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)
- Live Stream
- Live Results
- Women’s Psych Sheet
The 2022 NCAA Division II Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships kick off Wednesday, March 9 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The six-time defending champions, Queens University of Charlotte, will be seeking to extend their winning streak to seven years in a row (with the caveat that there was no national champion in 2020*). The Royals come into the meet heavily favored with 18 swimmers, 14 of whom are projected to score with 30 swims. And that doesn’t include relays, where Queens is seeded first in four events, and second in the fifth.
(*The 2020 Division II national championship meet was stopped between prelims and finals on Day 2 amid growing concerns about the COVID pandemic. Divisions I and III, scheduled to begin a week later in mid-March 2020, were canceled altogether.)
Battling for second place, and trying to dethrone the Royals, will be Indy, Nova S’eastern, and Drury. Drury University, who won ten straight national titles from 2005 to 2014 and was runner-up last year, has qualified 16 swimmers, of which ten are expected to score in the top 16. University of Indianapolis could be a real threat for Queens this year, with 14 swimmers and three scoring divers. Nova Southeastern University has 9 swimmers, but five of them come into the meet ranked either #1 or #2 in at least one event.
Stars
Diving
Half of the top-8 finishers in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events are back again this year. Gracyn Segard of Grand Valley State, who won the 2021 national titles on both boards is entered, as is Colorado Mesa’s Jolynn Harris, runner-up in 3-meter, and St. Cloud State’s Madison Brinkman, who placed second in 1-meter. Kelsey DeJesus of West Florida and Mandy Baird from Northern Michigan, top-8 All-Americans in both 2020 and 2021, are also back this year. (In 2020, the women were able to complete the 3-meter diving event before the meet was shut down.)
Other names to watch out for include Mikaela Starr and Kamila Podsiadlo of UIndy; Mikaela Senkus and Marissa Woida of Wayne State; Clarion’s Anna Catherine Vogt; Colorado Mesa’s Ali Lange and Kyra Apodaca; Regan Gubera of McKendree; and Elizabeth Caird from Saginaw Valley.
Freestyle
Indy brings the heat in sprint freestyle, with 2021 runner-up Johanna Buys headlining the 50 free qualifiers (22.52) and both Krystal Caylor (49.88) and Buys (50.11) ranked among the top-8 in the 100 free. Danielle Melilli of Queens, the defending champion in the 50 and runner-up in the 100, ranks third and second in the respective events (22.65/49.35). Esther Rizzetto of West Florida is top seed in the 100 free (49.30), after having won the bronze medal last year; she is also a top-8 seed in the 50 free (22.31). Kate Flynn from MSU Mankato is ranked second in the 50 and sixth in the 100 (22.53/49.97), and Ann Carozza from West Chester, a 2020 All-American in the 50 free, is third in the 100 (49.63) and eighth in the 50 (22.98).
Monica Gumina of Queens is entered with the top times in the 200 free (1:47.03) and 500 free (4:47.98) and is the #4 seed in the 100 free (49.68). Her entry time in the 200 is 2 seconds faster than the next qualifier and her 500 time is nearly 4 seconds faster. Teammates Giulia Grasso in the 200 (1:49.47) and Sophia Lange in the 500 (4:51.78) are also seeded among the top 8. Lange finished third in the 500 free last year. She is seeded first in the 1000 free (9:55.79) and 1650 free (16:30.04). In 2021, she was runner-up in both events.
Allison Weber of Drury is seeded in the top-4 of the 500 free (4:52.80), 1000 free (10:01.97) and 1650 free (16:44.68). A year ago, she won the 1000 and placed third in the mile. Kate Agger from Wingate is one of the top-seeded swimmers in all three distance free events (4:53.23-5th/ 9:56.01-2nd/ 16:41.69-2nd).
Katerina Matoskova from Colorado Mesa is a threat in the mid-distance races with seed times of 1:49.73 (8th) and 4:51.77 (2nd). Two of her teammates are also ranked in the top-8 of the 200 free: Lauren White is second (1:49.18), while Kelsea Wright is sixth (1:49.55). Another teammate, Amelia Kinnard, comes in with the fifth time in the 1000 free (10:04.53) and the fourth time in the 1650 (16:40.16).
Backstroke
Nova S’eastern’s Celina Marquez leads the backstroke qualifiers in both the 100 (52.42) and 200 (1:54.54). She will be challenged in the 100 by defending champion Laura Pareja of Drury (53.44) and in the 200 by 2021 champion Katie McCoy of Indy (1:57.32). McCoy was fourth in the 100 back last year; Pareja was eighth.
