2019 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships – Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2019 NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 13 – Saturday, March 16, 2019
• Swimming: prelims 10am, finals 6pm; Diving: 2pm
• Location: IU Natatorium, Indianapolis, Indiana (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions: Queens (4x); (results)
• Digital Program
• Official Psych Sheet
• Event Schedule
• Live Video
• Live Results │ Diving Results
• Championship Central

Day Four

Men’s 1650 Yard Freestyle – Fastest Heat

• NCAA DII: 15:00.51 3/14/2009 Mitch Snyder, Drury
• Meet: 15:00.51 3/14/2009 Mitch Snyder, Drury

Podium:

1. Adam Rosipal, Indy – 15:06.39
2. Tim Samuelsen, Missouri S&T – 15:12.18
3. Nathan Sawicki, Delta State – 15:13.03
4. Luke Erwee, Queens (NC) – 15:16.27
5. Mackenzie Hamill, Simon Fraser – 15:25.04
6. Throstur Bjarnason, McKendree – 15:26.71
7. Jan Hanzal, Lindenwood – 15:26.94
8. Angel Regalado Santiago, Lindenwood – 15:28.14

After finishing 3rd in the 500 free and 2nd in the 1000 free, Indy sophomore Adam Rosipal earned his national title with a 15:06.39 in the 1650 free. Rosipal descended his 500s (4:37/4:36/4:32) and finished with a margin of nearly 6 seconds over Tim Samuelsen of Missouri S&T. Samuelsen won this event last year, while Rosipal placed 3rd. Delta State’s Nathan Sawicki finished 3rd with 15:13.03.

Lindenwood’s Jan Hanzal, the fastest miler from the morning heats, finished 7th overall with 15:26.94.

Men’s 100 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• NCAA DII: 42.42 3/17/2018 Marius Kusch, Queens (NC)
• Meet: 42.42 3/17/2018 Marius Kusch, Queens (NC)

Podium:

1. Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) – 41.73
2. Victor Rocha Furtado, Florida Tech – 43.07
3. Alex Kunert, Queens (NC) – 43.31
4. Xander Skinner, McKendree – 43.45
5. Mattia Schirru, Delta State – 43.50
6. Brody Heck, Queens (NC) – 43.72
7. Joao Santos, Emmanuel – 43.85
8. Matija Pucarevic, McKendree – 44.05

Marius Kusch of Queens was a man on a mission. It was obvious from the start. Kusch exploded off the block and was already half a body length ahead of the field coming off the 25 wall. By the 75 turn he was a full body ahead, and when he came into the final wall he had lowered his own meet and Division II record by 7/10. Kusch became the first Division II swimmer to break 42 seconds, notching a 41.73 for the win. Kusch was out in 19.86 and home in 21.87.

Florida Tech senior Victor Rocha Furtado, fourth at the 50 behind Kusch, Mattia Schirru of Delta State, and Brody Heck from Queens, touched second with 43.07. Queens freshman Alex Kunert came in third with 43.31.

Men’s 200 Yard Backstroke – Finals

• NCAA DII: 1:40.74 3/15/2014 Matthew Josa, Queens (NC)
• Meet: 1:40.74 3/15/2014 Matthew Josa, Queens (NC)

Podium:

1. Harry Shalamon, Grand Valley – 1:42.46
2. Nathan Bighetti, Henderson St. – 1:42.68
3. Alen Mosic, Queens (NC) – 1:43.78
4. Renars Bundzis, NMU – 1:43.91
5. Giulio Brugnoni, Delta State – 1:44.57
6. Baptiste Leger, Queens (NC) – 1:44.70
7. Dima Drobnych, Wayne State – 1:45.07
8. Brandon Dyck, Florida Southern – 1:45.66

Queens sophomore Alen Mosic was out first, turning ahead of Florida Southern’s Brandon Dyck at the 50. Harry Shalamon of Grand Valley moved past Dyck at the 100 and trailed Mosic by .17. The Grand Valley junior, who was 3rd in this event last year, pulled further ahead over the next 50, while Henderson State’s Nathan Bighetti moved into the third position. Shalamon touched in 1:42.46, just holding off the hard-charghing Bighetti, while Mosic barely hung on for third. His was the slowest 4th 50 in the field and Renards Bundzis of Northern Michigan very nearly caught him, coming home nearly 2 seconds faster over the last 50 yards.

