Division II Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships
- March 8-11, 2017
- Birmingham CrossPlex, Birmingham, Alabama
- Prelims 10:30 AM, Finals 6 PM – U.S. Central Time Zone (GMT -6 currently)
- Event schedule
- Real-time results – diving
- Real-time results – swimming
- Video link (expected to be available when meet starts)
- Championship Central
With a scant 44-point lead over Drury, Queens has turned up the heat on the final morning in an effort to secure their third consecutive NCAA Division II team title.
Women’s 100 Yard Freestyle
- Division II: 48.54 3/12/2016 Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC)
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Theresa Michalak, West Florida 49.21
- Emma Wahlstrom, Nova S’eastern 49.89
- Alexis Divelbiss, Wingate 50.02
- Kyrie Dobson, Queens (NC) 50.18
- Cheyenne Rova, MSU Mankato 50.39
- Oksana Marchuk, Bridgeport 50.48
- Natalia Garriock, Saint Leo 50.51
- Lara Marshall, Queens (NC) 50.53
Sophomore Kyrie Dobson was the first to show how serious the Royals are about winning the NCAA Division II Championship; she destroyed the field in heat 2 of the 100 free, dropping 1.3 seconds to qualify for the A final with 50.18.
Oksana Marchuk, a freshman from Bridgeport, won the first circle-seeded heat 50.48. Nova S’eastern senior Emma Wahlstrom was the first to break 50 seconds when she won the following heat in 49.89 ahead of Cheyenne Rova of Mankato (50.39) and Queens junior Lara Marshall (50.53).
West Florida senior Theresa Michalak erased 2/10 off her seed time and won the final heat with 49.21; Wingate junior Alexis Divelbiss was next with 50.02; she was followed by Queens’ Mckenzie Stevens (50.7) and Carson-Newman’s Margaret Stansberry (50.80).
All in all, Queens managed to place 2 in the A final and 3 in the B final, gaining 37 points over their psy sheet seedings and cementing their position at the top of the team leaderboard (it also augurs well for the 400 free relay).
Women’s 200 Yard Backstroke
- NCAA DII: 1:55.57 3/15/2014 Caroline Arakelian, Queens (NC)
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Rachel Helm, NMU 1:57.73
- Viktoriya Arkhipova, Wingate 1:57.77
- Meri Cizmar, Findlay 1:57.94
- Anastasia Klyarovskay, Delta State 1:58.28
- Hannah Peiffer, Queens (NC) 1:58.89
- Mary Saiz, Colorado Mesa 1:59.18
- Courtney Deveny, Nova S’eastern 1:59.77
- Amanda Thielen, Saginaw Valley 1:59.95
Delta State senior Kiersten Page dropped nearly a second to set the pace early on, winning her heat in 2:00.41. Defending champion, Wingate senior Viktoriya Arkhipova, blasted a 1:57.77 to win the first circle-seeded heat over Colorado Mesa senior Mary Saiz (1:59.18) and Northern Michigan sophomore Savannah Saunders (2:00.12).
The penultimate heat went to Anastasia Klyarovskay, a senior from Delta State, who out-touched Nova S’eastern junior Courtney Deveny (1:59.77) and Saginaw Valley sophomore Amanda Thielen (1:59.95) with her winning 1:58.28.
Northern Michigan freshman Rachel Helm, who won the 100 back on Friday, posted a 1:57.73 to take over the lead from Arkhipova. Findlay senior Meri Cizmar dropped 1.6 seconds to come in second in that heat with 1:57.94. Hannah Peiffer of Queens, a finalist in this event last year, touched third in 1:58.89.
