NCAA Division II Championships: Alex Kunert Wins Third 200 Fly Title; Ward Lockhart Scores Second Win of Meet

alex-kunert-
Queens' Alex Kunert -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

NCAA Division II Championships: Alex Kunert Wins Third 200 Fly Title; Ward Lockhart Scores Second Win of Meet

The Queens men lead the team standings by more than 80 points at the NCAA Division II Championships, but Drury continues to lurk after finishing just 30 points behind Queens at last year’s meet. On Friday, Queens captured two individual wins, from Finn Howard in the 100 backstroke and Alex Kunert in the 200 butterfly, and Kunert’s national title was his third in the event after previously winning in 2019 and 2021 (while the 2020 national meet was cancelled). Queens had a lead of 85.5 points by the end of the night after winning the 800 freestyle relay for a third relay win this week.

Meanwhile, Rollins’ Ward Lockhart captured the win in the 500 free for his second title of the meet after winning the 1000 free Wednesday while Florida Southern freshman Ludo Viberti was the winner in the 100 breaststroke.

2022 NCAA Division II Championship Links

Men’s  Team Scores

Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 31                      
 
  1. Queens (Nc)                     470.5   2. Drury                             385
  3. Indy                              338   4. McKendree                         236
  5. Colorado Mesa                     200   6. Lindenwood                        156
  7. Findlay                           153   8. Florida Southern                  143
  9. Wingate                         133.5  10. Nova S'Eastern                    117
 11. Grand Valley                       96  12. Oklahoma Christian                 94
 13. Delta State                        91  14. Simon Fraser                       84
 15. Wayne State                        72  16. Rollins                            67
 17. Carson-Newman                      54  18. Missouri S & T                     52
 19. Henderson St.                      28  20. Nmu                                27
 21. St Cloud St                        26  22. Lewis                              16
 22. Clarion University                 16  24. Florida Tech                       15
 25. Saint Leo                           8  26. UT Permian Basin                    7
 27. Lenoir-Rhyne                        5  28. Saginaw Valley State Univ           4
 29. Southern Conn                       3  30. Fresno Pacific                      1
 30. Lynn                                1  30. Emmanuel                            1

Men’s 500 Freestyle

Rollins’ Ward Lockhart, already the winner of the 1000 free at the Division II Championships, was in a tight battle with Oklahoma Christian’s Victor Rosado and Nova Southeastern’s Luca Alessandrini, but he took off over the final 150 yards of the race and pulled away to capture a second title. Lockhart touched in 4:20.44, more than 2.5 seconds ahead of his competition. Rosado claimed second in 4:23.11, while Alessandrini took third in 4:23.71.

Event 22  Men 500 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 4:17.09  3/11/2016 Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC)
         Meet: M 4:17.09  3/11/2016 Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC)
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Lockhart, Ward         SO Rollins           4:23.84    4:20.44   20  
    r:+0.70  24.13        50.24 (26.11)
        1:16.85 (26.61)     1:43.79 (26.94)
        2:10.79 (27.00)     2:37.59 (26.80)
        3:04.38 (26.79)     3:30.42 (26.04)
        3:55.66 (25.24)     4:20.44 (24.78)
  2 Rosado, Victor         FR OCU               4:24.56    4:23.11   17  
    r:+0.67  24.02        50.28 (26.26)
        1:16.99 (26.71)     1:43.74 (26.75)
        2:10.51 (26.77)     2:37.47 (26.96)
        3:04.47 (27.00)     3:31.34 (26.87)
        3:57.87 (26.53)     4:23.11 (25.24)
  3 Alessandrini, Luca     FR Nova S'eastern    4:23.81    4:23.71   16  
    r:+0.70  24.03        50.19 (26.16)
        1:16.65 (26.46)     1:43.45 (26.80)
        2:10.27 (26.82)     2:37.11 (26.84)
        3:04.00 (26.89)     3:31.23 (27.23)
        3:58.05 (26.82)     4:23.71 (25.66)
  4 Erwee, Luke            SR Queens (NC)       4:24.50    4:23.74   15  
    r:+0.69  23.93        50.18 (26.25)
        1:16.89 (26.71)     1:43.77 (26.88)
        2:10.85 (27.08)     2:37.92 (27.07)
        3:04.67 (26.75)     3:31.71 (27.04)
        3:58.22 (26.51)     4:23.74 (25.52)
  5 Oliveira, Elder        JR Florida Southern  4:24.08    4:24.16   14  
    r:+0.74  23.68        49.60 (25.92)
        1:15.89 (26.29)     1:42.59 (26.70)
        2:09.42 (26.83)     2:36.34 (26.92)
        3:03.56 (27.22)     3:31.00 (27.44)
        3:58.24 (27.24)     4:24.16 (25.92)
  6 Marcos, Miguel         FR Wingate           4:24.15    4:24.65   13  
    r:+0.69  24.25        50.66 (26.41)
        1:17.58 (26.92)     1:44.51 (26.93)
        2:11.55 (27.04)     2:38.72 (27.17)
        3:05.87 (27.15)     3:33.00 (27.13)
        3:59.26 (26.26)     4:24.65 (25.39)
  7 Wenk, Sebastian        SR Indy              4:25.16    4:28.32   12  
    r:+0.69  24.14        50.34 (26.20)
        1:17.43 (27.09)     1:44.56 (27.13)
        2:11.90 (27.34)     2:39.32 (27.42)
        3:06.53 (27.21)     3:33.94 (27.41)
        4:01.42 (27.48)     4:28.32 (26.90)
  8 Hegazy, Mohamed        SR Queens (NC)       4:25.00    4:32.94   11  
    r:+0.76  24.06        50.34 (26.28)
        1:17.36 (27.02)     1:44.96 (27.60)
        2:12.88 (27.92)     2:41.05 (28.17)
        3:09.14 (28.09)     3:37.34 (28.20)
        4:05.64 (28.30)     4:32.94 (27.30)

Men’s 100 Backstroke

In the team competition between Queens and Drury, Queens got a big win here as Finn Howard held off a pair of Drury sophomores to win the national title. Howard finished in 45.82 to beat out a surging Karol Ostrowski, who ended up just eight hundredths back in 45.90. Third place went to Drury’s Mikita Tsmyh in 46.12.

Event 24  Men 100 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 45.09  3/15/2019 Marius Kusch, Queens (NC)
         Meet: M 45.09  3/15/2019 Marius Kusch, Queens (NC)
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Howard, Finn           JR Queens (NC)         46.87      45.82   20  
    r:+0.65  21.80        45.82 (24.02)
  2 Ostrowski, Karol       SO Drury               46.81      45.90   17  
    r:+0.73  22.03        45.90 (23.87)
  3 Tsmyh, Mikita          SO Drury               46.64      46.12   16  
    r:+0.80  22.18        46.12 (23.94)
  4 Sampson, Ben           SO Colorado Mesa       46.95      46.38   15  
    r:+0.64  22.27        46.38 (24.11)
  5 Dyck, Brandon          5Y Florida Southern    46.70      46.52   14  
    r:+0.59  22.12        46.52 (24.40)
  6 Bauch, Alexander       FR Queens (NC)         46.78      46.62   13  
    r:+0.70  22.33        46.62 (24.29)
  7 Aizenberg, Daniel      JR Florida Tech        46.64      46.77   12  
    r:+0.66  22.44        46.77 (24.33)
  8 Stollings, Tim         JR Findlay             46.97      46.86   11  
    r:+0.78  22.41        46.86 (24.45)

Men’s 100 Breaststroke

In a battle between youth and experience, Florida Southern’s Ludo Viberti came from behind to beat Indy fifth-year swimmer Jan Zuchowicz in the 100 breast. Viberti finished in 52.35, just ahead of Zuchowicz in 52.41. Not far away was another freshman, Oklahoma Christian’s JT Amrein in 52.63.

