While the Oklahoma Baptist point-grab was going on under the Big Top at the 2014 NAIA National Championships, a quieter, more subtle side show was being played out in the race for Number Two. Few people in the OCCC Aquatic Center knew that Olivet Nazarene had come into the final day in second place with a 5 point lead over SCAD Savannah. SCAD had finished a rather distant fourth last year, behind OBU, Concordia, and ONU, and was hoping for a better 2014. And while the Championship meet is a three-day team effort, the difference between the Runner-Up trophy and a “thanks for playing” can come down to one swim.
No doubt, then, that the men on both teams knew the stakes. Having scored the meet from the psych sheet, and then again after prelims, SwimSwam had given a slight advantage to SCAD whose Day Three looked pretty strong on paper. But ONU did everything right. They picked up more finalists than had been expected, and then outscored their prelims placements by 23 points. Most of the differential came from a couple of big swims in the mile, but the Tigers also swam a monster 400 free relay to seal the deal and the Bees were relegated to third overall.
Men’s Swimming & Diving Coach of the Year honors went to Scott Teeters of Olivet Nazarene. Daniel Ramirez of OBU was named Swimmer of the Meet and NAIA Swimmer of the Year. Diver of the Meet went to OBU’s Jarod Haynes.
2014 NAIA National Championships men’s 1650 L to R: Sam Borgman (2nd), Joel Ax (1st), Bradley Moore (3rd). Photo: Anne Lepesant
1650 free
There were really two races going on in the mile: SCAD’s Joel Ax against the NAIA national record of 15:23.97, and the rest of the championship heat against each other. Having already won the 500 free on Thursday and the 200 on Friday, and coming in with the fastest seed time by more than 35 seconds, Ax was a sure bet to win the event; the question was whether he would break the record as well.
In the end Ax went a respectable 15:30.09 but lost his bid to get his name in the recordbook. (He told SwimSwam he’ll be going for it next year.) Meanwhile there was an excellent race going on for second place. Sam Borgman of ONU, Bradley Moore of Union, Laszlo Perlaky of Concordia, and Dalton Baxter of Union all battled for nearly sixteen minutes, making for a lot of animated coaches on deck. Borgman got the silver in 15:56.05, a 42-second drop from his seed time, while Moore took bronze in 15:58.34 (-35 seconds).
2014 NAIA National Championships men’s 200 back L to R: Georgi Krastev (2nd), Ryan Searles (1st), Nico Brun (3rd). Photo: Anne Lepesant
200 back
Defending two-time champion Ryan Searles of SCAD was going for a three-peat and hoping to lower his own national record of 1:45.61. St. Andrews’ Georgi Krastev went out first, leading at the 50 and at the 100. Searles outsplit Krastev by a whole second on the third 50 to take over the lead; he finished in first by 1.5 seconds, winning in 1:46.44. Krastev ended up second with 1:47.92 and Nico Brun of OBU was third.
100 free
The Daniel Ramirez show ended with a final record, as he capped off a near-perfect meet with a 42.53 win in the 100 free. Ramirez is a remarkable athlete. Nowhere near the size you would expect for a sprinter, he looks more like a lightweight championship boxer. Indeed, Oklahoma Baptist head coach Sam Freas calls him “a fighter.” All fast-twitch muscles with disciplined underwaters, Ramirez had dominated the 100 fly and 100 back on Friday and broke meet records in both events. Here he took it out in a 20.29 and was home in 22.2. He lowered the meet record, which he had set last year, but missed Jason Lezak’s pool record by 3/10. Simon Pheasant of ONU took second with 43.96, while SCAD’s Pat Cardillo finished third in 44.46.
200 breast
In one of the most exciting races of the evening, OBU’s Gregory Penny outpaced his teammates to win the 200 breast in a meet-record-breaking time of 1:59.03. Penny, Vitor da Franca, and Tim Richard were all bunched up at the 100, with da Franca ahead of Richard by .10 and Penny another .08 back. Penny’s third 50 blew everyone away and he kept the momentum going through the last 50. Da Franca was second in 2:00.33; Richard touched in 2:00.76. The next five finished nearly together as well: Gilles Cantrelle (OBU), followed by Strybjorn Torell and Marc Fleischmann (SCAD), Bjoern Globke (WBU), and Jack Cavanagh (West Virginia Tech).
2014 NAIA Nationals men’s 200 fly L to R: Andrew Gurley (2nd), Aaron Buchanan (1st), Mark Shvartsman (3rd). Photo: Anne Lepesant
200 fly
Aaron Buchanan of ONU won the 200 fly in 1:47.68, nearly three seconds faster than he was a year ago in his second-place finish. Fourth at the 50 and again at the 100, Buchanan put everything he had into his third 50 and jumped out to a 1.5-second lead. He brought it home and touched 3.5 seconds ahead of number two Andrew Gurley of St. Andrews, who got his hand to the wall .04 ahead of SCAD’s Mark Shvartsman.
400 free relay
Appropriately enough the final meet record went down in the very last event: OBU won the 400 free relay in 2:56.71 with Ramirez (43.71), Daniel Robbins (43.93), Logan Lassley (44.00), and Richard (45.07). ONU came from behind to beat SCAD for second place, sealing their second-place team standing once and for all.
Final Standings
Men
- Oklahoma Baptist University 900
- Olivet Nazarene University 485
- SCAD Savannah 480
- Concordia University 436.5
- St. Andrews University 273.5
- Union College 230
- University of the Cumberlands 185
- Wayland Baptist University 159
- Asbury University 116
- Thomas University 82
National Records Broken at the 2014 Championships
Men’s 50-Yard Freestyle: Logan Lassley, Oklahoma Baptist – 19.71
Men’s 100-Yard Freestyle: Daniel Ramirez, Oklahoma Baptist – 42.53
Men’s 200-Yard Freestyle: Joel Ax, SCAD Savannah (Ga.) – 1:36.71
Men’s 100-Yard Backstroke: Daniel Ramirez, Oklahoma Baptist – 46.28
Men’s 200-Yard Breaststroke: Gregory Penny, Oklahoma Baptist – 1:59.03
Men’s 100-Yard Butterfly: Daniel Ramirez, Oklahoma Baptist – 46.13
Men’s 200-Yard Freestyle Relay: Oklahoma Baptist – 1:18.43
Men’s 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: Oklahoma Baptist – 2:56.71
Men’s 800-Yard Freestyle Relay: SCAD Savannah (Ga.) – 6:34.98
Men’s 200-Yard Medley Relay: Oklahoma Baptist – 1:26.83
Men’s 400-Yard Medley Relay: Oklahoma Baptist – 3:12.88
“The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small athletics programs that are dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics.
In 2000, the NAIA reaffirmed its purpose to enhance the character building aspects of sport. Through Champions of Character, the NAIA seeks to create an environment in which every student-athlete, coach, official and spectator is committed to the true spirit of competition through five core values.”