2014 NAIA National Championships – Men’s Meet
- Dates: Wednesday, March 5 – Saturday, March 8, 2014; prelims 10:00 am, finals 6:00 pm
- Location: Oklahoma City Community College, Oklahoma City, OK (Central Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: Oklahoma Baptist University (results)
- Live Results: Available
- Live Video: Available
- Championship Central
The record books will need to be seriously updated at the conclusion of the 2014 NAIA National Championships. On Day Two alone, Daniel Ramirez was responsible for two individual meet records and his team, Oklahoma Baptist, broke both of tonight’s relay records. In addition, SCAD freshman Joel Ax took down the national mark in the 200 free.
200 free relay
The meet began with a bang as OBU swam away with the meet and pool records in the 200 free relay. Logan Lassley (19.72), Daniel Robbins (19.48), Ramirez (19.43), and Garland Sullivan (19.80) combined for 1:18.43, crushing the previous mark of 1:19.50, set by OBU at last year’s meet. Ramirez, Sullivan and Lassley were on that relay, too. Olivet Nazarene took second in 1:20.26. SCAD was third with 1:21.49. Both ONU and SCAD broke their respective school records.
2014 NAIA Nationals 400 IM podium L to R: Aaron Buchanan (2nd), Tim Richard (1st), Karl Hegwein (3rd). Photo: Anne Lepesant
400 IM
Tim Richard of OBU held his seeding from prelims and won the men’s 400 IM with 3:54.49, just off the meet record. 2013 runner-up Aaron Buchanan of ONU finished second in 3:57.87, breaking his school’s record, and Karl Hegwein of SCAD took third in 3:59.23.
100 fly
Ramirez of OBU took another .60 off his record-breaking morning swim to lower the NAIA national record to 46.13. Mark Shvartsman of SCAD and OBU’s Sullivan were nose-to-nose for 90 yards; Shvartsman got the edge and finished second in 48.54 to Sullivan’s 48.61.
200 free
2014 NAIA Nationals 200 free L to R: Pat Cardillo (2nd), Joel Ax (1st), Javier Sossa (3rd). Photo: Anne Lepesant
SCAD’s Ax swam a strong and controlled 200 free, winning by 2.5 seconds and coming in just ahead of the NAIA record. (SwimSwam has the race video.) Out in a 22.49 Ax went 24.8-24.8-24.5 for a 1:36.71. The previous mark of 1:36.87 belonged to OBU’s Nick Schuttinger from last year’s championship. Ax’s teammate Pat Cardillo took second, improving his prelims time by a half-second to 1:39.22. OBU’s Javier Sossa took third.
100 breast
OBU’s top three qualifiers were the top finishers as well, although they shuffled the deck as Gregory Penny dropped 1.5 seconds to win the title in 54.03. Vitor da Franca took second in 55.29; his teammate Tim Richard was third in 55.59.
100 back
Having already broken two national records today, Ramirez made it an even three with his 46.28 rout in the 100 back. Ramirez lowered his own meet record of 47.61 which he’d set at the 2013 NAIA Nationals. St. Andrews’ Georgi Krastev finished second in 48.76. Jacob Anderson of ONU took third with 49.70, lowering his own school record by nearly 2 seconds.
400 medley relay
In a thrilling end to the evening, OBU absolutely destroyed the previous meet and pool record (3:15.27, set by Fresno Pacific in 2012) with 3:12.88 from Ramirez (49.65), Penny (53.33), Sullivan (48.80), and Lassley (43.80). They were out like a shot from the start and kept building as the race went on. It was clear pretty quickly that the record was going down and the crowd was enthusiastic.
SCAD and ONU had an excellent relays as well. SCAD took second in 3:17.88 which broke their school record by almost two seconds. ONU’s third-place finish of 3:21.79 was their school’s best by 3 seconds.
Standings After Day Two
OBU increased its lead as one would have expected, but exciting things are shaping up in the race for second place. SCAD inched up on ONU thanks to strong finals swims from the Bees, and they were able to keep Concordia at bay. In the meantime St. Andrews overtook Union at fifth. Cumberlands and Wayland Baptist are locked in a battle for seventh. And it all plays out tomorrow.
Men
- Oklahoma Baptist University 639
- Olivet Nazarene University 336
- SCAD Savannah 331
- Concordia University 293
- St. Andrews University 198
- Union College 159
- University of the Cumberlands 130
- Wayland Baptist University 127
- Asbury University 91
- Thomas University 58
Biola University 58
“The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small athletics programs that are dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics.
In 2000, the NAIA reaffirmed its purpose to enhance the character building aspects of sport. Through Champions of Character, the NAIA seeks to create an environment in which every student-athlete, coach, official and spectator is committed to the true spirit of competition through five core values.”