2022 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships – Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2022 NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 9 – Saturday, March 12, 2022
• Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
• Times: Prelims 10:00 AM / Finals 6:00 PM
• Defending Champs: Queens women (6x) & Queens men (6x) – (Results)
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Psych Sheet – Men
• SwimSwam Fan Guide – Men
• Thursday Prelims Heat Sheets

Day Two prelims session will feature heats of the men’s 100 fly, 400 IM, and 200 free. Drury’s Dominik Karacic brings the top seed time in the 100 fly (46.22), .3 faster than defending champion Tim Stollings of Findlay (46.52). Wayne State’s Michael Wolsek (46.59), Delta State’s Federico Bracco (46.78), and Steven Aimable of Nova S’eastern (46.96) will challenge Karacic and Stollings for spots in the final.

Indy freshman Cedric Buessing, who was runner-up in the 1000 free on Wednesday, leads the 400 IM qualifiers with 3:48.25. Jan Delkeskamp from Queens, who finished fifth last year, ranks second with 3:48.60. Nova S’eastern’s Jarryd Baxter ranks third with 3:48.62, which is 4.1 seconds faster than his 10th-place finish a year ago. Simon Fraser’s Collyn Gagne (3:50.26), runner-up in the 200 IM on Wednesday and Keegan Hawkins of Grand Valley, last year’s bronze medalist, are also seeded with sub-3:51s.

It’s going to be tight in the 200 free with three 1:35s and nine 1:36s leading the entries. McKendree’s Xander Skinner (1:35.30) has the top qualifying time, followed by Ward Lockart of Rollins (1:35.46). Lockhart was the surprise winner in the 1000 free on Wednesday. Nova S’eastern’s Thomas Flower (1:35.62) comes in with the third-fastest time. Alex Kunert of Queens, who tied for first place in this event in 2021, ranks sixth with 1:36.39.

Men’s 100 Butterfly – Prelims

• NCAA DII Record: 44.32 – Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) (2019)
• Meet Record: 44.32 – Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) (2019)
• 2021 Champion: Tim Stollings, Findlay – 45.57

Finals qualifiers:

1. Dominik Karacic, Drury – 46.58
2. Camilo Marrugo, Findlay – 46.72
3. Tim Stollings, Findlay – 46.86
4. Kael Yorke, Indy – 46.86
5. Steven Aimable, Nova S’eastern – 46.91
6. Gregg Lichinsky, McKendree – 47.04
7. Matej Dusa, Queens (NC) – 47.05
8. (tie) Federico Bracco, Delta State / Michael Wolsek, Wayne State – 47.15
9. –
10. Bartlomiej Swiderski, Indy – 47.37
11. Daniel Aizenberg, Florida Tech – 47.46
12. Brandon Dyck, Florida Southern – 47.52
13. Nathan Bighetti, Drury – 47.53
14. Emilio Perez, McKendree – 47.57
15. Alexander Bauch, Queens (NC) – 47.68
16. Tucker Schroer, Delta State – 47.73

Victor Antonon of Indy opened the morning session with a heat 1 win in the 100 fly going 48.17 ahead of teammate Jackson Vanwanzeele (48.29). Ahmed Wahby of Drury took the following heat in 47.89, followed closely by McKendree’s DaVante Carey (48.32) and Indy’s Joao Silva (48.35).

The first circle-seeded heat went to Kael Yorke of Indy in 46.86. McKendree’s Gregg Lichinsky (47.04) came to the wall .01 ahead of Matej Dusa of Queens for second place.

Tim Stollings of Findlay won heat 4 from lane 4, clocking a 46.86. Steven Aimable of Nova S’eastern went 46.91 to take second place ahead of Drury’s Nathan Bighetti (47.53) and Alexander Bauch from Queens (47.68).

Top-seeeded Dominik Karacic of Drury prevailed in the final heat, stopping the clock at 46.58 to just touch out Camilo Marrugo of Findlay (46.72), who matched him stroke for stroke on the back half. Federico Bracco of Delta State was third in 47.15, while Daniel Aizenberg of Florida Tech dropped .4 to take fourth from lane 8 (47.46).

Bracco ended up tied for eighth place with Michael Wolsek of Wayne State, the third overall seed in this event who had come in behind Dusa in heat 3. In the swim-off, Bracco got off the block quickly and had a massive underwater to pop out well ahead of of Wolsek, but Wolsek caught up with his swim and turned first at the 50 wall. Bracco had a faster second half by .13 but it wasn’t enough to erase the first-half advantage that Wolsek had achieved. Both swimmers were faster than they’d been in heats but Wolsek advanced to the A final, while Bracco will be in lane 4 in the B final tonight.

