2022 NCAA Division II Women’s Championships – Day 1 Prelims Live Recap

2022 NCAA Division II Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 9 – Saturday, March 12, 2022
• Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
• Times: Prelims 10:00 AM / Finals 6:00 PM
• Defending Champs: Queens women (6x) & Queens men (6x) – (Results)
• Digital Meet Program
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Psych Sheet – Women
• SwimSwam Fan Guide – Women

The first morning session of the 2022 NCAA Division II Championships will feature prelims of the women’s 200 IM and 50 free, followed by the slower heats of the 1000 free.

2021 champion Marizel Van Jaarsveld of Indy will try to defend her title in the 200 IM. She comes in seeded third with 2:00.32, behind Colorado Mesa’s Lily Borgenheimer (1:59.20) and Nova S’eastern’s Savanna Best (1:59.29). Van Jaarsveld’s teammate Katie McCoy is also a contender with 2:00.35.

Johanna Buys of Indy leads a tight field in the 50 free with 22.52. Defending champion Danielle Melilli of Queens (22.53), MSU Mankato’s Kate Flynn (22.53), and Luna Mertins from Lynn (22.74) are the headliners in the sprint free event.

In the 1000 free, the 8 fastest swimmers by seed time will swim with finals tonight. The other entrants, led by Tampa’s Megan Goldthorpe (10:10.72) and Marina Amorim of Drury (10:10.90), will swim timed finals this morning/afternoon. At the conclusion of the event tonight, all the times will be sorted and there could very well be swimmers from the earlier heats on the podium.

Women’s 200 Individual Medley – Prelims

• NCAA DII Record: 1:55.63 – Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC) (2016)
• Meet Record: 1:55.63 – Patri Castro Ortega, Queens (NC) (2016)
• 2021 Champion: Marizel Van Jaarsveld, Indy – 1:57.84

Finals qualifiers:

1. Marizel Van Jaarsveld, Indy – 2:00.12
2. Bec Cross, Drury – 2:00.26
3. Celina Marquez, Nova S’eastern – 2:00.33
4. Tova Andersson, Queens – 2:01.08
5. Kennedy Lowen, Simon Fraser – 2:01.15
6. Katie McCoy, Indy – 2:01.44
7. Lily Borgenheimer, Colorado Mesa – 2:01.71
8. Aleksandra Maslova, Nova S’eastern – 2:01.76
9. Savanna Best, Nova S’eastern – 2:01.89
10. Paige Mikesell, IUP – 2:02.10
11. May Lowy, Nova S’eastern – 2:02.81
12. Mady Barnes, Tampa – 2:03.18
13. Tayla Tennant, Queens – 2:03.41
14. Lyssa Wood, Lindenwood – 2:03.81
15. (tie) Caroline Lawrence, Queens / Cecilie Jensen, Carson-Newman – 2:03.83

Cecilie Jensen of Carson-Newman kicked off the 2022 NCAA Division II Championships with a big 1.3-second drop from the outside lane to win heat 1 of the women’s 200 IM in 2:03.83. She had a strong breaststroke leg and was able to hold off a fast-charging Maike Jung of Queens over the freestyle to hang on for the win.

Lyssa Wood of Lindenwood came from behind over the second half of the race to win heat 2 with 2:03.80, just .02 off her seed time. Caroline Lawrence of Queens (2:03.83) was second in the heat, just ahead of teammate Mia Leech (2:03.90) and Claire Conover of Drury (2:03.97).

Aleksandra Maslova of Nova S’eastern got out to the early lead in heat 3, but Marizel Van Jaarsveld of Indy and Bec Cross of Drury crushed the breaststroke to take over the lead. The pair battled it out in the middle lanes over the second half of the race, with Van Jaarsveld just holding off Cross, 2:00.12 to 2:00.26. Maslova touched third in 2:01.76, followed by Mady Barnes of Tampa (2:03.18).

Nova S’eastern swept the next heat, with Celina Marquez (2:00.33), Savanna Best (2:01.89), and May Lowy (2:02.81) finishing 1-2-3.

The final heat was a photo finish between Tova Andersson of Queens (2:01.08) and Simon Fraser’s Kennedy Loewen (2:01.15) for first place and Katie McCoy of Indy (2:01.44) and Colorado Mesa’s Lily Borgenheimer (2:01.71) for third. Andersson overcame Loewen on the freestyle leg to win that battle. McCoy’s strong first half gave her the lead she needed to hold off a fast-charging Borgenheimer over the second half.

