By Emily Thirion, Swimming World College Intern.
The eighth and final session of the 2019 Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championship in Charlotte featured ten events including the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, and the 400 free relay.
The Queens men and women secured the conference title for their university. The final team scores are as follows:
Men:
- Queens -976.5
- Barton-847
- Emmanuel-731.5
- Wingate-718
- Carson-Newman-569
- King-419.5
- Chowan-363
- Scad-304
- Catawba-295.5
- Lenoir Rhyne-219
- Mars Hill-179.5
- Salem-110.
Women:
- Queens-1026
- Wingate-761
- Emmanuel-740.5
- Barton-719.5
- Converse-558.5
- Carson-Newman-505
- Chowan-383.5
- King-383
- Scad-305
- Catawba-277
- Lenoir Rhyne-221
- Mars Hill-145
- Salem-88.
Photo Courtesy: Queens Athletics
• Meet Information
• Live Stream
• Day 1 results
• Day 2 results
Women’s 200 Back
Bobbi Gichard set Queens University off to a strong start on the final day of the conference championship. Gichard’s 1:55.09 200 back swim not only broke the conference record of 1:55.86, but the NCAA Division II record set back in 2014 of 1:55.57. The freshman from Queens took the first 100 out in 56.04 and brought it home in 59.05. She was two full seconds ahead of her next closest competitor.
Anna Miram from Wingate had a good race, dropping three seconds from her prelims time and finishing in 1:57.27. Vladyslava Maznytska had another strong race taking the bronze in 1:59.12. Rachel Massaro (1:59.45), Courtney Stewart (2:00.57), Frouke Beeksma (2:03.24), Kelley Jones (2:05.32), and Kelsey Krumanocker (2:07.04) took fourth through eighth in the event.
Men’s 200 Back
Alen Mosic also got Queens men’s program off on the right foot. Mosic’s 1:43.93 was a two second drop from prelims, and more than enough to secure the win for his team. Baptiste Leger (1:45.93) added over half a second from his prelims swim, but it still ensured him a silver medal. The final podium spot went to Carson-Newman’s Andrei Ungur who dropped nearly two seconds from prelims to go a 1:46.17 and take the bronze.
David Granados (1:48.50), Jackson Tunks (1:48.61), Jon Lancaster (1:49.17), Markus Furst (1:49.96), and Daniel Brisuda (1:50.74) earned the fourth through eighth positions in the event.
Women’s 100 Free
Polina Lapshina had another amazing night for Queens University on the final day of the conference championship. Lapshina’s 48.79 100 free swim broke the conference record of 49.19 set back in 2016. The Junior from Queen’s took the first 50 out in 23.44 and brought it home in 25.32. She was nearly two full seconds ahead of her next closest competitor.
Lexie Baker got the silver in 50.48, and Maria Madsen took the bronze in 50.85. Lisa Potsma (51.10), Spencer Sheridan (51.22), Kyrie Dobson (51.24), Anna De Boers (51.34) and Abby Kosic (51.75) took the remaining top eight slots.
Men’s 100 Free
Marius Kusch had another wildly impressive swim in the 100 free. Kusch’s 42.29 took down the conference records set back in 2009 (43.38) as well as the NCAA Division II record (his own, which he had set last season in 42.42). Kusch’s Queen’s teammates Brody Heck (43.46) and Dima Sydorchenko (43.74) took the remaining podium spots.
Vince Regent (44.07), Lukas Kraft (44.58), Mitch Harwood (45.04), Lennart Queiss (45.17), and Chad Andoljsek (45.52) took the fourth through eighth positions.
Women’s 200 Breast
Queens’ Shelly Prayson picked up a title in the night’s 200 breast final. After dropping over three seconds from her prelim time, she posted an explosive 2:14.60. Anne-Sofie Nissen (2:15.21) and Hayley Blaauw (2:17.82) were also in the mix through the first 100, finishing second and third respectively.
SJ Atkinson (2:19.05), Sara Aringsmann (2:19.05), Meredith Ginn (2:19.75), Sara Lacusky (2:22.22), and Paula Chenquer (2:26.36) locked the remaining top eight positions.
Men’s 200 Breast
Wingate’s Giacomo Viazzo took the title in the 200 breast. He had an aggressive race, dropping nearly two seconds from his prelims swim. His time of 1:56.45 gave him the victory over his competitor Jan Delkeskamp. Delkeskamp posted a quick 1:56.90 for second and was followed by Caleb Howell (1:59.52) and Tyler Bowersox (2:01.93).
Federico Higareda (2:02.41), Joey Clemmer (2:03.65), Andrew Lockhart (2:03.92), and Carson Sanocki (2:04.71) took fifth through eighth.
Women’s 200 Fly
Cecilie Jensen picked up her first win of the meet in the 200 fly. Her time of 2:03.20 was a second and a half faster than her prelims swim, and was enough to get the over Queen’s Georgia DaCruz (2:03.84). DaCruz led the race at the 100, but Jensen came home stronger, two seconds faster.
Queen’s Josephina Lorda locked the final podium spot for her university in 2:03.84, while Wingate’s Charlotte Kniippenberg was fourth in 2:04.00. Lydia Reinhardt took fifth in 2:04.07 after dropping a half a second from prelims.
Kayla Tennant (2:04.93), Maryhannah Gaushell (2:06.05), and Lauren Crabtree (2:08.98) rounded out the heat.
Men’s 200 Fly
Queen’s Alex Kunert took the title in the 200 IM. He had an explosive race, dropping a second and a half from his prelims swim. His time of 1:42.62 gave him the dominant victory over Wingate’s Nazarii Kosylo (1:48.82). Kunert’s swim broke the conference record from 2015 by over two seconds. Niklas Martin (1:48.86) and Ruben Stam (1:49.29) followed quickly behind Kosylo.
Jasper Jurman (1:49.40), Matthew George (1:49.48), George Harsanyi (1:49.87), and Miles Kredich (1:51.50) took fifth through eighth.
Women’s 400 Free Relay
Queen’s relay teams finished the meet on a high note. The women broke the conference record in 3:20.35, just one tenth faster than the year prior. Polina Lapshina, Kyrie Dobson, Josephina Lorda and Shelly Prayson took the top spot. These four dropped a second and a half from their entry time. Wingate’s women, including Maria Madsen, Abby Kosic, Hanna Van Horen and Leticia Odorici followed Queens with a 3:25.11. Carson-Newman’s Lisa Postma, Gabby Aguiar, Mary Northcutt and Elly Culp secured a third place finish for their school.
Men’s 400 Free Relay
Not to be outdone by their female counterparts, the Queens men broke the 400 free relay record as well, by just seven hundredths of a second (2:53.39). Alen Mosic, Brody Heck, Alex Kunert and Dima Sydorchenko brought home the win for their team, dropping over two and a half seconds from their entry time. Carson-Newman’s men, including Andreai Ungur, Nikola Tadic, Seth Hughes and Chad Andoljsek followed Queens in 2:58.92. Wingate’s Lukas Kraft, Lennart Queiss, Niklas Martin and Markus Furst took third to round out the podium.
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