2022 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships – Day 3 Finals 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
• Friday night finals heat sheets

It’s Day Three of the 2022 NCAA Division II Championships and that means finals of the 500 free, 100 back, 100 breast, 200 fly, and 3-meter diving for the men. We’ll finish the night with timed finals of the 800 free relay.

We are anticipating an exciting showdown in the 500 free final, pitting top-seeded Luca Alessandrini of Nova S’eastern against Ward Lockhart of Rollins. The latter won the 1000 free on Wednesday with an outstanding back half.

The entire 100 back A final is only separated by three-tenths of a second, so it could be anyone’s race, but the middle two lanes will feature Drury’s Mikita Tsmyh and Daniel Aizenberg of Florida Tech, who tied for the top time of the morning (46.64).

Expect a good race in the 100 breast, where we had three sub-53s in prelims: Indy’s Jan Zuchowicz (52.68) and Liki Prema (52.84) and Florida Southern’s Ludo Viberti (52.80).

The 2021 champion and NCAA Division II record-holder, Alex Kunert of Queens, will be in lane 4 to defend his title in the 200 fly. He will face challenges from teammate Yannick Plasil on his right and McKendree’s Jack Lustig on his left. Drury’s Dominik Karacic, who won the 100 fly, could also pose a threat.

Indy’s Cade Hammond, Julio Osuna, and Jason Lenzo swept the podium on Wednesday night in 1-meter diving and will be hoping to do it again on the 3-meter board. But they finished 1-5-8 (Osuna-Hammond-Lenzo) in prelims this afternoon. Colorado Mesa’s Isaiah Cheeks and Noah Luna and Drury’s Cole Earl pose the biggest threats to Osuna tonight.

Men’s 500 Freestyle – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 4:17.09 – Dion Dressens, Queens (NC) (2016)
• Meet Record: 4:17.09 – Dion Dressens, Queens (NC) (2016)
• 2021 Champion: Fabio Dalu, McKendree – 4:19.88

Podium:

1. Ward Lockhart, Rollins – 4:20.44
2. Victor Rosado, Oklahoma Christian – 4:23.11
3. Luca Alessandrini, Nova S’eastern – 4:23.71
4. Luke Erwee, Queens – 4:23.74
5. Elder Oliveira, Florida Southern – 4:24.16
6. Miguel Marcos, Wingate – 4:24.65
7. Sebastian Wenk, Indy – 4:28.32
8. Mohamed Hegazy, Queens – 4:32.94

Elder Oliveira of Florida Southern was first out of the chute, jumping out to lead from the first 50. Oklahoma Christian’s Victor Rosado followed in second place from lane 7. At the 150 wall, Ward Lockhart of Rollins pulled even with Rosado and held his position, waiting for the right moment to strike. That happened after the 300 wall, when he began his descent. Lockhart took over the lead at the 350 and finished with 26.0-25.2-24.7 to win the event by well over two body lengths in 4:20.44. With his 1000 free win on Wednesday, the Rollins sophomore now has two thirds of a distance free sweep.

Rosado hung on for second place (4:23.11), fending off a strong back-half challenge by Luca Alessandrini of Nova S’eastern, who wound up in third place with 4:23.71.

Men’s 100 Backstroke – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 45.09 – Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) (2019)
• Meet Record: 45.09 – Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) (2019)
• 2021 Champion: Giulio Brugnoni, Delta State – 46.77

Podium:

1. Finn Howard, Queens – 45.82
2. Karol Ostrowski, Drury – 45.90
3. Mikita Tsmyh, Drury – 46.12
4. Ben Sampson, Colorado Mesa – 46.38
5. Brandon Dyck – Florida Southern – 46.52
6. Alexander Bauch, Queens – 46.62
7. Daniel Aizenberg, Florida Tech – 46.77
8. Tim Stollings, Findlay – 46.86

Finn Howard from Queens, in lane 7, and Karol Ostrowski of Drury, in lane 2, sought to get an early lead on the field and burst off the start to establish the lead from the get-go. Howard flipped at 21.8, .23 ahead of Ostrowski. Ostrowski closed the gap over the second half, outsplitting Howard by .15, but he ran out of pool at the end. Howard came away with the win in 45.82, getting his hand to the wall .08 ahead of Ostrowski.

