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
Women’s 500 Yard Freestyle
- Division II: 4:39.28 3/11/2016 Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC)
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Georgia Wright, West Chester 4:50.62
- Erica Dahlgren, Drury 4:52.16
- Leonie Van Noort, Grand Valley 4:52.52
- Theresa Hayward, West Chester 4:53.79
- Emma Wahlstrom, Nova S’eastern 4:53.94
- Christina Halverston, Cal Baptist 4:54.22
- Caroline Jouisse, Delta State 4:54.72
- Annagrazia Bonsanti, Bridgeport 4:55.14
West Chester freshman Georgia Wright, who set the NCAA Division II record in the 1000 free on Wednesday, went 4:50.62 to win the first circle-seeded heat, dropping 2 seconds from her seed time. Drury freshman Erica Dahlgren put up a good challenge, especially over the second half, and finished 1.5 seconds behind with 4:52.16. Delta State sophomore Caroline Jouisse was third in the heat with 4:54.72.
West Chester senior Theresa Hayward, fourth in the 1000 free on Wednesday, and third in the 500 free last year, got off to a quick start in the following heat, but #2 seed Leonie Van Noort, a senior from Grand Valley, overtook her on the last 150. Van Noort went 4:52.52 to move to #3 on the leaderboard; Hayward dropped 2 from her seed time and clocked in with 4:53.79.
Nova S’eastern senior Emma Wahlstrom, who won the 200 free last night, looked easy in the water, cruising to a win in the final heat with 4:53.94. Cal Baptist junior Christina Halverson made an effort to chase her down at the end and touched second in the heat with 4:54.22.
Women’s 100 Yard Backstroke
- NCAA DII: 52.45 3/14/2014 Mary Hanson, Cal Baptist
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Yekaterina Rudenko, Drury 54.05
- Rachel Helm, NMU 54.13
- Hannah Peiffer, Queens (NC) 54.18
- Meri Cizmar, Findlay 54.22
- Brenna Gabrielson, Wayne State 54.53
- Viktoriya Arkhipova, Wingate 54.81
- Cecilia Hake, MSU Mankato 54.86
- Anastasia Klyarovskay, Delta State 55.19
Defending champion, Queens senior Hannah Peiffer, kicked off the first circle-seeded heat with a strong 54.18. Mankato junior Cecilia Hake finished second, while Nova S’eastern’s Wahlstrom, who had just finished warming down from her 200 free, placed third in the heat in a very tough double.
Northern Michigan freshman Rachel Helm slipped by Peiffer when she won the following heat in 54.13 over Wayne State senior Brenna Gabrielson (54.53) and Wingate senior Viktoriya Arkhipova (54.81).
Drury junior Yekaterina Rudenko topped the field in the final heat with 54.04. Findlay senior Meri Cizmar dropped 1.2 seconds to finish second in the heat and make the A final with 54.22. Delta State senior Anastasia Klyarovskaya was third in the heat and 8th overall with 55.19.
Women’s 100 Yard Breaststroke
- NCAA DII: 1:00.66 3/14/2014 Kayla Scott, Wayne State
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Bailee Nunn, Drury 1:00.54R
- Zuzanna Chwadeczko, Drury 1:00.99
- Theresa Michalak, West Florida 1:01.31
- Malin Westman, Nova S’eastern 1:01.64
- Emily Heitchue, Wayne State 1:01.71
- Michelle Prayson, Queens (NC) 1:01.88
- Jaimie Bryan, UCSD 1:01.90
- Manuela Ferreira, Wayne State 1:02.01
Drury junior Zuzanna Chwadeczko dominated the first circle-seeded heat and rattled the NCAA D2 record, hitting the wall at 1:00.99. Wayne State senior Manuela Ferreira and Wingate senior Olga Kosheleva came in together at 1:02.01 and 1:02.08, respectively. Those 7/100 would be the difference between the A final and the B final.
West Florida senior Theresa Michalak, who set the NCAA Division II record in the 100 fly on Thursday night, went 1 01.31 to take the next heat over Nova S’eastern junior Malin Westman (1:01.64) and UCSD senior Jaimie Bryan (1:01.90). Bryan dropped 8/10 in prelims and made the championship final.
Drury freshman Bailee Nunn, whose leadoff on last night’s 200 free relay set the NCAA Division II record in the 50 free, scorched the final heat of women’s 100 breast, winning with 1:00.54 for yet another NCAA record. Second and third in that heat were Wayne State senior Emily Heitchue (1:01.71) and sophomore Michelle Prayson of Queens (1:01.88).
Women’s 200 Yard Butterfly
- Division II: 1:57.94 3/11/2016 Sofia Petrenko, Wingate
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Hannah Kastigar Northern State 1:58.14
- Jessie Gibson Simon Fraser 2:00.08
- Josephina Lorda Queens (NC) 2:00.92
- Mckenzie Stevens Queens (NC) 2:01.17
- Hannah Vinyard Lindenwood 2:01.18
- Oksana Marchuk Bridgeport 2:01.38
- Charlotte Knippenberg Wingate 2:01.39
- Lexy Raybon Carson-Newman 2:02.06
Queens sophomore Josephina Lorda 2:00.92 pulled away over the last 50 to win the first circle-seeded heat in 2:00.92, with Lindenwood senior Hannah Vinyard (2:01.18) and Wingate freshman Charlotte Knippenberg (2:01.39) following closely on her heels. Vinyard dropped 1.6 and Knippenberg improved by 2.5; both ended up in the A final with Lorda.
Freshman Jessie Gibson of Simon Fraser destroyed her heat, winning by 3 body lengths in 2:00.08 over teammate Lauren Swistak (2:03.00) and West Florida junior Madeline Pitt (2:03.07).
Northern State junior Hannah Kastigar, who was followed closely by Bridgeport freshman Oksana Marchuk at the 100, put together a great back half and won the final heat in 1:58.14, improving on her seed time by .44 and coming within .20 of the NCAA Division II record. Queens junior Mckenzie Stevens, fourth in this event last year, came to the wall in 2:01.17, while Marchuk touched third with 2:01.38.
Women’s 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
- NCAA DII: 7:14.69 3/13/2015 Queens (NC)
All but the fastest heat of women’s 800 free relays were swum in prelims, with the three fastest times going to UCSD (7:25.67), Drury (7:27.23), and Cal Baptist (7:28.43).