NCAA Division II Preview: Queens University of Charlotte Hosts Royals Invite

PHOENIX, Arizona, October 24. ON Friday afternoon, Collegeswimming.com’s second-ranked Division II school, Queens University of Charlotte, will host Division I powerhouse Auburn and Team Elite swimmers from SwimMAC Carolina at the first annual Royals Invite, highlighting this weekend’s Division II swimming and diving schedule.

Queens should give the Tigers a run for their money in a few different events, with Caroline Arakelian (200 back, 2:01.07; 200 IM, 2:04.42) and Hannah Peiffer (100 fly, 56.47; 200 IM, 2:07.62; 400 IM, 4:28.01) already having posted times that rank in the top three nationally. On the women’s side, those two swimmers should challenge Auburn’s Jillian Vitarius (200 back, 1:59.48), Sarah Peterson (200 IM, 2:06.75) and Kristen Murslack (400 IM, 4:26.03) for individual wins and valuable points in the team race.

In the men’s meet, Matthew Josa continues his impressive season for Queens, with the top-ranked time in Division II in the 100 free at 44.87. That time sandwiches him between Auburn’s Marcelo Chierighini (44.09) and James Disney-May (45.12), the top two Auburn swimmers in that event, and should set up a ridiculously fast race. Josa could pull out a double and win the 200 free, as his 1:40.18 is a second faster than any of Auburn’s swimmers thus far this season.

Florida Southern, ranked first in Division II by Collegeswimming.com, heads to Saint Leo, Florida this weekend to take on Saint Leo University. The men’s sprint freestyle events should be exciting, as Saint Leo’s Matheus Assis and Florida Southern’s Allan Gutierrez are both ranked in the top five nationally at 21.05 and 21.10, respectively. If Saint Leo’s Pawel Trenda and Florida Southern’s Thomas Nguyen swim the 100 back this weekend, it could come down to the finish, as the two enter this weekend with respective times of 50.65 and 51.21.

Wingate, the third-ranked team in Division II, will be off for another weekend, as neither the men’s or women’s team has competed since the All-North Carolina Invitational three weeks ago. In other meets, Grand Valley State will take on Hillsdale and Calvin, while Truman State will race against William Jewell, Saint Louis, and Maryville.

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