Women’s 50 Freestyle – Prelims

• NCAA DII Record: 22.20 – Bailee Nunn, Drury (2017)
• Meet Record: 22.20 – Bailee Nunn, Drury (2017)
• 2021 Champion: Danielle Melilli, Queens (NC) – 22.57

Finals qualifiers:

1. Danielle Melilli, Queens – 22.33
2. Luna Mertins, Lynn – 22.72
3. Monica Gumina, Queens – 23.10
4. Johanna Buys, Indy – 22.81
5. Elizaveta Bazarova, Tampa – 22.86
6. Ester Rizzeto, West Florida – 22.88
7. Kate Flynn, MSU Mankato – 22.99
8. Yasmin Preusse, Drury – 23.04
9. (tie) McKayla Siemiller, Lindenwood / Mackenzie Wieberg, Drury – 23.11
10. –
11. Cassie Wright, Nova S’eastern – 23.14
12. Leticia Vaselli, Indy – 23.20
13. Kiara Pozvai, Henderson St. – 23.22
14. Jazzy Hoffmann, Florida Southern – 23.23
15. Joselle Mensah, Lindenwood – 23.26
16. Cece Mayer, Queens, 23.29

Defending champion Danielle Melilli of Queens put up the top time of the morning, winning the first circle-seeded heat with 22.33, a drop of .32 from her seed time and .24 faster than her winning time in finals last year. Behind her were Elizaveta Bazarova of Tampa (22.86) and Ester Rizzeto from West Florida (22.88).

Kate Flynn of MSU Mankato won the next heat in a tight race with Yasmin Preusse of Drury. Flynn pulled it out to go 22.99 to Preusse’s 23.04. That .03 drop for Preusse from her seed time was just enough to squeeze into the A final tonight. Her teammate Mackenzie Wieberg dropped .15 to finished third in the heat with 23.11.

Luna Mertins of Lynn claimed the final heat with 22.72, just .01 ahead of Queens’s Monica Gumina (22.73). Johanna Buys of Indy placed third in the heat (22.81), with McKayla Siemiller of Lindenwood touching fourth (23.11).

There was a three-way swim-off for first alternate, with Isabelle Sering of St. Leo, Natalie Van Noy of Queens, and Krystal Caylor of Indy all notching 23.33s in heats. Only Sering went faster in the swim-off, clocking a 23.05 for the win.

Swimoff for 17th place:

1. Isabelle Sering, St. Leo – 23.05
2. Krystal Caylor, Indy – 23.42
3. Natalie Van Noy, Queens – 23.50

Women’s 1000 Freestyle – Slower Heats

• NCAA DII Record: 9:43.70 – Georgia Wright, West Chester (2020)
• Meet Record: 9:43.70 – Georgia Wright, West Chester (2020)
• 2021 Champion: Allison Weber, Drury – 9:53.12

Top 8 finishers:

1. Megan Goldthorpe, Tampa – 10:10.40
2. Marina Amorim, Drury – 10:10.74
3. Amber Rydzewski, Queens – 10:11.83
4. Keely Durkin, West Chester – 10:12.02
5. Jordan Fox, Wayne State – 10:12.53
6. Jana Hellenschmidt, Lindenwood – 10:13.08
7. Rachel Peden, Carson-Newman – 10:14.83
8. Rebecca Dany, Queens – 10:15.62

The fastest heat (by seed time) of the women’s 1000 free will swim in finals tonight. The other five heat competed this morning, swimming fastest-to-slowest. In heat 2, the action was centered in the middle two lanes with a back-and-forth battle between Megan Goldthorpe of Tampa and Drury’s Marina Amorim. Amorim took over the lead from Goldthorpe at around the 300 and remained in front by about half a body for the next 500 yards. Goldthorpe caught the leader at the 800 and took over the lead. The two battled it out all the way down the stretch, with Goldthorpe getting the touch, 10:10.40 to 10:10.74. Amber Rydzewski of Queens touched out West Chester’s Keely Durkin, 10:11.83 to 10:12.02, for third.

Rebecca Dany of Queens led the next heat, with Neta Schiff of Nova S’eastern just behind. Dany put Schiff in her wake at the 750 and continued to build her lead over the last 250 yards. Dany won in 10:15.62. Shiff came to the wall in 10:20.48 for second.

Heat 4 was the most exciting race. The leaders were in the outside lanes, with Jordan Fox of Wayne State in lane 8 and Jana Hellenschmidt from Lindenwood in lane 1. They were both several body lengths ahead of the rest of the field at the halfway mark. Meanwhile, Erin McCann of Florida Southern in lane 7 and Yael Danieli from West Florida in lane 2 were competing for third place. It was a mad rush home on the bell lap, and when the waves settled it was Fox (10:12.53) with the win and a 7.9-second improvement; Hellenschmidt (10:13.08) in second with a 7-second drop; McCann (10:18.33); and Danieli (10:20.58).

Heat 5 proved to be another excellent race (who said distance freestyle was boring?), with Binna Traustadottir of Indy taking the lead early on and Carson-Newman’s Rachel Peden holding her position about half a body behind. Peden made her move at the 750 and was already a body length in front of Traustadottir at the 800. Peden finished with 10:14.83, a drop of nearly 7 seconds, while Traustadottir clocked in at 10:17.43 for a 4-second improvement.

The action in the final heat was in the middle of the pool, with Emma Hapkiewicz of Bentley in lane 4 and Morgan Gullette of Drury in lane 5 trading stroke-for-stroke throughout most of the race. Hapkiewicz broke away at the 900 and ended up winning by over 2 seconds, 10:21.71 to 10:23.80.