Both the Men’s and Women’s Division II National Championships got off to a flying start this morning at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
In the first event of the m0rning, the women’s 200 IM, it was Katharina Fischer from West Chester who will be the top seed going into tonight’s finals. Right behind her was Agnieszka Ostrowska of Drury and Sofia Petrenko of Wingate. Also making their way into the “A” final tonight are two Queens swimmers in Caroline Arkelian and Hannah Peiffer. Rounding out the top 8 is Adeline Martin (Bridgeport), Allyson Mitidieri (IUP), and Hannah Mattar (Ashland).
Following up the women, the men got going with their 200 IM prelims. Matthew Josa of Queens and Piotr Jachowicz of Wayne State are seeded first and second, respectively going into tonight’s finals session. Gianni Ferrero of Grand Valley was fourth with Albert Lloyd of Drury getting his touch the wall first. Wingate will have a pair of swimmers in the final with Marko Blazevski and Tim Kniffler. Raymond Cswerko of Southern Conn. and Kacper Pelczynski of Drury round out the “A” final for tonight.
The sprinters would then light fire to water as the women’s 50 Freestyle entered the water. Taking the top seed into finals tonight is our favorite to win the event in Wayne State’s Ana Azambuja. Nipping at her heels was Wai Ting Yu of Drury and Mary Hanson of Cal Baptist. Tatiana Shepel (Bridgeport), Nicole Cossey (Simon Fraser), and Emily Reh (Limestone) wil be sitting in 4th-6th going into tonight’s final. Seventh and eighth seeds go to NMU’s Deborah Lawrence and Hillsdale’s Rachel Kurtz, respectively.
The men would then take action in the pool as they competed in the 50 Frestyle. Bridgeport’s Oscar Pererio took the top seed followed by three Drury swimmers in Nicholas McCarthy, Daniel Rzadkowski, and Samuel Olsen. Limestone’s Sean Gunn earned himself a spot in the “A” final in 5th place followed by UCSD’s Nicholas Korth. Robert Swan of Florida Southern and Matheus Assis of Saint Leo comprised the final swimmers that will have a chance at the national title tonight.
In the 200 Medley Relay Prelims the women’s teams that made it in to the “A” final are: Drury, Alaska Fairbanks, Bridgeport, LIU Post, Grand Valley, UCSD, Wayne State, Queens. On the Men’s side the teams that made it in were: Wayne State, Drury, UCSD, Queens, Tampa, Ashland, Bridgeport, Florida Southern. Wayne State’s Men’s Team Broke the Division II National record in this event this morning. We are hoping that we will see something even faster in finals tonight.