Photo Courtesy: Tony Romanini
PHOENIX – The first College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) NCAA Division II Top 25 polls are out, and Drury dominated the polls by unanimously taking the top spot in both the men’s and women’s polls.
The CSCAA DII Poll Committee produced 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 was 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.
Specifically, the poll committee did 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 were only based on performances that have taken place up to that point in the season, with an emphasis on action from the previous poll.
Swimming World was invited as a media member to participate in the polling process. Jason Marsteller served as Swimming World’s representative on these conference calls.
MEN
1. Drury (3-1)
2nd, Show-Me Showdown
L, Missouri State
W, Truman State
W, Lindenwood
W, Delta State
Last time out:
Drury took down Delta State, 170-73, for a big divisional win. Kacper Pelczynski led the way for Drury with wins in the 200 IM (1:53.08) and the 100 breast (55.94).
2. Queens (3-0)
All North Carolina Invitational
W, Gardner-Webb
W, Wingate
W, Davidson College
Last time out:
Queens took down Davidson College as part of the Davidson Invite with 10 first-place finishes in their 140.5-138.5 victory. Matt Josa easily paced Queens with wins in the 200 fly (1:53.42) and 100 free (45.44).
3. Florida Southern (1-1)
W, Tampa
L, Florida State
Last time out:
Florida Southern tested themselves against one of the finest NCAA Division I teams in the nation, coming up show in a 168-119 loss. Juniors Jesus Marin and Juan Tolosa, and sophomore Marco Palacios led the way with event victories. Marin won the 200 free (1:39.66), while Tolosa topped the 500 free (4:31.74). Palacios claimed the 100 back in 50.07.
4. Lindenwood (7-1)
4th, Show-Me Showdown
W, Missouri-St. Louis
W, Lewis
W, Truman State
L, Drury
W, Saint Louis
W, Lindenwood-Belleville
W, Missouri-St. Louis
W, Missouri S&T
Last time out:
Thanks to a particularly loaded set of dual meets with multiple opponents, Lindenwood ran their record to 7-1 on the season so far. The last time out proved to be a team affair with only diver David Cochran winning multiple individual events with a diving sweep of the one-meter and three-meter events.
5. Wingate (1-1)
W, St. Andrews
L, Queens
1st, Wingate Quad Plus
Last time out:
Wingate had a strong outing from junior Ossian Arvidsson as he won the 1000 free (9:50.36) and took second in the 400 IM (4:13.53) during a loaded Wingate Quad Plus meet that featured Limestone, Catawba, Gardner-Webb and Lenoir-Rhyne.
Full CSCAA Rankings
1. Drury
2. Queens
3. Florida Southern
4. Lindenwood
5. Wingate
6. UC San Diego
7. Grand Valley
8. St. Leo
9. West Chester
T10. Tampa
T10. Simon Fraser
12. Delta State
13. Indianapolis
T14. Bridgeport
T14. Nova Southeastern
16. St. Cloud
17. Wayne State
18. Malone
19. Catawba
20. Lewis
21. Missouri S&T
22. Cal Baptist
23. Southern Connecticut
24. Colorado Mesa
25. Fresno Pacific
Also receiving votes: Florida Tech, Ashland, IUP, Bloomsburg, Carson Newman, Shippensburg
WOMEN
1. Drury (4-0)
2nd, Show-Me Showdown
W, Missouri State
W, Truman State
W, Lindenwood
W, Delta State
Last time out:
The Drury women posted a 150-88 victory against Delta State. Wai Ting Yu, one of the top swimmers in the division, snared the 200 free (1:53.57) and 100 fly (57.19). Ariel Xu also doubled with a sprint sweep in the 50 free (23.81) and 100 free (52.10)
2. Queens (1-1)
All North Carolina Invitational
W, Wingate
L, Davidson College
Last time out:
Queens took a loss against Davidson College, 163.5-130.5, but still managed to win seven events in the defeat. Caroline Arakelian was one of the top swimmers for Queens, winning the 100 breast (1:05.78), 200 back (2:01.60) and 200 IM (2:06.28).
T3. Wingate (1-1)
W, St. Andrews
L, Queens
1st, Wingate Quad Plus
Last time out:
Wingate’s Sofia Petrenko took down the 400 IM school record previously held by NCAA national champion Maria Vlashchenko with a 4:27.67. That was just one of her victories, as she also won the 100 fly in 56.56.
T3. UC San Diego (1-1)
W, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
L, UC Santa Barbara
Last time out:
The Tritons had a tough time against Santa Barbara, falling 156-101 to their in-state rival. Freshmen Stephanie Sin and Julia Toronczak led the way for UCSD with a pair of wins. Sin topped the 1000 free (10:26.84), while Toronczak claimed the 200 back in 2:04.84.
5. Florida Southern (1-2)
W, Tampa
L, Florida International
L, Florida State
Last time out:
The Mocs have had an NCAA Division I schedule so far, taking on both Florida International and Florida State. Their last competition was a loss against FSU, 171-114. Lauren Reynolds paced Florida Southern with a win in the 200 back when she clocked an NCAA B cut time of 2:01.33.
Full CSCAA Rankings
1. Drury
2. Queens
T3. Wingate
T3. UC San Diego
5. Florida Southern
6. LIU Post
7. Simon Fraser
8. Cal Baptist
9. Grand Valley
10. Nova Southeastern
11. West Chester
12. Lindenwood
13. West Florida
14. Northern Michigan
15. Tampa
16. Delta State
T17. Indianapolis
T17. Wayne State
T17. Truman State
20. St. Cloud
21. Carson Newman
22. Southern Connecticut State
T23. Moorhead
T23. St. Leo
25. Cal State East Bay
Also receiving votes: Malone, Alaska Fairbanks, Lewis, IUP, Colorado Mesa, Bloomsburg, Ashland
More CSCAA college rankings: