2017 NAIA Nationals: Men’s Meet Day 2 Up/Down Report

2017 NAIA National Championships – Men’s Meet

• Dates: Wednesday, March 1 – Saturday, March 4, 2017; prelims 9 am, finals 5 pm
• Location: Columbus Aquatic Center, Columbus, Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions: Savannah College of Art and Design (W) / Olivet Nazarene (M) (results)
• Psych Sheet
• Women’s Fan Guide / Men’s Fan Guide
• Live Results: Available here
• Live Video: Available here
• Championship Central

Day Two

After a quick half-day on Wednesday that opened the 2017 NAIA National Swimming and Diving Championships with timed finals of the 800 free relay, the men’s meet began in earnest on Thursday in Columbus.

The men’s team race should be a good three-way battle among 2016 NAIA Champions Olivet Nazarene, 2016 runners-up SCAD Savannah, and newcomers Keiser. ONU got off to a very strong start, picking up 70 points over their psych sheet seeding.

200 Free Relay – Prelims

• Meet Record: * 1:18.43 3/7/2014  Oklahoma Baptist University (L Lassley, R Robbins, D Ramirez, G Sullivan)

Thomas University’s Alex Haymond (20.80), Tan Dang (21.07), Igor Dos Santos (20.16), and Perry Lindo (19.78) led the field in the men’s 200 free relay with a combined 1:21.81, coming to the wall just ahead of SCAD Savannah (1:21.90). ONU was not far behind with 1:22.33. The rest of the championship final will consist of St. Andrews, Keiser, Cumberlands, Wayland Baptist, and Lindsey Wilson. Lindo’s anchor was the top split of the morning.

1. Thomas 1:21.81
2. SCAD Savannah 1:21.90
3. Olivet Nazarene 1:22.33

500 Freestyle – Prelims

• Meet Record: * 4:21.49 3/3/2016  Joel Ax, SCAD

It was another Joel from SCAD Savannah who led the morning’s heats of the 500 free; after three years of Joel Ax’s domination of this event, freshman Joel Thatcher was the top qualifier with 4:27.42. Matija Luka Rafaj, a freshman from Lindenwood-Belleville, has the second-fastest time out of heats with 4:32.04. ONU junior Joshua Bouma dropped 6.3 seconds to earn the right to swim in lane 3 in tonight’s final.

Rafaj’s teammate, freshman Niels Engeln, dropped nearly 3 to qualify sixth. ONU snuck a second A finalist in with freshman Xavier Bordes Adell. Other championship finalists include: Wyatt Engler of Keiser, Vinny Lijoi from Thomas, and Manuel Laguna Gomez from West Virginia Tech.

ONU’s Drew Logan dropped nearly 8 seconds to lead the B final qualifiers. Other big drops came from consolation finalists Josh Smilie of SCAD (-6), Andrew Benson of Biola (-5.3), and Seth Cripe of ONU (-7.5). While they didn’t get a second swim, Max Troell (-6.5) and Joaquin Uz (-6.1) of Keiser, Noah Miller of ONU (-6.4), and Noah Reed of Biola (-5.8) had nice swims this morning.

1. Joel Thatcher, SCAD Savannah 4:27.42
2. Matija Luka Rafaj, Lindenwood-Belleville 4:32.04
3. Joshua Bouma, ONU 4:33.07

200 Individual Medley – Prelims

• Meet Record: * 1:47.55 2011      David Hibberd, Simon Fraser

ONU loaded up the 200 IM with three of the top four qualifiers, including defending champion, sophomore Daniil Kuzmin (1:49.04), freshman Magnus Anderson (1:50.16), and junior Charles Bennett (1:52.63). Keiser freshman Lukas Macek went 1:52.21 for third-fastest swim of the morning. Asbury sophomore Keith Jessee (1:52.76), Lindenwood-Belleville freshman Nico Tscherner (1:53.04), Lindsey Wilson sophomore Clemens Paetzold (1:53.95), and Thomas Sheridan, a junior from The College of Idaho (1:54.56), rounded out the top 8.

Notable drops included those from B finalists Trey James of Loyola University New Orleans (-2.3) and Wayland Baptist’s Bjoern Globke (-3.4).

1. Daniil Kuzmin, ONU 1:49.04
2. Magnus Andersen, ONU 1:50.16
3. Lukas Macek, Keiser 1:52.21

50 Freestyle – Prelims

• Meet Record: * 19.71 3/6/2014  Logan H Lassley, Oklahoma Baptist

SCAD’s Ax, who for three years swept the distance events (200-500-1650 free) at this meet, has changed up his routine for his final outing at NAIA Nationals. He is entered in the 50 free, 200 free, and 200 fly, and began with a season-best 19.87 in this morning’s heats. That was a .37 improvement from his leadoff on SCAD’s 200 free relay. Thomas’ Lindo, who had the fastest flying-start split in the relay, qualified second in 20.42. 2016 Josiah Morales, a senior at Wayland Baptist, qualified third in 20.57.

Thomas’ Haymond qualified fourth, going .20 faster than his leadoff split in the relay. Keiser sophomore Andrei Stukov also qualified fourth with 20.60. ONU’s Vladislav Khoroletc took .8 off his seed time to earn the sixth spot in tonight’s final. St. Andrews freshman Juan Patino was 7th with 20.68, and SCAD junior Anton Arvidsson made it into the championship by 5/100, qualifying 8th in 20.89.

SCAD sophomore Tim Olbrich and St. Andrews sophomore Elliot Boon tied for 16th with 21.22 and will face a swim-off.

1. Joel Ax, SCAD Savannah 19.87
2. Perry Lindo, Thomas 20.42
3. Josiah Morales, Wayland Baptist 20.57

400 Medley Relay – Prelims

• Meet Record: * 3:12.88 3/7/2014  Oklahoma Baptist University (D Ramirez, G Penny, G Sullivan, L Lassley)

Khoroletc (49.84), Nate Peterson (56.26), Magnus Poulsen (48.07), and Bennett (45.41) turned in the top 400 medley relay of the morning with a combined time of 3:19.58. SCAD (3:21.87) and Keiser (3:23.07) were next. Wayland Baptist, Lindsey Wilson, Thomas, West Virginia Tech, and Cumberlands will join them in the championship final.

1. Olivet Nazarene 3:19.58
2. SCAD Savannah 3:21.87
3. Keiser 3:23.07

Ups/Downs – Day One

Top Ten Predictions

Tonight’s finals session begins at 5 PM Eastern time.

“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.”