Event 26  Men 100 Yard Breaststroke
=========================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 51.63  3/13/2015 Anton Lobanov, Nova S'eastern
         Meet: M 51.63  3/13/2015 Anton Lobanov, Nova S'eastern
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Viberti, Ludo          FR Florida Southern    52.80      52.35   20  
    r:+0.67  24.52        52.35 (27.83)
  2 Zuchowicz, Jan         5Y Indy                52.68      52.41   17  
    r:+0.69  24.43        52.41 (27.98)
  3 Amrein, JT             FR OCU                 53.04      52.63   16  
    r:+0.65  24.63        52.63 (28.00)
  4 Selvaraj Prema, Likit  JR Indy                52.84      52.79   15  
    r:+0.61  24.77        52.79 (28.02)
  5 Zampese, Matteo        SO Florida Southern    53.03      53.00   14  
    r:+0.59  24.47        53.00 (28.53)
  6 Garcia Ruiz, Juan Dan  SO Findlay             53.45      53.20   13  
    r:+0.66  25.10        53.20 (28.10)
  7 Mourao, Davi           FR Drury               53.43      53.23   12  
    r:+0.67  25.08        53.23 (28.15)
  8 Nowodworski, Dawid     SR Drury               53.41      53.89   11  
    r:+0.69  24.54        53.89 (29.35)

Men’s 200 Butterfly

Queens’ Alex Kunert has never lost a 200 butterfly at the NCAA Division II Championships, with previous wins in 2019 and 2021 (while the 2020 meet was cancelled). Here, Kunert led wire-to-wire, and he won by more than a second in 1:42.44. He was a little over a second off his Division II record of 1:41.19 from 2019. McKendree’s Jack Lustig took second in 1:43.66, while Delta State’s Federico Bracco finished third in 1:44.18.

Event 28  Men 200 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 1:41.19  3/15/2019 Alex Kunert, Queens (NC)
         Meet: M 1:41.19  3/15/2019 Alex Kunert, Queens (NC)
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Kunert, Alex           SR Queens (NC)       1:43.32    1:42.44   20  
    r:+0.65  22.65        48.67 (26.02)
        1:15.19 (26.52)     1:42.44 (27.25)
  2 Lustig, Jack           FR McKendree         1:44.79    1:43.66   17  
    r:+0.68  23.23        49.34 (26.11)
        1:16.04 (26.70)     1:43.66 (27.62)
  3 Bracco, Federico       SR Delta State       1:45.06    1:44.18   16  
    r:+0.67  22.92        49.40 (26.48)
        1:16.69 (27.29)     1:44.18 (27.49)
  4 Plasil, Yannick        SO Queens (NC)       1:44.59    1:44.21   15  
    r:+0.63  23.05        49.17 (26.12)
        1:16.20 (27.03)     1:44.21 (28.01)
  5 Rodriguez, Andrew      SR Drury             1:45.26    1:44.91   14  
    r:+0.70  23.49        50.27 (26.78)
        1:17.72 (27.45)     1:44.91 (27.19)
  6 Gagne, Collyn          SR Simon Fraser      1:46.30    1:44.99   13  
    r:+0.67  23.62        50.17 (26.55)
        1:17.27 (27.10)     1:44.99 (27.72)
  7 Karacic, Dominik       JR Drury             1:45.00    1:47.50   12  
    r:+0.70  22.98        49.74 (26.76)
        1:17.69 (27.95)     1:47.50 (29.81)
  8 Brown, James           SR Drury             1:46.17    1:49.56   11  
    r:+0.67  23.39        50.38 (26.99)
        1:18.86 (28.48)     1:49.56 (30.70)

Men’s 3-Meter Diving

Colorado Mesa went 1-3 in 3-meter diving as Isaiah Cheeks scored 537.75 to finish first, beating out Indy freshman Julio Osuna Kelly (526.15). Noah Luna, also from Colorado Mesa, was third (507.55).

