2018 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships: Day 1 Prelims Live Recap

2018 NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 14 – Saturday, March 17
• Swimming: prelims 10am, finals 6pm; Diving: 2pm
• Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions: Queens (results)
• Psych Sheet
• Video
• Live Results
• Championship Central

Day 1

Men’s 200-yard Individual Medley – Prelims

• NCAA DII: 1:41.94 3/11/2015 Matthew Josa, Queens (NC)
• Meet: 1:41.94 3/11/2015 Matthew Josa, Queens (NC)
• Pool: 1:41.92 2/27/2014 Pavel Sankovich, FSU

Qualifiers:

1. Marius Kusch JR Queens (NC) 1:42.68
2. Nicholas Arakelian SR Queens (NC) 1:45.18
3. Ryan Leonard JR NMU 1:45.92
4. Matthew Holmes JR Florida Southern 1:46.52
5. Rodrigo Codo Berti JR Indy 1:47.21
6. Aleksei Averchenko SO Fresno Pacific 1:47.47
7. Inigo Alarcia SR Queens (NC) 1:48.03
8. Pavel Semochkin FR Drury University 1:48.21
9. Eric Tolman SO Cal Baptist 1:48.37
10. William Shanel SR Truman St. 1:48.67
11. Matias Lopez FR Florida Southern 1:48.72
12. Brandon Schuster SO Cal Baptist 1:48.78
13. Joshua Bedford SR Colorado Mesa Un 1:48.79
14. Caleb Howell SO Carson-Newman 1:48.86
15. Sebastian Holmberg SR Wingate 1:48.93
16. Joao Ribeiro SO Wayne State 1:49.02

Queens freshman Alen Mosic dropped 1.7 seconds from his seed time to win the first heat in 1:49.62. Heat 2 went to senior William Shanel of Truman State, who also improved by 1.7 seconds to go 1:48.67. Fresno Pacific sophomore Aleksei Averchenko lowered his entry time by nearly 2 seconds to win heat 3 in 1:47.47 and leapfrog into tonight’s A final.

Queens senior Nick Arakelian blasted a 1:45.18 to come to the wall ahead of NMU junior Ryan Leonard’s 1:45.92 in heat 4. Defending champion Marius Kusch, also a senior from Queens, held nothing back as he went 1:42.68 to win the penultimate heat by over 5 seconds over teammate and classmate Inigo Alarcia (1:48.03). Kusch is less than a second off the Division II record, which should make for an exciting race in tonight’s final. In the last heat, Florida Southern junior Matthew Holmes (1:46.52) edged Indy junior Rodrigo Codo Berti (1:47.21) in a great display of racing.

Men’s 50-yard Freestyle – Prelims

• NCAA DII: 19.17 11/30/2017 David Lambert, Oklahoma Baptist
• Meet: 19.18 3/10/2016 Serghei Golban, Lindenwood
• Pool: 18.75 2/22/2018 Ryan Held, NC State

Qualifiers:

1. David Lambert SR Oklahoma Baptist 19.21
2. Victor Rocha Furtado JR Florida Tech 19.84
3. Iskender Baslakov FR Fresno Pacific 19.89
4. Hunter Bains SR Saint Leo 20.00
5. Bradford Hancock SR Queens (NC) 20.02
6. Paul Pijulet SR Queens (NC) 20.03
7. Mattia Schirru JR Delta State 20.04
8. Julien-Pierre Goyeche SR Oklahoma Baptist 20.05 (20.07 in swim-off)
9. Malique Elder SR Nova S’eastern 20.05 (20.21 in swim-off)
10. Dmytro Sydorchenko SO Queens (NC) 20.06
11. Christopher Mayes SR Queens (NC) 20.11
12. Jerome Heidrich JR Cal Baptist 20.14
13. Andre Del Rio SR Oklahoma Baptist 20.17
14. Lukas Kraft FR Wingate 20.18
15. Dmitry Belolipetskiy SO Fresno Pacific 20.20
16. Michal Szczukowski SR Lindenwood 20.23

Drury junior Aidan Glynn dropped .19 to win heat 1 of men’s 50 freestyles in 20.55. Fresno Pacific freshman Iskender Baslakov crushed heat 2, going 19.89 for a .60 drop and a one-way ticket to the A final. Dmitry Belolipetskiy, a sophomore from Fresno Pacific, clocked a 20.20 to win heat 3.

