NCAA Division II Championships: Ann Carozza Threatens Another Record; Big Morning for Queens
Queens University of Charlotte is leading the team competition at the NCAA Division II Championships in Greensboro, N.C., with the men having already pulled more than 100 points ahead of the closest competition (Drury) and the women holding a small edge over Indy. However, the Friday morning prelims session saw Queens’ women earn four individual A-final spots, including one top seed, so that margin could grow after the third of four finals sessions.
The morning session included an impressive performance from West Chester’s Ann Carozza in the women’s 200 butterfly, where she almost broke her second NCAA DII record of the week, while record-holder Alex Kunert was well ahead of the field in the men’s 200 fly.
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Team Scores
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 19 1. Queens (Nc) 276 2. Indy 246 3. Nova S'Eastern 221 4. Drury 163 5. West Chester 99 6. Colorado Mesa 97 7. Simon Fraser 90 8. Carson-Newman 86 9. Lindenwood 84 10. West Florida 80 11. Wingate 68 12. Tampa 58 12. Delta State 58 14. Nmu 56 15. Lynn 51 16. Msu Mankato 45 17. McKendree 32 18. Wayne State 26 19. Florida Tech 23 20. St Cloud St 22 21. Saint Leo 20 22. Azusa Pacific 18 23. Augustana 15 23. Grand Valley 15 23. Iup 15 26. Rollins 11 27. Florida Southern 7 28. Henderson St. 5 28. Mines 5 28. Saginaw Valley State Univ 5 31. Clarion University 4 32. Umsl 2 33. Gannon 1
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 20 1. Queens (Nc) 330 2. Drury 231 3. Indy 217 4. McKendree 161 5. Findlay 129 6. Lindenwood 111 7. Colorado Mesa 92 8. Nova S'Eastern 91 9. Wingate 87 10. Florida Southern 79 11. Wayne State 72 12. Delta State 60 13. Grand Valley 46 14. Simon Fraser 43 14. Oklahoma Christian 43 16. Carson-Newman 42 17. Rollins 36 18. Missouri S & T 35 19. Henderson St. 28 20. Nmu 27 21. St Cloud St 22 22. Lewis 16 23. Lenoir-Rhyne 5 24. Clarion University 4 25. Florida Tech 3 26. Southern Conn 2 27. Fresno Pacific 1 27. Lynn 1 27. UT Permian Basin 1
Carozza recorded a time of 1:57.07 in the women’s 200 fly, just off the 2018 record of 1:56.89 set by Queens’ Mckenzie Stevens. Finishing more than eight tenths behind Carozza was Lynn’s Luna Mertins (1:57.91), with Nova Southeastern’s Aleksandra Maslova third (1:58.59). Carozza previously set an NCAA DII record in the 100 fly prelims Thursday before placing second in the event in the final.
The men’s 200 fly saw Kunert, a senior at Queens, qualifying first by more than a second in 1:43.32. His own national record sits at 1:41.19, set back in 2019. Queens teammate Yannick Plasil (1:44.59) and McKendree’s Jack Lustig (1:44.79) went 2-3.
Wingate’s Kate Agger finished first in the women’s 500 free heats in 4:51.51, just ahead of Queens teammates Sophie Lange (4:51.72) and Monica Gumina (4:52.06). Nova Southeastern teammates Cassie Wright (53.11) and Celina Marquez (53.18) paced the 100 backstroke ahead of Drury’s Laura Pareja (53.38), and Queens earned the top seed in the 100 breast with Danielle Melilli setting the pace in 1:00.94, ahead of Indy’s Marizel Van Jaarsveld (1:01.33) and Nova’s Savanna Best (1:01.51).
It should be a great showdown in the men’s 500 free final between Nova’s Luca Alessandrini and Rollins’ Ward Lockhart. The two swimmers entered seeded two seconds ahead of anyone else in the field, and in prelims, Alessandrini’s top time of 4:23.81 was only three hundredths ahead of Lockhart, the 1000 free winner, who went 4:23.84. Florida Southern’s Elder Oliveira was third (4:24.08).
Drury’s Mikita Tsmyh and Florida Tech’s Daniel Aizenberg tied for the top seed in the men’s 100 back in 46.64, with Florida Southern’s Brandon Dyck (46.70) just behind. In the men’s 100 breast, three swimmers went under 53: Indy’s Jan Zuchowicz (52.68), Florida Southern’s Ludo Viberti (52.80) and Indy’s Liki Prema (52.84). Indy also captured the top spot in men’s 3-meter diving with freshman Julio Osuna Kelly (515.05), who finished ahead of Colorado Mesa’s Isaiah Cheeks and Drury’s Charles Earl.
