PHOENIX, Arizona, November 15. THE initial College Swimming Coaches Association of America NCAA Division II poll is out, and the Grand Valley State women and Florida Southern men are seen as the top of the heap by the coaches panel.<\/p>\n
The CSCAA DII Poll Committee will produce in-season rankings of the 25 best performing NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving teams in rank order at the time of each poll. The poll is not designed to predict the results of the NCAA Championship, but rather which teams would win head-to-head against other teams in the country. <\/p>\n
Specifically, the poll committee does not differentiate between the types of meets, or the status of a specific team in terms of rested versus unrested, when considering votes. Further, rankings are only based on performances that have taken place up to that point in the season, with an emphasis on action from the previous poll. <\/p>\n
Swimming World has been invited as a media member to participate in the polling process. Jason Marsteller serves as Swimming World’s representative on these conference calls.<\/p>\n
DII WOMEN<\/p>\n
THE TOP FIVE<\/p>\n
1. \tGrand Valley State (5-2)
\nResults
\nW, Northern Michigan, 138-105
\nL, UW-Milwaukee, 191-112
\nW, Hillsdale, 159-77
\nW, Calvin, 149-93
\nW, Ashland, 138-90
\nW, Lewis, 191-90
\nL, Michigan State, 162-138<\/p>\n
The Grand Valley State women’s squad has had a pretty strong season thus far, and could be a pretty strong NCAA Division I team if it competed at that level. The Lakers are 5-2 this year, with their only two loses coming against NCAA DI foes UW-Milwaukee and Michigan State. Most recently, senior Caitlyn Madsen was named the CollegeSwimming.com National Swimmer of the Week for her strong competition against Lewis. At that meet, she downed a trio of GVSU pool records with wins in the 200 fly (2:05.37), 100 fly (57.01) and 400 IM (4:34.38). She also helped the medley relay post a pool record 3:51.50 for the win.<\/p>\n
2.\tUC San Diego (1-1)
\nResults
\nW, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 191-107
\nL, UC Santa Barbara, 172-123<\/p>\n
It’s been a pretty quiet season for the Tritons thus far, having only turned in a pair of dual meet performances. However, one was a tough battle against NCAA DI rivals UC Santa Barbara. Sandy Hon, Anji Skakya and Naomi Thomas turned in a strong outing against the Gauchos. Hon swept the breaststroke events with a 58.64 and 2:09.32, while Thomas took care of the fly with wins in the 100 (56.90) and 200 (2:04.41). Shakya, who also anchored the 200 free relay to a win, took home titles in the 200 free (1:51.40) and 500 free (4:59.50). <\/p>\n
3.\tQueens (3-1)
\nResults
\nW, Gardner-Webb
\nW, Wingate
\nL, Davidson
\nW, Campbell<\/p>\n
The team hasn’t been around all that long, but Queens has definitely taken NCAA Division II by storm with some huge support from the gigantic SwimMAC club program in Charlotte. With the ability to put together an invitational that includes the pros from SwimMAC’s Team Elite, Queens definitely has some firepower in terms of recruiting advantages. The women’s team certainly has some stars, including Caroline Arakelian, who earned Bluegrass Mountain Conference Swimmer of the Week with wins in the 200 back, 500 free and 100 breast last week against Wingate, Campbell and Davidson. <\/p>\n
4.\tFlorida Southern (3-0)
\nResults
\n5th, All-Florida Invitational
\nW, Tampa, 154-108
\nW, Saint Leo, 159-94
\nW, Florida Tech, 131-65<\/p>\n
The Mocs have been putting on a show in intra-state battles in Florida at the Division II level, sporting an unblemished 3-0 record in dual meet competition. Most recently, FSU took down Florida Tech in Lakeland, Fla. Lauren Reynolds and Heather Burns paced the Mocs with a pair of wins. Reynolds snatched the 200 free title, before pocketing the 100 back. Burns, meanwhile, topped the 1650 free before notching a win in the 500 free. <\/p>\n
5. \tWingate (0-1)
\nResults
\n1st, Wingate Quad Meet
\nL, Queens, 123-122<\/p>\n
In one of the highest profile head-to-head matchups of the year so far, Wingate fell by one point to Queens in Charlotte. Ana Fish and Olga Kosheleva led Wingate against Queens with a pair of wins each. Fish swept the sprint frees with wins in the 50 (24.64) and 100 (54.21) freestyle events, while Kosheleva captured the 100 (1:06.93) and 200 (2:26.06) breaststroke events for her first two event wins as a Bulldog. <\/p>\n
