2016 NAIA Men’s Nationals – Day 2 Ups/Downs

2016 NAIA National Championships – Men’s Meet

• Dates: Wednesday, March 2 – Saturday, March 5, 2016; prelims 9 am, finals 5 pm
• Location: Columbus Aquatic Center, Columbus, Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions: Oklahoma Baptist University (results)
• Live Results: Available here
• Live Video: Available here
• Championship Central

The team battle at 2016 NAIA Men’s National Championship is getting more and more interesting. Olivet Nazarene continued to outperform the psych sheet on Day Two, improving their potential point total by 72 points. SCAD Savannah had a strong morning session as well, picking up 18 points and qualifying 10 A finalists and 5 B finalists, the most of any team.

Thomas University, SOKA, Columbia College, and Asbury all outperformed their psych sheet seedings as well.

200 Free Relay – Prelims

1. WVU Tech 1:23.87
2. Andrews 1:24.22
3. Wayland Baptist 1:24.25

The top eight 200 free relays in tonight’s A final all come in within a second of each other. Alexandre Quintao (21.35), Jesus Ballesteros Peral (21.12), Kohen Kerr (20.93), and Quentin Cooper (20.47) of West Virginia Tech clocked a 1:23.87 to lead the field in prelims of the men’s 200 free relay. St. Andrew qualified second in 1:24.22, ahead of Wayland Baptist (1:24.25).

SCAD Savannah was the fourth-fastest relay with 1:24.41. Also qualifying for the A final were Thomas (1:24.61), ONU (1:24.70), Lindenwood-Belleville (1:24.84), and Cumberlands (1:24.99).

400 Individual Medley – Prelims

1. Daniil Kuzmin, ONU 4:00.98
2. Tyler Prescott, SCAD Savannah 4:01.45
3. Ivar de Jong, Union 4:02.52

Top-seeded ONU freshman Daniil Kuzmin was the fastest out of the prelims session with 4:00.98. SCAD sophomore Tyler Prescott went just off his seed time to qualify second in 4:01.45. Union College freshman Ivar de Jong dropped nearly 6 seconds and came in third.

Asbury freshman Keith Jessee improved by more than 14 seconds in prelims and comes into finals with the fourth-fastest time. He will be joined in the A final by SCAD senior Connor Wilson (4:03.08), Bart Sommeling of Lindenwood-Belleville (4:03.17), ONU’s Charles Bennett (4:05.99), and College of Idaho’s Thomas Sheridan (4:06.44).

100 Butterfly – Prelims

1. Mark Shvartsman, SCAD Savannah 49.08
2. Frank Tapia, ONU 49.17
3. Igor Dozortsev, Cumberlands, 49.87

SCAD senior Mark Shvartsman earned the middle lane for tonight’s final in the 100 fly with 49.08 in prelims. ONU junior Frank Tapia dropped 2.6 seconds to come in with the second-fastest time of 49.17. Cumberlands junior Igor Dozortsev qualified third with 49.87.

The rest of the A final will consist of ONU freshman Grant Brown (50.04), WBU junior Josiah Morales (50.07), SCAD freshman Brogan Bunner (50.18), Andrew Gurley of St. Andrews (50.50), and Geoffrey Gauneau of WVU Tech (50.79).

200 Freestyle – Prelims

1. Joel Ax, SCAD Savannah, 1:36.85
2. Lucas Dengler-Harles, Lindenwood-Belleville, 1:41.55
3. Guilherme Magnoler, ONU, 1:41.89

NAIA national record-holder and two-time defending champion Joel Ax of SCAD Savannah posted the top time by 4.7 seconds, with 1:36.85. Ax was just off his NAIA record time of 1:36.71, but he split 1:43.3 anchoring SCAD’s 800 free relay last night so he may have something else in the tank for tonight’s final.

Lindenwood-Belleville sophomore Lucas Dengler-Harles will be in lane 5 tonight after his 1:41.55, which was the second-fastest time. Guilherme Magnoler of ONU dropped over 7 seconds to qualify third with 1:41.89.

Other A final qualifiers are Nick Souza of St. Andrews (1:42.01), sophomore Michael Nunn of SOKA (1:42.11), Iker Larzabal from Lindsey Wilson (1:42.38), Cumberlands sophomore Vlad Khoroletc (1:42.58), and ONU sophomore Joshua Bouma (1:42.59).

100 Breaststroke – Prelims

1. Calvin Price, ONU 54.93
2. Anton Arvidsson, SCAD Savannah 55.61
3. Bjoern Globke, Wayland Baptist 55.85

Calvin Price of ONU clocked a 54.93 to lead the field of qualifiers for the A final in the men’s 100 breast. SCAD sophomore Anton Arvidsson qualified second with 55.61, ahead of Wayland Baptist’s Bjoern Globke (55.85).

SCAD’s Connor Wilson improved his seed time by over 3 seconds to qualify in the fourth postion with 56.17. Also making the A final are Jonas Muller of Lindsey Wilson (56.58), Elliot Boon of St. Andrews (56.95), SCAD junior Tim Jarnvik (57.23), and Nate Peterson of ONU (57.45).

100 Backstroke – Prelims

1. Brogan Bunner, SCAD Savannah 49.64
2. Jacob Anderson, ONU 50.14
3. Georgi Krastev, St. Andrews 57.75

SCAD freshman Brogan Bunner dropped 2.2 seconds and jumped to the top of the list of A final qualifiers with 49.64. ONU’s Jacob Anderson posted a 50.14 for second, just ahead of Georgi Krastev of St. Andrews (50.20) and SCAD junior Karl Hegwein (50.44).

Lindenwood-Belleville freshman Daniel Buijs was fifth with 50.53; he was followed by Clemens Patzold of Lindsey Wilson (51.47), Grant Brown of ONU (51.53), and Igo Dos Santos of Thomas (51.73).

400 Medley Relay – Prelims

1. Cumberlands 3:22.39
2. SCAD Savannah 3:24.00
3. Lindenwood-Belleville 3:25.05

Vlad Khoroletc (50.87), Jacob Smith (55.75), Igor Dozortsev (49.55), and Bryce Pierce (46.22) of University of the Cumberlands combined for 3:22.49 to lead the qualifiers for the A final of the men’s 400 medley relay. SCAD (3:24.00) finished second; Lindenwood-Belleville, third (3:25.05).

Also in tonight’s A final are ONU (3:26.38), WVU Tech (3:26.49), Lindsey Wilson (3:26.70), Wayland Baptist (3:29.60), and Asbury (3:31.74).

Ups/Downs – Day Two

Tonight’s finals session begins at 5 PM Eastern time.

“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.”