75 outdistanced the 434.50 posted by West Florida’s Kelsey DeJesus.

 Event 40  Women 1 mtr Diving
=========================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 511.55  3/10/2011 Kayla Kelosky, Clarion
         Meet: M 511.55  3/10/2011 Kayla Kelosky, Clarion
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                             === Finals ===                              
 
  1 Segard, Gracyn         JR Grand Valley       433.35     459.75   20  
  2 DeJesus, Kelsey        SR West Florida       415.35     434.50   17  
  3 Senkus, Mikaela        SO Wayne State        405.85     433.30   16  
  4 Brinkman, Madison      GR St Cloud St        402.25     427.90   15  
  5 Crayne, Amy            SR Azusa Pacific      405.95     422.85   14  
  6 Gubera, Regan          SO McKendree          398.60     418.60   13  
  7 Harris, Jolynn         SR Colorado Mesa      399.00     417.95   12  
  8 Stout, Melia           SR Azusa Pacific      400.25     408.60   11

400 Freestyle Relay

Queens wrapped up its team crown in grand fashion as the foursome of Monica Gumina, Danielle Melilli, Anna De Boer and Kayla Tennant combined for a time of 3:19.14 to beat Indy by more than a second. Melilli and Gumina were one-two in the 100 freestyle earlier in the evening, so there was little doubt concerning the outcome. Melilli produced a split of 48.62.

 Event 41  Women 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 3:18.04  3/17/2018 Queens (NC) - Also 3/16/2019
                          Lapshina, Lorda, Dollmayer, Prayson
         Meet: M 3:18.04  3/17/2018 Queens (NC) - Also 3/16/2019
                          Stevens, Dobson, Dollmayer, Prayson
    School                                 Seed     Finals Points 
==================================================================================
  1 Queens (NC)                         3:19.09    3:19.14   40  
     1) Gumina, Monica JR             2) r:0.46 Melilli, Danielle JR  
     3) r:0.31 De Boer, Anna SR       4) r:0.31 Tennant, Kayla SR     
    r:+0.68  23.46        49.48 (49.48)
        1:12.64 (23.16)     1:38.10 (48.62)
        2:01.75 (23.65)     2:28.25 (50.15)
        2:52.45 (24.20)     3:19.14 (50.89)
  2 Indy                                3:20.92    3:20.86   34  
     1) Buys, Johanna SR              2) r:0.18 Vaselli, Leticia JR   
     3) Van Jaarsveld, Marizel 5Y     4) r:0.25 Caylor, Krystal 5Y    
    r:+0.74  23.97        50.27 (50.27)
        1:13.58 (23.31)                    
            2:04.90 ( )         2:31.00 ( )
        2:54.85 (23.85)     3:20.86 (49.86)
  3 West Chester                        3:22.74    3:21.60   32  
     1) Carozza, Ann SR               2) r:0.07 Hemingway, Mckenzie SO
     3) r:0.30 Niness, Mikayla SO     4) r:0.23 Durkin, Keeley SO     
    r:+0.74  23.82        50.29 (50.29)
        1:14.13 (23.84)     1:41.02 (50.73)
        2:04.79 (23.77)     2:31.11 (50.09)
        2:55.18 (24.07)     3:21.60 (50.49)
  4 Lindenwood                          3:23.85    3:23.17   30  
     1) Marks, Stephanie SO           2) r:0.23 Siemiller, McKayla JR 
     3) r:0.41 Mensah, Joselle FR     4) r:0.25 Winnett, Lexie SR     
    r:+0.77  24.74        51.56 (51.56)
        1:15.16 (23.60)     1:41.92 (50.36)
        2:05.82 (23.90)     2:32.31 (50.39)
        2:56.13 (23.82)     3:23.17 (50.86)
  5 Simon Fraser                        3:24.92    3:23.62   28  
     1) Loewen, Kennedy SR            2) r:0.40 Sharkey, Kaleigh JR   
     3) r:0.16 Meklensek, Tori FR     4) r:0.26 Doner, Jordan SR      
    r:+0.62  24.36        50.86 (50.86)
        1:15.03 (24.17)     1:40.61 (49.75)
        2:04.75 (24.14)     2:31.42 (50.81)
        2:55.83 (24.41)     3:23.62 (52.20)
  6 Drury                               3:23.16    3:24.02   26  
     1) Preusse, Yasmin SR            2) r:0.33 Rogowska, Katarzyna JR
     3) r:0.37 Raurich, Rafaela FR    4) r:0.23 Andrade, Fernanda FR  
    r:+0.67  24.11        50.93 (50.93)
        1:14.52 (23.59)     1:41.97 (51.04)
        2:06.73 (24.76)     2:33.18 (51.21)
        2:57.32 (24.14)     3:24.02 (50.84)
  7 Tampa                               3:24.08    3:24.41   24  
     1) Vrijhof, Roma SO              2) r:0.44 Chestang, Emma FR     
     3) r:0.50 Gillan, Sierra FR      4) r:0.13 Bazarova, Elizaveta SR
    r:+0.69  24.56        51.47 (51.47)
        1:16.13 (24.66)     1:43.61 (52.14)
        2:08.42 (24.81)     2:35.13 (51.52)
        2:58.56 (23.43)     3:24.41 (49.28)
  8 Wingate                             3:23.23    3:24.46   22  
     1) Andrews, Lucie FR             2) r:0.31 Munro, Kelsea FR      
     3) r:0.18 Wenhold, Amanda SO     4) r:0.19 Smith, Berkley SO     
    r:+0.74  24.74        51.20 (51.20)
        1:14.82 (23.62)     1:41.94 (50.74)
        2:05.69 (23.75)     2:33.14 (51.20)
        2:57.06 (23.92)     3:24.46 (51.32)

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