Queens Breaks 3 NCAA D2 Records on Day 1 of BMC Championships – Again

Bluegrass Mountain Conference – Men and Women

• Dates: Wednesday, February 10 – Saturday, February 13; prelims 10 AM, finals 6 PM (5 PM Wednesday and Saturday)
• Location: Rock Hill Aquatic Center, Rock Hill, SC (Eastern Time)
• Defending Champions: Queens women; Queens men (results)
• Live Results: Available or on Meet Mobile
• Live Video: Available here or on ESPN 3 Live Stream Coverage
• Championship Central

Day 1 Final Results

If the headline sounds familiar, it is because the 2015 BMC Championship meet also began with a trio of NCAA Division II records for Queens University of Charlotte. But this time it was all on the women’s side. In the very first event, the Queens quartet of Hannah Peiffer (25.49), Shelly Prayson (27.43), Patri Castro Ortega (24.06), and Kyrie Dobson (22.51) crashed through the NCAA D II record in the 200 medley relay of 1:40.09, set by Drury at last year’s NCAAs, with 1:39.49. The Royals also took down the meet record (1:41.29), established by Wingate at the 2015 BMC championships.

Wingate (Rita Koryukova, Jessika Weiss, Armony Dumur, and Ana Fish) was also under the meet record, going .86 faster than they had a year ago with 1:40.55. Carson-Newman took third behind Ksenia Naydenova, Maggie Melhorn, Elly Culp, and Samantha Starnes (1:43.97).

Queens just missed lowering their own 2015 meet record of 1:27.08 in the men’s 200 medley relay. Zach Phelps (22.11), Rost Fedyna (23.93), Felipe Oliveira (21.72), and Ben Mayes (19.60) went a combined 1:27.12 for a commanding win. Wingate, Limestone, and Carson-Newman finished in quick succession with 1:30.04, 1:30.28, and 1:30.55, respectively.

McKenzie Stevens of Queens won the women’s 1000 with a near-miss of the meet record. Stevens led wire-to-wire and got the win in 1:03.95. Second and third in the heat were her teammates Nikki Johnston and Lauren Frizzell, who went 10:11.04 and 10:11.97. SCAD’s Caroline Lepesant won the second heat with 10:12.74 to slip in at number 4 overall. Defending champion Julie Wessler of Wingate (10:12.87) and Queens’ Meridith Boudreaux (10:16.29) completed the podium.

Dion Dressens of Queens won the men’s 1000 with 9:14.08. Dressens, entered with no time, swam in an outside lane in the final heat, lapping the field several times. Wingate freshman Camden Wunderlich was runner-up with 9:25.99; he won the fastest heat by several body lengths. Third place went to Carson-Newman’s Jon Lancaster (9:29.48). The rest of the podium consisted of Jackson Kojima from Queens (9:35.25), Austin Pillado of Davis & Elkins (9:42.82), and Ali Hegazi of Catawba (9:45.13).

Robert Griswold of Carson-Newman destroyed the S8 American Record for Paralympic swimmers with his 10:32.45. That was almost exactly 1 minute faster than the previous mark (11:32.00), set in 1997. His 13-second drop from his seed time was good enough to score at 20th place.

The Queens women put on a repeat performance of last year’s feat in the 800 free relay. Castro Ortega again led them off with a meet record and NCAA D II record. Last year she went 1:46.58; this time it was an astounding 1:44.44. She was followed by Caroline Arakelian (1:49.80), Josephina Lorda (1:49.53) and Stevens (1:49.19) for a final time of 7:12.96. That’s 3.3 seconds under the meet record Queens set last year and 1.7 seconds under the NCAA record they established at Division II championships last March. Wingate placed second in 7:24.29; Carson-Newman took third with 7:27.92.

The men’s 800 free relay went to Wingate in 6:29.12. Representing the Bulldogs were Jerome Heidrich (1:36.63), Leif-Henning Kluever (1:36.04), Lennart Queiss (1:37.70), and Ossian Arvidsson (1:38.75). Queens (Dressens, Ben Taylor, Hector Tricas, and Nick Arakelian) finished second in 6:30.91, while Johns Hopkins (Davis Knox, Evan Holder, John Chu, and Kyle Otazu) took third with 6:42.88.

Here are the scores after Day One:

Women

1. Queens University of Charlotte 261
2. Wingate University 160
3. Carson-Newman University, SES 147
4. Lenoir Rhyne University 132
5. SCAD Savannah 126
6. Limestone Swimming 123
7. Johns Hopkins University 104
8. Fairmont State University 89
9. Davis & Elkins College 80
10. Converse College 68
11. Catawba College 64
12. West Virginia Wesleyan College 46

Men

1. Carson-Newman University, SES 185
2. Queens University of Charlotte 178
3. Limestone Swimming 166
4. Wingate University 148 Upper Palmetto
5. Lenoir Rhyne University 128
6. Catawba College 108
7. Davis & Elkins College 107
8. Johns Hopkins University 104
9. Fairmont State University 102
10. SCAD Savannah 96
11. West Virginia Wesleyan College 80