The Panthers went 2-3 with Mikita Tsmyh grabbing third place in 46.12, holding off Ben Sampson from Colorado Mesa (46.38) and Florida Southern’s Brandon Dyck (46.52). Dyck led the next wave of finishers by a margin of .34, with Alexander Bauch of Queens (46.62), Daniel Aizenberg of Florida Tech (46.77), and Tim Stollings from Findlay (46.86) coming to the wall just after.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 51.63 – Anton Lobanov, Nova S’eastern (2015)
• Meet Record: 51.63 – Anton Lobanov, Nova S’eastern (2015)
• 2021 Champion: Joao Santos, Emmanuel / Gerald Brown, Lindenwood – 52.77

Podium:

1. Ludo Viberti, Florida Southern – 52.35
2. Jan Zuchowicz, Indy – 52.41
3. JT Amrein, Oklahoma Christian – 52.63
4. Liki Prema, Indy – 52.79
5. Matteo Zampese, Florida Southern – 53.00
6. Juan Daniel Garcia, Findlay – 53.20
7. Davi Mourao, Drury – 53.23
8. Dawid Nowodworski, Drury – 53.89

Florida Southern’s Ludo Viberti pulled off a surprise victory in the 100 breast. Third at the 50 wall behind Indy’s Jan Zuchowicz and Florida Southern’s Matteo Zampese, Viberti had the strongest second half in the field and just snuck past Zuchowicz in a photo finish. Viberti’s glide on his final stroke got him to the wall .06 ahead of Zuchowicz, 52.35 to 52.41.

Right behind them were Oklahoma Christian’s JT Amrein (52.63) and Liki Prema of Indy (52.79), who matched stroke for stroke throughout the entire 100 yards in lanes 2 and 3.

Matteo Zampese of Florida Southern (53.00) touched out Juan Garcia of Findlay (53.20) and Drury’s Davi Mourao (53.23) for fifth.

Men’s 200 Butterfly – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 1:41.19 – Alex Kunert, Queens (NC) (2019)
• Meet Record: 1:41.19 – Alex Kunert, Queens (NC) (2019)
• 2021 Champion: Alex Kunert, Queens (NC) – 1:42.85

Podium:

1. Alex Kunert, Queens – 1:42.44
2. Jack Lustig, McKendree – 1:43.66
3. Federico Bracco, Delta State – 1:44.18
4. Yannick Plasil, Queens – 1:44.21
5. Andrew Rodriguez, Drury – 1:44.91
6. Collyn Gagne, Simon Fraser – 1:44.99
7. Dominik Karacic, Drury – 1:47.50
8. James Brown, Drury – 1:49.56

NCAA Division II record-holder Alex Kunert of Queens won his third consecutive national title in the 200 fly, leading wire-to-wire and stopping the clock at 1:42.44. He was four-tenths faster than last year, although not quite as fast as his record-breaking swim in his freshman season in 2019.

Kunert led at each wall. He was followed by Federico Bracco of Delta State and Drury’s Dominik Karacic at the 50. His teammate Yannick Plasil moved into second place at the 100 wall, while McKendree’s Jack Lustig took over at third place. The formation remained in place at the 150 wall, after which Lustig made a charge. Both he and Bracco passed Plasil over the final 50, closing in 27.6 and 27.4, respectively.

Lustig took second in 1:43.66. Bracco touched out Plasil by .03 for third with 1:44.18. Andrew Rodriguez of Drury edged Collyn Gagne of Simon Fraser, 1:44.91 to 1:44.99, for fifth.