REST OF THE BEST<\/p>\n
6.\tDrury (1-1)
\n7. \tWest Chester (3-1)
\n8.\tSimon Fraser (2-1)
\n9. \tLIU Post (4-1)
\n10. \tWayne State (2-0)
\n11.\tTampa (1-2)
\n12.\tIndiana (PA) (1-0)
\n13. \tTruman State (4-1)
\n14.\tNova Southeastern (3-1)
\n15. \tIndianapolis (2-0)
\nT16.\tLindenwood (2-1)
\nT16.\tNorthern Michigan (8-1)
\n18.\tCal Baptist (2-0)
\n19.\tAlaska-Fairbanks (2-2)
\n20.\tEdinboro (5-0)
\n21.\tWest Florida (5-2)
\n22. \tDelta State (0-3)
\n23.\tBloomsburg (0-3)
\n24.\tSaint Cloud State (2-1)
\nT25.\tFlorida Tech (2-3)
\nT25. \tAshland (1-3)<\/p>\n
Also Receiving Votes: Shippensburg, Lewis, Limestone, Gannon, Bridgeport, Fairmont, Lynn, Cal State East Bay, Southern Connecticut<\/p>\n
DII MEN<\/p>\n
THE TOP FIVE<\/p>\n
1.\tFlorida Southern (3-0)
\nResults
\n3rd, All-Florida Invite
\nW, Tampa, 138-124
\nW, Saint Leo, 143-119
\nW, Florida Tech, 126-74<\/p>\n
The squad has been idle for a few weeks, but based on early-season indications, expect the Mocs to explode during their upcoming battle against Rollins next week. Most recently, the Mocs rolled over Florida Tech with Allan Gutierrez leading the way. Gutierrez swept the sprint freestyle events with a win in the 50 and 100 free to help key the victory. Juan Tolosa also topped the 500 and 1650 free.<\/p>\n
2.\tGrand Valley State (5-0)
\nResults
\nW, UW-Milwaukee, 183.5-114.5
\nW, Calvin, 168-70
\nW, Ashland, 158-75
\nW, Lewis, 191-90
\nW, Michigan State, 166-134<\/p>\n
The vote this week came down to almost a tie between Florida Southern and Grand Valley State, and both teams have some legitimate arguments as the top dual meet team in the nation. GVSU has been an NCAA Division I killer, having downed both UW-Milwaukee and Michigan State this year, with both meets not being too terribly close. Gianni Ferrero was a world-beater against the Spartans, winning three events. He took home the 200 free (1:38.96), 500 free (4:36.25) and 200 IM (1:50.16) and ledoff the winning 200 medley relay squad. <\/p>\n
3.\tQueens (2-1)
\nResults
\nW, Gardner-Webb
\nL, Wingate
\nW, Davidson<\/p>\n
Queens has one of the top individual talents in the division with Matthew Josa calling Queens home. Most recently, he posted sizzling times against Wingate and Davidson. Josa, who was a highly-recruited NCAA DI prospect, decided to stay home and attend Queens. He definitely caught our eye early and often, landing himself an appearance on the Morning Swim Show.<\/p>\n
4.\tWingate (1-0)
\nResults
\n1st, Wingate Quad Meet
\nW, Queens, 140-105<\/p>\n
Marko Blazevski is the definite leader for the Bulldog squad. The man from Macedonia took it to Queens in Wingate’s win over the Charlotte-based squad as Blazevski won a trio of events. He surged to victory in the 200 IM (1:53.70), 500 free (4:39.85) and 1000 free (9:33.19) to secure some major points for the Bulldogs. <\/p>\n
5.\tDrury (1-1)
\nResults
\n4th, Mizzou Showdown
\nL, Missouri State, 147-96
\nW, Delta State, 170-67<\/p>\n
Drury is 1-1 early in the season, most recently picking up a win against a scrappy Delta State squad. Junior Stanislav Kuzmin had a strong outing against Delta, earning Great Lakes Valley Conference Swimmer of the Week honors. He won the 50 free (21.26) and 200 fly (1:50.86), and helped both the 200 medley and 200 free relays to victory in Drury’s home opener. <\/p>\n
REST OF THE BEST<\/p>\n
6.\tUC San Diego (1-1)
\n7.\tLindenwood (3-0)
\n8.\tTampa (0-2)
\n9.\tIndianapolis (2-0)
\n10. \tNova Southeastern (2-2)
\n11.\tWest Chester (4-0)
\n12.\tWayne State (2-0)
\n13.\tBridgeport (2-0)
\n14.\tSaint Leo (2-2)
\n15.\tMissouri S&T (1-2)
\n16.\tCal Baptist (1-0)
\n17.\tDelta State (0-4)
\n18.\tSaint Cloud State (3-1)
\n19.\tIndiana (PA) (1-0)
\n20.\tFlorida Tech (2-2)
\n21.\tAshland (1-3)
\nT22.\tHenderson State (1-0)
\nT22.\tFairmont State (1-0)
\n24.\tSimon Fraser (2-1)
\n25.\tLewis (3-1)<\/p>\n
Also Receiving Votes: Limestone, Bloomsburg, Colorado Mesa, Lake Erie, Pfeiffer, Catawba, Truman State<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PHOENIX, Arizona, November 15. THE initial College Swimming Coaches Association of America NCAA Division II poll is out, and the Grand Valley State women and Florida Southern men are seen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,6,24690],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-college","category-frontpage"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n