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)
- Results: Available │ D1 Final Results │D2 Final Results
- Video: Video Recap Day 1 │ Video Recap Day 2 │ Video Recap Day 3 │ Video Recap Day 4
- Championship Central
Queens University of Charlotte is on a roll at the 2016 BMC Championships. The Royals have taken down another pair of NCAA Division II records, and they’re only halfway done with the meet.
Patri Castro Ortega got things started for Queens with a new NCAA Division II record in the 500 free. She lowered her own mark, set in December 2015 at the Wingate Fall Frenzy with 4:42.05, by 1.4 seconds with a new time of 4:40.65, a full 25 yards ahead of the field. Coming in at second was Carson-Newman’s Lexy Raybon at 4:56.40. Caroline Lepesant of SCAD placed third with 4:58.55. Hannah Craig (4:59.38) and Nikki Johnston (4:59.41) of Queens, and Julie Wessler of Wingate (5:00.32) made up the rest of the podium.
Defending champion Nick Arakelian of Queens won the men’s 500 with 4:25.48. Wingate’s Jerome Heidrich was runner-up with 4:29.35, a second in front of Leif-Henning Kluever (4:30.31). Ossian Arvidsson of Wingate (4:31.12), Parker Cook-Weeks of Queens (4:32.43), and Wingate’s Oystein Fjeldberg (4:33.59) finished fourth through sixth.
Top-seeded Sofia Petrenko of Wingate took down the BMC meet record in the 200 IM with 1:59.93. Defending champion Caroline Arakelian of Queens, who set the record last year with 2:00.21, came in second with 2:02.56. Her teammate, Josephina Lorda, was just behind with 2:03.29 for third. Anna Wisniewski of Johns Hopkins finished fourth in 2:03.75, while Carson-Newman teammates Margaret Stansberry (2:03.80) and Maggie Melhorn (2:04.88) rounded out the podium.
Queens showed its incredible depth with a 1-4 sweep in the men’s 200 IM. Inigo Alarcia came out on top with 1:48.67. He was followed in quick succession by Nate Dacruz (1:50.04), Devyn Hughes (1:50.17), and Ben Taylor (1:50.53). Johns Hopkins’ Emile Kuyl was fifth in 1:50.53. Sixth went to Queens’ Mitchell Frey (1:52.39).
Queens freshman Kyrie Dobson claimed the 50 free title in 23.17. Wingate’s Armony Dumur (23.24) and Ana Fish (23.36) took second and third. Shelly Prayson of Queens (23.41), Lisa Postma (23.77) and Samantha Starnes (23.93) of Carson-Newman rounded out the podium. In the men’s sprint, Zach Phelps of Queens touched first in 20.21. Teammate Ben Mayes was second with 20.32, just ahead of Limestone’s Tobias Feigl (20.49). Lucas Cuadros of Wingate (20.60), Joel Ax of SCAD (20.65), and Sam Schechter of Carson-Newman (20.66) earned fourth through sixth.
Both Queens and Wingate broke the meet record in the women’s 400 medley relay, but Queens also lowered the NCAA Division II record as well. The quartet of Hannah Peiffer (54.19), Brittney Phelan (1:01.75), Castro Ortega (53.49), and Kyrie Dobson (49.60) combined for a winning 3:39.03. Wingate (Viktoriya Arkhipova, Jessika Weiss, Dumur, and Petrenko) went 3:39.85 for second. Carson-Newman placed third (3:47.42).
The men’s 400 medley relay went to Queens in a meet record of 3:11.82 behind Phelps (47.31), Rost Fedyna (53.53), Dion Dreesens (47.07), and Ben Taylor (43.91). The race for second place was thrilling. Limestone (Denis Schulz, Tobias Feigl, Emil Moller, and Douglas Trigo) edged Wingate (Kluever, Roman Kanyuka, Niklas Martin, and Jerome Heidrich), 3:17.55 to 3:17.65 for the silver medal.
Here are the scores after Day Two:
Women
- Queens University of Charlotte 648
- Wingate University 445
- Carson-Newman University 395
- Johns Hopkins University 283
- SCAD Savannah 270
- Limestone Swimming 217
- Lenoir Rhyne University 176
- Catawba College 144
- Fairmont State University 127
- Davis & Elkins College 119
- Converse College 118
- West Virginia Wesleyan College 94
Men
- Queens University of Charlotte 603
- Wingate University 444
- Carson-Newman University 346
- Limestone Swimming 318
- Johns Hopkins University 283
- Fairmont State University 204
- SCAD Savannah 193
- Lenoir Rhyne University 183
- Catawba College 181
- Davis & Elkins College 139
- West Virginia Wesleyan College 114