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
Olivet Nazarene took one step closer to their first NAIA national men’s title with a strong third and final morning in Columbus, Georgia on Saturday. In addition to improving 72 points from the psych sheet seedings, ONU placed more swimmers in finals than any other team.
Thomas University also had a strong morning, gaining 18 points over expectations. ONU, SCAD Savannah, West Virginia Tech, Lindenwood-Belleville, Cumberlands and St. Andrews all qualified at least 3 A finalsts on the final morning.
200 Backstroke – Prelims
- Daniel Buijs, Lindenwood-Belleville 1:50.04
- Tyler Prescott, SCAD Savannah 1:51.13
- Jacob Anderson, ONU 1:51.39
Lindenwood-Belleville freshman Daniel Buijs led the morning’s qualifiers in the 200 back with 1:50.04; he was followed by SCAD sophomore Tyler Prescott (1:51.13) and ONU’s Jacob Anderson (1:51.39).
Georgi Krastev of St. Andrews qualified fourth in 1:51.59, just ahead of Cumberlands sophomore Vlad Khoroletc (1:51.88), Sebastian Bohm of Lindenwood-Belleville (1:52.25), ONU sophomore Charles Bennett (1:52.65), and freshman Arthur Bertrand of WVU Tech (1:53.33).
100 Freestyle – Prelims
- Riley Crandall, Thomas, 45.51
- Guilherme Magnoler, ONU 45.74
- Daniil Kuzmin, ONU 45.96
Thomas University’s Riley Crandall was the fastest out of the morning’s heats in the 100 free with 45.51, a 1.4-second improvement over his seed time. ONU’s Guilherme Magnoler (45.74) and Daniil Kuzmin (45.96) were next.
SCAD Savannah sophomore Anton Arvidsson went 46.07 to qualify fourth. He will be joined by Nick Souza of St. Andrews (46.08), Lindenwood-Belleville sophomore Lucas Dengler-Harles (46.19), and WVU Tech’s Kohen Kerr (46.50) and Quentin Cooper (46.61).
200 Breaststroke – Prelims
- Connor Wilson, SCAD Savannah 2:03.14
- Bjoern Globke, Wayland Baptist 2:03.49
- Jacob Smith, Cumberlands 2:04.10
Connor Wilson of SCAD was the top qualifier in the 200 breast with 2:03.14 in prelims. Wayland Baptist junior Bjoern Globke dropped 2 seconds to finish second in 2:03.49. Cumberlands freshman Jacob Smith came in third with a best-by-2 2:04.10.
Calvin Price of ONU clocked a 2:04.24 to come back fourth. Next were Manuel Serrano Laguna of WVU Tech (2:05.24), Nate Peterson of ONU (2:05.75), Jonas Muller of Lindsey Wilson (2:06.04), and Christian Daniels of ONU, who dropped 6 to go 2:06.61.
200 Butterfly – Prelims
- Ryan Sweat, SCAD Savannah 1:50.79
- Frank Tapia, ONU 1:51.18
- Andrew Fischer, ONU, 1:52.17
SCAD freshman Ryan Sweat dropped a 1:50.79 to lead the field in the 200 fly, bettering his seed time by 1.3 seconds. ONU junior Frank Tapia qualified second with 1:51.18, just ahead of senior teammate Andrew Fischer (1:52.17).
Sebastian Wegner of Lindenwood-Belleville (1:52.45), SCAD senior Mark Shvartsman (1:53.20), Igor Dozortsev of Cumberlands (1:53.55), Geoffrey Gauneau of WVU Tech (1:53.68), and Andrew Gurley of St. Andrews (1:53.79) will make up the rest of the A final.
400 Free Relay – Prelims
- WVU Tech 3:03.97
- Lindenwood-Belleville 3:05.66
- Olivet Nazarene 3:06.09
Kohen Kerr (46.75), Quentin Cooper (45.39), Alexandre Quintao (45.84), and Jesus Ballesteros Peral (45.99) combined to put WVU Tech in the middle lane of tonight’s final in the 400 free relay with a combined 3:03.97. Lindenwood-Belleville qualified second in 3:05.66. Then came ONU (3:06.09), SCAD Savannah (3:06.22), Wayland Baptist (3:08.20), Lindsey Wilson (3:08.25), St. Andrews (3:08.52), and Asbury (3:08.75).
Ups/Downs – Day Three
| Teams | A/B Finalists |
| Olivet Nazarene University | 9/2 |
| SCAD Savannah | 5/4 |
| West Virginia University Institute of Technology | 5/2 |
| Lindenwood University – Belleville | 4/2 |
| University of the Cumberlands | 3/2 |
| St. Andrews University | 3/1 |
| Lindsey Wilson College | 1/3 |
| Wayland Baptist University | 1/2 |
| Thomas University | 1/1 |
| The College of Idaho | 0/4 |
| Asbury University | 0/3 |
| Biola University | 0/2 |
| Union College | 0/2 |
| Milligan College | 0/1 |
| Soka University of America | 0/1 |
“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.”