Swim-off for 8th place:

1. Michael Wolsek, Wayne State – 46.89
2. Federico Bracco, Delta State – 47.01

Men’s 400 IM – Prelims

• NCAA DII Record: 3:43.84 – Nick Arakelian, Queens (NC) (2015)
• Meet Record: 3:43.84 – Nick Arakelian, Queens (NC) (2015)
• 2021 Champion: Fabio Dalu, McKendree – 3:45.84

Finals qualifiers:

1. Collyn Gagne, Simon Fraser – 3:48.14
2. Cedric Buessing, Indy – 3:49.41
3. Jarryd Baxter, Nova S’eastern – 3:49.46
4. Mohamed Hegazy, Queens (NC) – 3:50.34
5. Erikas Kapocius, NMU – 3:50.93
6. Yannick Plasil, Queens (NC) – 3:50.95
7. Andreas Marz, Queens (NC) – 3:52.29
8. Keegan Hawkins, Grand Valley – 3:52.73
9. Matheo Mateos-Mongelos, Lindenwood – 3:52.82
10. Andy Huffman, Missouri S & T – 3:52.97
11. Jan Delkeskamp, Queens (NC) – 3:53.04
12. Spencer Hohm, Nova S’eastern – 3:53.64
13. Micah McRea, Lenoir-Rhyne – 3:55.05
14. Andrew Rodriguez, Drury – 3:55.50
15. Jay Mercer, Missouri S & T – 3:55.56
16. Miguel Marcos, Wingate – 3:55.69

Missouri’s Jay Mercer won heat 1, dropping 3.5 seconds to punch in at 3:55.56. Drury’s Gavin Moak went 2.7 seconds faster than his entry time to finish second in 3:56.98.

Nova S’eastern’s Jarryd Baxter took heat 2 in 3:49.46 ahead of a pair from Queens: Mohamed Hegazy (3:50.34) and Yannick Plasil (3:50.95). His own teammate Spencer Hohm finished fourth with 3:53.64. Aidan Henry of Queens was disqualified from that heat with a stroke violation.

Queens sophomore Andreas Marz cracked a 3:52.29, a PB by 3 seconds, from the outside lane to win heat 3. Grand Valley’s Keegan Hawkins edged Lindenwood’s Matheo Mateos-Mongelos for second place, 3:52.73 to 3:52.82. Jan Delkeskamp of Queens, the #2 seed overall, finished fourth with 3:53.04. There was another DQ for a stroke violation in this heat: Henrique Januario of Carson-Newman.

Collyn Gagne of Simon Fraser got out to a quick start in the final heat and led the field from lane 5 at the halfway mark. Erikas Kapocius from Northern Michigan followed about two body lengths back. Both he and Indy’s Cedric Buessing closed the gap significantly on the breaststroke leg but were still half a body behind Gagne heading into the freestyle. Buessing, who was runner-up in the 1000 free on Wednesday, moved past Kapocius at the 450 but couldn’t catch Gagne on the freestyle leg. Gagne won with 3:48.14. Buessing (3:49.41) and Kapocius (3:50.93) went 2-3, while Missouri S&T’s Andy Huffman came in fourth with 3:52.97.

Men’s 200 Freestyle – Prelims

• NCAA DII Record: 1:32.46 – Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC) (2016)
• Meet Record: 1:32.46 – Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC) (2016)
• 2021 Champion: Karol Ostrowski, Drury / Alex Kunert, Queens – 1:33.29

Finals qualifiers:

1. Alex Kunert, Queens – 1:35.17
2. Skyler Cook-Weeks, Queens– 1:35.61
3. Ruben Van Leeuwen, Lewis – 1:35.62
4. Balazs Berecz, Queens – 1:35.85
5. Xander Skinner, McKendree – 1:35.88
6. Karol Ostrowski, Drury – 1:35.99
7. Ward Lockhart, Rollins – 1:36.16
8. (tie) Brandon Heredia, Oklahoma Christian / Alireza Yavari, McKendree – 1:36.23
9. –
10. Leo Fath, Simon Fraser – 1:36.52
11. Radostin Krastev, Lindenwood – 1:36.64
12. Thomas Flower, Nova S’eastern – 1:36.76
13. Marcel Snitko, Wingate – 1:37.02
14. Luke Erwee, Queens – 1:37.08
15. Janek Bielecki, Fresno Pacific – 1:37.59
16. Anisse Djaballah, Drury – 1:37.75

Christian Hedeen from Indy improved his seed time by .3 to win heat 1 in 1:39.27. Heat 2 went to Ean Vandergraaf of Drury by a body length. He dropped a full second to clock in at 1:37.77. Chance Ricca of Rollins was second in the heat with 1:39.22.

Fresno Pacific’s Janek Bielecki claimed heat 3 with 1:37.59 ahead of Drury’s Anisse Djaballah (1:37.75) and Davi Mourao (1:38.12) in lanes 8 and 7.

Alex Kunert of Queens, who tied with Drury’s Karol Ostrowski to win this event last year, cruised to a 1:35.17 win in heat 4 ahead of teammates Skyler Cook-Weeks (1:35.61) and Berecz Balazs (1:35.85).

Ostrowski got an early lead from lane 8 in the next heat, but Ruben Van Leeuwen from Lewis closed the gap at the 100 and pulled ahead at the 150. They finished in that order, with Van Leeuwen winning in 1:35.62 and Ostrowski clocking a 1:35.99. Ward Lockhart of Rollins, the surprise 1000 free champion, was third in 1:36.16. Wingate’s Marcel Snitko (1:37.02) finished fourth.

McKendree’s Xander Skinner handily won the final heat, going 1:35.88. Oklahoma Christian’s Brandon Heredia was second (1:36.23) ahead of Matheus Laperriere from Colorado Mesa (1:37.95).

Swim-off for 8th place:

1. Alireza Yavari, McKendree – 1:36.17
2. Brandon Heredia, Oklahoma Christian – 1:36.96

Heredia shot out to a quick lead, as he had in prelims. He led by .3 at the 50 and .8 at the 100. But he couldn’t sustain the pace and Yavari pulled even over the next 50. Yavari won with 1:37.17, splitting a very even 22.4-24.3-24.6-24.7.