2020 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships – Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2020 NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Wednesday, March 11 – Saturday, March 14, 2020
• SPIRE Institute Aquatics Center – Geneva, OH
• Prelims 10 AM / Finals 6 PM (U.S. Eastern Time)
• Defending Champions: Queens (5x) (results)
• Digital Program
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Championship Central

Day One

Men’s 1000 Yard Freestyle – Fastest Heat – Timed Final

• NCAA DII Record: 8:56.76  3/13/2019   Alex Kunert, Queens (NC)
• Meet Record: 8:56.76  3/13/2019   Alex Kunert, Queens (NC)
• Pool Record: 9:07.00  3/12/2014   Victor Polyakov, West Chester-MA

Podium:

1. Fabio Dalu, McKendree 8:59.50
2. Niels Engeln, Lindenwood 9:05.13
3. Vincent Lijoi, Nova S’eastern 9:06.53

Top-seeded Fabio Dalu, a freshman from McKendree, dominated the men’s 1000 free from start to finish. He set the pace early on, leading by a full body length at the 200 wall with 1:43.64. Dalu increased his lead to two bodies by the 300 and continued to put clear water between him and the rest of the field throughout the rest of the race.

Sophomores Luke Erwee of Queens and Jesse Goodyear of Grand Valley were early contenders for second place but fell off pace over the second half of the race. As Dalu continued to build his lead, Lindenwood senior Niels Engeln moved ahead from lane 1 to overtake the group vying for second place. Engeln distanced himself from the field over the final 100 yards. Nova S’eastern senior Vincent Lijoi, who had been in the middle of the second wave, took off at the 800 and came home with the fastest final 200.

In the end, Dalu went 8:59.50 for the pool record. At second and third, Engeln (9:05.13) and Lijoi (9:06.53) were also under the previous meet record.

Men’s 200 Yard Individual Medley – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 1:41.61  3/14/2018   Marius Kusch, Queens (NC)
• Meet Record: 1:41.61  3/14/2018   Marius Kusch, Queens (NC)
• Pool Record: 1:43.96  3/12/2014   Matthew Josa, Queens (NC)

Podium:

1. Emanuel Fava, Delta State 1:44.10
2. Alexander Kunert, Queens 1:45.98
3. Harry Shalamon, Grand Valley 1:46.09

Delta State freshman Emanuel Fava snapped the three-year Queens winning streak in the men’s 200 IM with a dominant performance from lane 6, after qualifying fourth for tonight’s final out of morning heats. Fava went 2.63 seconds faster in finals than in prelims, improving his splits in all four strokes. (In finals he went 22.50-25.63-30.50-25.37 vs 23.12-26.06-32.03-25.52 in the morning.)

Queens sophomore Alexander Kunert, swimming in lane 4 after qualifying first this morning, had the quickest butterfly with 22.45. Fava (22.50), Grand Valley’s Harry Shalamon (22.55) and Nova S’eastern’s Aleksei Averchenko (22.66) were just behind Kunert at the start of backstroke. Fava left everyone behind over the next 50 yards, splitting 25.63 on the back and leading by a body length over Averchenko at the back-to-breast wall. Fava led by 1.4 seconds over second-place Shalamon at the 150, with Nova S’eastern’s Samuel Brettmann in third after a field-leading 29.91 on the breast. Jan Delkeskamp of Queens had joined pulled even with his classmate Kunert at the 150, and with the exception of Fava who was way out front, it was anyone’s race to the finish.

Fava came home in 25.37 to get the win with 1:44.10, just missing Matthew Josa’s pool record. Kunert passed Shalamon, Brettman, and Delkeskamp with 25.17 on the end. Shalamon touched out Brettmann for third. Simon Fraser’s Collyn Gagne went from 7th to tied-for-4th thanks to a final 50 of 24.88.

Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 19.17  11/30/2017  David Lambert, Oklahoma Baptist
• Meet Record: 19.18  3/10/2016   Serghei Golban, Lindenwood
• Pool Record: 19.66  3/11/2020   Spencer Daily, UC San Diego

Podium:

1. Spencer Daily, UC San Diego 19.58
2. Gregg Lichinsky, McKendree 19.69
3. Giulio Brugnoni, Delta State 19.73

UC San Diego sophomore Spencer Daily, who had broken the pool record in prelims with 19.66, took another .08 off that mark with 19.58 in the final. It was a photo finish as lanes 4, 5, and 6 all seemed to come to the wall together. Gregg Lichinsky of McKendree was .11 behind Daily for second place, while Delta State’s Giulio Brugnoni was another .04 back with 19.73. Daily won the consolation final last year as a freshman, while Brugnoni tied for second place in the A final.

McKendree, who is looking to unseat Queens after their five-year run at the top, scored again in the A final as Alexander Skinner finished fourth with 19.76. The Royals earned points from Dmytro Sydorchenko who touched eighth (20.06).

Men’s 200 Yard Medley Relay – Finals

• NCAA DII Record: 1:24.83  3/14/2018   Queens (NC) (Pijulet, Arakelian, Kusch, Sydorchenko)
• Meet Record: 1:24.83  3/14/2018   Queens (NC) (Pijulet, Arakelian, Kusch, Sydorchenko)
• Pool Record: 1:26.02  3/12/2014   Wayne State (J Molina Perez, P Jachowicz, S Holm, T Barthel)

Podium:

1. McKendree 1:25.29
2. Indy 1:25.80
3. Delta State 1:26.03

McKendry knocked .73 off the pool record in the final with their winning 1:25.29 from DaVante Carey (21.45), John Heaphy (23.82), Gregg Lichinsky (20.57), and Alexander Skinner (19.45). From Carey’s leadoff backstroke, the Bearcats seized control and never let go. Indy (Jeron Thompson, Jan Zuchowicz, Kael Yorke, Victor Antonon) was within 1/10 of McKendry through the breaststroke but Yorke couldn’t keep pace with Lichinsky on the fly. Despite Antonon’s 19.42 anchor, Indy touched second with 1:25.80. Delta State (Emanuel Fava, Ganyyil Gayuk, Giulio Brugnoni, Tucker Schroer) were thid with 1:26.03.

The Queens relay, swimming in lane 8, was DQd for an early takeoff, giving a blow to their chances for a sixth straight team title.

Men’s Team Scores – Day 1

1. McKendree 92
2. Delta State 70
3. Nova Southeastern 68.5
4. Queens (NC) 63
5. Drury 61
6. Indianapolis 56
7. UC San Diego 47.5
8. Fresno Pacific 41
9. Missouri S&T 36
10. (tie) Emmanuel 34 / Lindenwood 34
11. –
12. Carson-Newman 33
13. Wingate 32
14. Grand Valley 30
15. Simon Fraser 14.5
16. Lewis 12.5
17. Northern Michigan 7
18. Colorado Mesa 6
19. (tie) Tampa 5 / Wayne State 5
20. –
21. (tie) Findlay 2 / St. Cloud State 2
22. –
23. Saint Leo 1