Men’s 3-Meter Diving – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 624.80 – Ammar Hassan, Colorado Mesa 3/17/2018
• Meet Record: 624.80 – Ammar Hassan, Colorado Mesa (2018)
• 2021 Champion: Ammar Hassan, Colorado Mesa – 560.95

Podium:

1. Isaiah Cheeks, Colorado Mesa – 537.75
2. Julio Osuna, Indy – 526.15
3. Noah Luna, Colorado Mesa – 526.15
4. Cade Hammond, Indy – 506.40
5. Cole Earl, Drury – 492.35
6. Jason Lenzo, Indy – 467.75
7. Zachary Schering, Clarion – 466.20
8. Tanner Belliston, Colorado Mesa – 454.10

Colorado Mesa teammates Isaiah Cheeks and Noah Luna opened with huge dives to move into first and second place, after having finished prelims in second and fourth, respectively. Cheeks followed with a 63-point dive to extend his lead to 9 points over Luna. Luna earned 57.4 on his fourth dive

After a disappointing 21-point dive in round 2, 1-meter champion Cade Hammond scored 70 on his third dive to move from last to third. Julio Osuna had a strong third dive as well, and his fourth dive took him past Hammond into third place.

Hammond, Cole Earl, and Osuna continued to keep the pressure on with nice dives in rounds 4, 5, and 6, but Cheeks never faltered. He clinched the national championship with his final dive, an inward 2.5 somersault tuck. Julio finished with a 4.5 somersault but it wasn’t enough to catch Cheeks.

Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay – Timed Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 6:18.46 – Queens (NC) (2017)
• Meet Record: 6:18.46 – Queens (NC) (2017)
• 2021 Champion: Queens (NC) – 6:22.59

Podium:

1. Queens (NC) – 6:24.97
2. McKendree – 6:28.82
3. Colorado Mesa – 6:29.29
4. Grand Valley – 6:29.99
5. Lindenwood – 6:30.04
6. Simon Fraser – 6:31.47
7. Drury – 6:32.35
8. Wingate – 6:32.60

Queens won their eighth consecutive national title in the 800 free with the same quartet as last year. This time, Skyler Cook-Weeks led off with 1:36.72. Balazs Berecz followed with 1:36.24 and handed off to Luke Erwee (1:37.87). Alex Kunert caught up to McKendree, who had led by about seven-tenths at the exchange, on his flying start. He proceeded to clock a 1:34.14 anchor to sew up the victory in 6:24.97.

McKendree (Xander Skinner, Alireza Yavari, Leo Gandaria, and Arthur Souza) held off a fast-charging Colorado Mesa to finish in second place with 6:28.82.

Simon Fraser, who had prevailed in heat 1 with 6:31.47, came in sixth overall. Heat 2 winner, Lindenwood, finished fifth (6:30.04).

Team Standings – Day Three

  1. Queens (Nc)                     470.5   2. Drury                             385
  3. Indy                              338   4. McKendree                         236
  5. Colorado Mesa                     200   6. Lindenwood                        156
  7. Findlay                           153   8. Florida Southern                  143
  9. Wingate                         133.5  10. Nova S'Eastern                    117
 11. Grand Valley                       96  12. Oklahoma Christian                 94
 13. Delta State                        91  14. Simon Fraser                       84
 15. Wayne State                        72  16. Rollins                            67
 17. Carson-Newman                      54  18. Missouri S & T                     52
 19. Henderson St.                      28  20. Nmu                                27
 21. St Cloud St                        26  22. Lewis                              16
 22. Clarion University                 16  24. Florida Tech                       15
 25. Saint Leo                           8  26. UT Permian Basin                    7
 27. Lenoir-Rhyne                        5  28. Saginaw Valley State Univ           4
 29. Southern Conn                       3  30. Fresno Pacific                      1
 30. Lynn                                1  30. Emmanuel                            1