Women’s 200 Yard Breaststroke
- NCAA DII: 2:10.77 3/14/2015 Rebecca Matthews, Lynn
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Bailee Nunn, Drury 2:10.72R
- Malin Westman, Nova S’eastern 2:14.10
- Daria Belova, Fresno Pacific 2:14.30
- Claire Beaty, Cal State East Bay 2:14.56
- Alena Rumiantceva, Cal Baptist 2:14.84
- Daria Talanova, Queens (NC) 2:14.93
- Jessika Weiss, Wingate 2:14.98
- Jaimie Bryan, UCSD 2:15.25
Wingate freshman Katharina Vos threw down a big 2:16.08, improving by more than 1.8 seconds, to open the heats of women’s 200 breast. The following heat provided a lot of excitement, with the top four all coming in under 2:15: Nova S’eastern junior Malin Westman (2:14.10), Fresno Pacific junior Daria Belova (2:14.30), Cal State East Bay junior Claire Beaty (2:14.56), and Wingate senior Jessika Weiss (2:14.98). All four qualified for tonight’s championship final.
Cal Baptist senior Alena Rumiantceva was first to the wall in the penultimate heat, going 2:14.84 ahead of Fairmont State senior Marlena Dudek (2:15.41) and California University of Pennsylvania senior Jade Arganbright (2:17.04).
Drury freshman Bailee Nunn knocked it out of the park in the next heat, though; she took a .05 chunk out of the NCAA Division II record, winning her heat in 2:10.72. She was followed by Queens junior Daria Talanova (2:14.93) and UC San Diego senior Jaimie Bryant (2:15.25).
Women’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
- NCAA DII: 3:18.75 3/14/2015 Queens (NC)
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Wingate 3:21.24
- Drury 3:22.73
- Queens (NC) 3:23.79
- Bridgeport 3:24.18
- MSU Mankato 3:24.30
- Lindenwood 3:24.65
- Nova S’eastern 3:25.13
- West Florida 3:25.36
Lindenwood won the first circle-seeded heat over West Florida and Saint Leo, despite a blazing anchor leg (49.18) from West Florida senior Theresa Michalak.
Wingate took the following heat and posted the morning’s top time of 3:21.24 with Viktoriya Arkhipova (51.15), Hanna Van Horen (50.38), Divelbiss (49.39), and Maria Madsen (50.32). MSU Mankato and Nova S’eastern followed.
Drury touched out Queens and Bridgeport to win the final heat with 3:22.73; Vera Johansson (50.99), Caytee Wright (51.36), Madeline Nelson (51.03), and Nunn (49.35) contributed to that relay.
Women’s 1650 Yard Freestyle
- NCAA DII: 16:17.66 3/15/2008 Kristen Frost, Southern Conn St
Theresa Hayward of West Chester knocked 17.5 seconds off her seed time to win the first heat of women’s miles with 16:44.06, with Azusa Pacific’s Tamara Miler just behind in 16:52.06. In other big morning swims, UC San Diego sophomore Reagan Eickert improved by 14.2 seconds, and Abigail Isom of Delta State dropped 11.7. With the final heat of women’s miles yet to swim, the top 8 times, which are sure to score at least in the 9-16 spots, are:
- Theresa Hayward, West Chester 16:44.06
- Tamara Miler, Azusa Pacific 16:52.06
- Catalina Galea Berraud, Lynn 16:58.51
- Sarah Reamy, Queens (NC) 17:01.78
- Melina Goebel, Grand Valley 17:03.29
- Christina Halverson, Cal Baptist 17:04.72
- Reagan Eickert, UCSD 17:05.23
- Abigail Isom, Delta State 17:05.26
Women’s 3-meter Diving
- Division II: 555.70 3/14/2015 Elizabeth Rawlings, Wayne State
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Angela Probstfeld, NMU 463.80
- Monica Amaral, West Florida 455.15
- Elizabeth Rawlings, Wayne State 447.00
- Christina Sather, Clarion 435.85
- Cassi Blakeman, Colorado Mesa 424.75
- Lauren Skinner, Cal Baptist 422.00
- Emma Kehn, Clarion 420.05
- Kelsey Vreeman, Colorado Mesa 416.40