The first NCAA swimming and diving championships of 2021 is off to a very 2020 start, with the Division II Championships able to get their preliminary heats in Wednesday morning. After the session, however, it was announced that due to expected dangerous weather in the Birmingham, Alabama, area, the CrossPlex would close for the rest of the day, postponing finals.
Due to weather warnings in the Birmingham area, the City of Birmingham will be closing the CrossPlex for the remainder of the day. The #NCAAD2 Swimming & Diving Championship will be postponed until Thursday at Noon ET. pic.twitter.com/BpS0GOn3KL
— NCAA Division II (@NCAADII) March 17, 2021
That means Thursday will feature morning prelims and two sets of finals, at noon at the regularly scheduled ones at night.
An event-by-event rundown of what did actually get contested on Wednesday.
Women’s 20o IM
Two swimmers cracked two minutes in the morning, neither of them the only one to have done it during the regular season. Lexie Baker of Queens is the top seed with a drop of more than three seconds to 1:59.12. Second is Indy’s Marizel van Jaarsveld in 1:59.31. Bec Cross of Drury, who entered as the top seed, is lurking in third.
Event 5 Women 200 Yard IM
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NCAA DII: N 1:55.63 3/9/2016 Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC)
Meet: M 1:55.63 3/9/2016 Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC)
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Baker, Lexie SR Queens (NC) 2:02.21 1:59.12
25.66 55.80 (30.14)
1:31.48 (35.68) 1:59.12 (27.64)
2 Van Jaarsveld, Marize SR Indy 2:00.92 1:59.31
26.17 56.54 (30.37)
1:31.36 (34.82) 1:59.31 (27.95)
3 Cross, Bec JR Drury 1:59.89 2:00.65
26.23 57.27 (31.04)
1:32.66 (35.39) 2:00.65 (27.99)
4 McCoy, Katie JR Indy 2:00.03 2:00.73
26.23 55.63 (29.40)
1:31.95 (36.32) 2:00.73 (28.78)
5 Foster, Hannah JR Queens (NC) 2:01.99 2:01.44
26.19 56.92 (30.73)
1:33.00 (36.08) 2:01.44 (28.44)
6 Rizzetto, Ester JR West Florida 2:02.70 2:01.95
25.92 57.97 (32.05)
1:33.54 (35.57) 2:01.95 (28.41)
7 Aringsmann, Sara SR Wingate 2:01.97 2:02.29
27.17 58.54 (31.37)
1:33.46 (34.92) 2:02.29 (28.83)
8 Jensen, Cecilie SR Carson-Newman 2:03.26 2:02.95
26.75 57.87 (31.12)
1:33.90 (36.03) 2:02.95 (29.05)
Men’s 200 IM
It looks like a two-horse race in the men’s 200 IM, the top two finishers a second and a half clear of the field. Alex Kunert of Queens set the pace in 1:45.09. Second was Delta State’s Emanuel Fava.
Event 6 Men 200 Yard IM
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NCAA DII: N 1:41.61 3/14/2018 Marius Kusch, Queens (NC)
Meet: M 1:41.94 3/11/2015 Matthew Josa, Queens (NC)
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Kunert, Alex JR Queens (NC) 1:48.51 1:45.09
22.31 49.64 (27.33)
1:20.60 (30.96) 1:45.09 (24.49)
2 Fava, Emanuel JR Delta State 1:45.51 1:45.33
22.99 49.09 (26.10)
1:19.19 (30.10) 1:45.33 (26.14)
3 Berecz, Balazs S Queens (NC) 1:48.00 1:46.85
23.44 50.43 (26.99)
1:21.42 (30.99) 1:46.85 (25.43)
4 Mateos-Mongelo, Mathe FR Lindenwood 1:47.49 1:47.27
23.73 50.56 (26.83)
1:21.85 (31.29) 1:47.27 (25.42)
5 Rodriguez, Andrew JR Drury 1:48.30 1:47.29
23.71 50.81 (27.10)
1:21.74 (30.93) 1:47.29 (25.55)
6 Jones, Stephen JR Henderson St. 1:47.64 1:47.38
22.11 49.09 (26.98)
1:20.98 (31.89) 1:47.38 (26.40)
7 Winiatowski, Patryk SO Lindenwood 1:49.02 1:47.60
23.32 51.73 (28.41)
1:22.99 (31.26) 1:47.60 (24.61)
8 Brown, James JR Drury 1:45.09 1:47.63
23.41 50.36 (26.95)
1:21.72 (31.36) 1:47.63 (25.91)
Women’s 50 Free
Danielle Melilli of Queens continued their strong morning with a 22.82 in the 50 to nab the top seed. Indy’s Johanna Buys is second with Yasmin Preusse of Drury third in 23.26.
Event 7 Women 50 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA DII: N 22.20 3/9/2017 Bailee Nunn, Drury
Meet: M 22.20 3/9/2017 Bailee Nunn, Drury
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Melilli, Danielle SO Queens (NC) 22.93 22.82
11.03 22.82 (11.79)
2 Buys, Johanna JR Indy 23.06 23.02
11.11 23.02 (11.91)
3 Preusse, Yasmin JR Drury 23.29 23.26
11.15 23.26 (12.11)
4 Wieberg, Mackenzie SR Drury 23.37 23.34
11.26 23.34 (12.08)
5 Rogowska, Katarzyna SO Drury 22.95 23.37
11.27 23.37 (12.10)
6 Van Noy, Natalie JR Queens (NC) 23.30 23.39
11.23 23.39 (12.16)
7 Rizzetto, Ester JR West Florida 23.31 23.43
11.32 23.43 (12.11)
8 Winnett, Lexie SR Lindenwood 23.52 23.44
11.33 23.44 (12.11)
8 Vaselli, Leticia SO Indy 23.21 23.44
11.29 23.44 (12.15)
Swim-Off Required ----------------------------------------------
Men’s 50 Free
No points for guessing who the top seed in the men’s 50 free is: It’s Drury freshman Karol Ostrowski, the DII recordholder in the event. He didn’t match that speed in the morning, going 19.31. And he is only the top seed by a small margin, with fellow frosh Matej Dusa of Queens second in 19.35. Could we see the first 18 in D2 history?
Also of note: The two swimmers who tied for 16th place both did so at a 19.99.
Event 8 Men 50 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA DII: N 19.08 11/19/2020Karol Ostrowski, Drury
Meet: M 19.18 3/10/2016 Serghei Golban, Lindenwood
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Ostrowski, Karol FR Drury 19.09 19.31
9.33 19.31 (9.98)
2 Dusa, Matej FR Queens (NC) 19.33 19.35
9.30 19.35 (10.05)
3 Bowen, Alex JR Drury 19.51 19.47
9.28 19.47 (10.19)
4 Brugnoni, Giulio SR Delta State 20.01 19.63
9.38 19.63 (10.25)
5 Glass, Kham JR Drury 20.08 19.68
9.45 19.68 (10.23)
6 Cook-Weeks, Skyler JR Queens (NC) 19.88 19.74
9.52 19.74 (10.22)
7 Wolsek, Michael FR Wayne State 20.18 19.81
9.62 19.81 (10.19)
8 Ohnov, Viacheslav JR Wingate 19.76 19.87
9.69 19.87 (10.18)
Those two sets of events, plus the timed final of the 1,000 freestyle and the 200 medley and 200 free relays were all due to be competed Wednesday night, as well as the prelims and finals of the women’s one-meter diving.
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