Queens swept the first circle-seeded heat, going 1-2-3 with senior Bradford Hancock (20.02), sophomore Dmytro Sydorchenko (20.06), and senior Christopher Mayes (20.11). The penultimate heat went to Florida Tech junior Victor Rocha Furtado in 19.84. He was followed in quick succession by Saint Leo senior Hunter Bains (20.00), Queens senior Paul Pijulet (20.03), and Delta State junior Mattia Schirru (20.04).

Top-seeded David Lambert of Oklahoma Baptist won the last heat by nearly a body length with 19.21, missing the NCAA Division II Record by a scant .04. He was followed by Oklahoma Baptist senior Julien-Pierre Goyeche and Nova S’Eastern senior Malique Elder, both of whom went 20.05.

There will be two swim-offs in the men’s 50 free. Goyeche and Elder’s 20.05 tied for 8th. Also, Findlay senior Janko Radmanovic and Nova S’eastern junior Julian Coster tied for 17th place; both went 20.24 in prelims.

Men’s 200-yard Medley Relay – Prelims

• NCAA DII: 1:25.89 3/8/2017 Queens (NC) (Bunner, Fedyna, Pijulet, Mayes)
• Meet: 1:25.89 3/8/2017 Queens (NC) (Bunner, Fedyna, Pijulet, Mayes)
• Pool: 1:23.19 2/24/2016 North Caroliina State Univ. (H Stuart, D Hren, S Bilas, R Held)

Qualifiers:

1. Queens (NC) 1:26.37
2. Fresno Pacific 1:27.00
3. Oklahoma Baptist 1:27.57
4. Wayne State 1:27.70
5. Cal Baptist 1:28.06
6. Indy 1:28.11
7. Drury University 1:28.32
8. Lindenwood 1:28.42
9. Wingate 1:28.50
10. Grand Valley 1:28.75
11. Florida Southern 1:28.76
12. UCSD 1:28.79
13. Florida Tech 1:29.12
14. Colorado Mesa 1:29.39
15. Delta State 1:29.80
16. Saint Leo 1:29.87

Entered with a seed time that is .88 faster than the Division II Record, the quartet from Queens University of Charlotte swam a strong morning race and paced the qualifiers for tonight’s final with 1:26.37. Contributing legs were senior Zach Bunner (22.40), Arakelian (24.21), Pijulet (20.38), and Sydorchenko (19.38).

Fresno Pacific took 6/10 off their seed time and qualified second with Baslakov (21.62), Dmitry Belolipetskiy (24.07), Averchenko (21.35), and Luka Barisic (19.96), who combined for 1:27.00.

Oklahoma Baptist also improved their seed time, by .28, and finished third with 1:27.83. Their relay consisted of Goyeche (22.80), Fernando Morillas (24.41), Andre Del Rio (21.29), and Lambert (19.07).

Men’s 1000-yard Freestyle – Slower Heats

• NCAA DII: 8:57.06 3/11/2009 Mitch Snyder, Drury
• Meet: 8:57.06 3/11/2009 Mitch Snyder, Drury

Top 8 from morning session:

1. Alexandre Reinbrecht, SR Drury University 9:08.43
2. Mackenzie Hamill, JR Simon Fraser Uni 9:10.46
3. Federico Brumana, SO Drury University 9:11.84
4. Andrew Woinoski, SO Simon Fraser Uni 9:12.50
5. Marti Penedes, FR Oklahoma Baptist 9:15.24
6. Matheus Isidro, SO Lindenwood 9:19.28
7. Samuel Brettmann, FR Nova S’eastern 9:19.76
8. Blake Woodrow, SR Nova S’eastern 9:19.93

The first heat of men’s 1000s opened with a superb come-from-behind win by Drury senior Alexandre Reinbrecht (9:03.43) over Simon Fraser junior Mackenzie Hamill (9:10.46). Hamill set the pace early on, and led by more than 2.5 seconds by the 200. He was up by 4 at the 400 and the 450, but started to fall off pace at the halfway mark. Reinbrecht began to inch up on Hamill, outsplitting him by about .3 to .5 per 50 over the second half. He finally pulled ahead at the 850 and extended his lead to 2 full seconds at the finish. The pair ended up first and second out of the morning heats with 9:08.43 and 9:10.46, respectively.