Men’s 200 Yard Breaststroke – Finals

• NCAA DII: 1:51.71 3/14/2015 Anton Lobanov, Nova S’eastern
• Meet: 1:51.71 3/14/2015 Anton Lobanov, Nova S’eastern

Podium:

1. Henrik Dahrendorff, Saint Leo – 1:56.09
2. Giacomo Viazzo, Wingate – 1:56.55
3. Marius Mikalauskas, Grand Valley – 1:56.80
4. Jan Delkeskamp, Queens (NC) – 1:56.89
5. Young Tae Seo, Drury – 1:59.14
6. Garrett Tse, UCSD – 1:59.18
7. Matey Rezashki, Delta State – 1:59.37
8. Joao Ribeiro, Wayne State – 2:00.65

Saint Leo junior Henrik Dahrendorff, 6th in this event in 2018, was out front from start to finish. There was movement behind him, though, with Queens freshman Jan Delkeskamp holding second at the 50 and 100 turns, then Grand Valley senior Marius Mikalauskas moved to second at the 150, and finally Wingate junior Giacomo Viazzo got his hand to the wall ahead of them for second place at the end. Dahrendorff finished with 1:56.09, about a half a body ahead of the wave that came next: Viazzo (1:56.55), Mikalauskas (1:56.80), and Delkeskamp (1:56.89).

Men’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay – Finals

• NCAA DII: 2:53.00 3/11/2017 Queens (NC) (Kusch, Dreesens, Mayes, Arakelian)
• Meet: 2:53.00 3/11/2017 Queens (NC) (Kusch, Dreesens, Mayes, Arakelian)

Podium:

1. Queens (NC) – 2:49.98
2. McKendree – 2:54.53
3. Wayne State – 2:56.83
4. Florida Tech – 2:57.16
5. Missouri S&T – 2:57.63
6. Lindenwood – 2:58.02
7. TAMPA – 2:59.15
8. Delta State – 3:00.99

Queens destroyed the meet and NCAA Division II record that they had set in 2017 with 2:53.00, as Marius Kusch (42.01), Alex Kunert (42.32), Alen Mosic (42.84), and Brody Heck (42.81) combined for 2:49.98. McKendree took second in 2:54.53 with legs from Matija Pucarevic (43.80), Gregg Lichinsky (43.61), Luca Simonetti (44.08), and Xander Skinner (43.04). Wayne State (Ryan Katulski, Rasmus Olsen, Stewart Nowinski, and Franz Mueller) were third with 2:56.83.

                      Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 42                      
 
  1. Queens (Nc)                       606   2. Delta State                     364.5
  3. Indy                              305   4. Wayne State                     238.5
  5. Grand Valley                      222   6. Missouri S & T                    207
  7. Lindenwood                        202   8. McKendree                         196
  9. Simon Fraser                      183  10. Ucsd                              176
 11. Colorado Mesa                     166  12. Nova S'Eastern                    158
 13. Florida Tech                    156.5  14. Florida Southern                127.5
 15. Tampa                              99  16. Emmanuel                         92.5
 17. Wingate                          74.5  18. Nmu                                65
 18. Drury                              65  20. Oklahoma Baptist                   53
 21. Carson-Newman                      44  22. Fresno Pacific                     42
 23. Clarion University                 30  24. Henderson St.                      23
 25. Saint Leo                          20  26. St. Cloud St.-W                    17
 27. Bellarmine                         15  28. Southern Conn                      14
 29. Bridgeport                         11  30. Gannon                             10
 31. Truman St.                          4  31. Concordia Irvine                    4