Cassandra Wright of Nova S’eastern is seeded second in the 100 back (52.83) and third in the 200 back (1:57.11). Her teammate May Lowy ranks fifth in the 200 (1:58.00). Lynn’s Luna Mertins (1:56.94) will be in the mix for a podium spot in the 200. Queens’ top entrants in those distances, Vladyslava Maznytska (54.36-5th) and Tova Andersson (1:58.32-6th), are also names to watch. Tampa’s Madysen Barnes (54.84/1:59.11) is another top-8 qualifier in both events.
Breaststroke
The 2021 national champions, Melilli of Queens in the 100 and Drury’s Bec Cross in the 200, are both back to defend their respective titles. Nova S’eastern’s Savanna Best leads this year’s qualifiers in the 100 (1:00.75) and ranks second in the 200 (2:11.64). The top qualifier in the 200 breast is Colorado Mesa’s Lily Borganheimer (2:10.54); she is also fifth in the 100 (1:01.65).
Carson-Newman’s Kailee Morgan is seeded second in the 100 (1:00.89) and third in the 200 (2:13.75). Morgan was runner-up to Melilli in the 100 a year ago. Indy’s Marizel Van Jaarsveld is ranked fourth in both events (1:01.58/2:14.31). Van Jaarsveld competed in the 100 free and 200 fly, as well as the IMs which used to be her strongest events, at last year’s NCAAs. This year, she looks to be a strong contender in the breaststrokes.
Drury’s Claire Conover (1:02.40/2:14.60) and Simon Fraser’s Isabelle Roth (1:02.25/2:14.70) are seed top-8 in both events. Defending champions Melilli (1:01.51) and Cross (2:16.63) are third and 11th.
Butterfly
West Chester’s Carozza tops the qualifiers in both the 100 fly (52.67) and 200 fly (1:57.94). That puts her within half a second of the meet record in the 100 and within a second in the 200. Nova’s Aleksandra Maslova, who placed ninth in both events last year, ranks second in the 200 (1:58.23) and fifth in the 100 (53.85). Her teammates Celina Marquez (53.58-4th) and Lowy (1:59.58-7th) are also top-8 seeds in the 100 and 200, respectively.
Drury has a pair of threats in the fly, with Aurora Duncan (1:59.11) and Rafaela Raurich (1:59.21) seeded #3 and #4 in the 200 fly. Raurich is seventh in the 100 (54.14), as well.
Celeste Turner of Delta State, the 2021 NCAA champion in the 200 fly, is seeded eight in both events (54.27/1:59.79). Lynn’s Mertens is third/fifth (53.45/1:59.27) in the 100/200, and Rizzetto of West Florida ranks #6 in the 100 (54.10).
Individual Medley
Colorado Mesa’s Borgenheimer notched the season’s #1 times in both the 200 IM (1:59.20) and 400 IM (4:15.57) and is thus the top seed in the two events. She shares that rung of the ladder in the 400 IM with Nova’s Lowy (4:15.57). Lowy’s teammate Best is seeded second in the 200 IM (1:59.29) and third in the 400 IM (4:15.85).
Drury’s Cross, who won the 400 IM at the 2021 NCAA Championships, ranks #7 in the 400 IM (4:18.50) and #6 in the 200 IM (2:00.82). Van Jaarsveld of Indy, the 200 IM champion last year, comes in with the #3 time in the 200 (2:00.32) and the #4 time in the 400 (4:16.33). Her teammate McCoy, last year’s runner-up in the 200, is seeded second in that event this year (2:00.35).
Queens’ top entrant in the IMs is Andersson, who ranks seventh in the 200 (2:00.91) and sixth in the 400 (4:17.75).
Team Race
The top women’s ten teams from the psych sheet, including distance events, diving, and relays, are as follows:
- Queens (NC) – 510
- UIndy – 458
- Nova S’eastern – 433
- Drury – 384
- Colorado Mesa – 340
- West Chester – 205
- Lindenwood – 146
- Tampa – 144
- MSU Mankato – 124
- Wingate – 121
4-Day Schedule – Finals
Wednesday, March 9
- 200-yard medley relay
- 1000-yard freestyle
- 200-yard individual medley
- 50-yard freestyle
- 1-meter diving (M)
- 200-yard freestyle relay
Thursday, March 10
- 100-yard butterfly
- 400-yard individual medley
- 200-yard freestyle
- 3-meter diving (W)
- 400-yard medley relay
Friday, March 11
- 500-yard freestyle
- 100-yard backstroke
- 100-yard breaststroke
- 200-yard butterfly
- 3-meter diving (M)
- 800-yard freestyle relay
Saturday, March 12
- 1650-yard freestyle
- 100-yard freestyle
- 200-yard backstroke
- 200-yard breaststroke
- 1-meter diving (W)
- 400-yard freestyle relay
Go mavericks!