Event 29  Men 3 mtr Diving
=========================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 624.80  3/17/2018 Ammar Hassan, Colorado Mesa
         Meet: M 624.80  3/17/2018 Ammar Hassan, Colorado Mesa
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                             === Finals ===                              
 
  1 Cheeks, Isaiah         JR Colorado Mesa      504.25     537.75   20  
  2 Osuna Kelly, Julio     FR Indy               515.05     526.15   17  
  3 Luna, Noah             SR Colorado Mesa      495.75     507.55   16  
  4 Hammond, Cade          JR Indy               486.30     506.40   15  
  5 Earl, Charles          JR Drury              497.25     492.35   14  
  6 Lenzo, Jason           JR Indy               455.40     467.75   13  
  7 Schering, Zachary      FR Clarion            458.90     466.20   12  
  8 Belliston, Tanner      SR Colorado Mesa      475.45     454.10   11

Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay

The Queens men won a relay for the third time this week as Skyler Cook-WeeksBalasz BereczLuke Erwee and Alex Kunert finished almost four seconds ahead of the field. McKendree had the early lead and remained ahead by almost seven tenths at the final exchange, but Kunert anchored Queens in 1:34.14, by far the fastest split of the night, to completely take over the race.

McKendree’s Xander SkinnerAlireza Yavari, Leo Gandaria-Hernandez and Souza Arthur placed second in 6:28.82, and Colorado Mesa ended up third in 6:29.29 with a team of Matheus LaperriereKuba Kiszczak, Dejan Urbanek and Ben Sampson.

Event 31  Men 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
     NCAA DII: N 6:18.46  3/10/2017 Queens (NC)
                          Dreesens, Pijulet, Kusch, Arakelian
         Meet: M 6:18.46  3/10/2017 Queens (NC)
                          Dreesens, Pijulet, Kusch, Arakelian
    School                                 Seed     Finals Points 
==================================================================================
  1 Queens (NC)                         6:26.87    6:24.97   40  
     1) Cook-Weeks, Skyler SR         2) r:0.32 Berecz, Balazs JR     
     3) r:0.32 Erwee, Luke SR         4) r:0.57 Kunert, Alex SR       
    r:+0.60  22.17        46.57 (46.57)
      1:11.37 (1:11.37)   1:36.72 (1:36.72)
        1:57.67 (20.95)     2:21.59 (44.87)
      2:46.71 (1:09.99)   3:12.96 (1:36.24)
        3:35.01 (22.05)     3:59.69 (46.73)
      4:25.05 (1:12.09)   4:50.83 (1:37.87)
        5:12.23 (21.40)     5:36.14 (45.31)
      6:00.82 (1:09.99)   6:24.97 (1:34.14)
  2 McKendree                           6:30.66    6:28.82   34  
     1) Skinner, Xander 5Y            2) r:0.03 Yavari, Alireza SO    
     3) r:0.25 Gandaria Hernan Leo FR 4) r:0.16 Arthur, Souza FR      
    r:+0.67  22.43        47.12 (47.12)
      1:11.74 (1:11.74)   1:36.23 (1:36.23)
        1:57.99 (21.76)     2:22.33 (46.10)
      2:47.18 (1:10.95)   3:12.01 (1:35.78)
        3:34.07 (22.06)     3:58.75 (46.74)
      4:23.95 (1:11.94)   4:50.18 (1:38.17)
        5:13.05 (22.87)     5:38.25 (48.07)
      6:04.13 (1:13.95)   6:28.82 (1:38.64)
  3 Colorado Mesa                       6:29.87    6:29.29   32  
     1) Laperriere, Matheus JR        2) r:0.49 Kiszczak, Kuba FR     
     3) r:0.28 Urbanek, Dejan FR      4) r:0.33 Sampson, Ben SO       
    r:+0.67  22.80        47.53 (47.53)
      1:12.09 (1:12.09)   1:37.06 (1:37.06)
                            2:23.27 (46.21)
      2:48.29 (1:11.23)   3:13.45 (1:36.39)
        3:35.26 (21.81)     3:59.92 (46.47)
      4:25.67 (1:12.22)   4:51.77 (1:38.32)
        5:13.83 (22.06)     5:38.65 (46.88)
      6:04.15 (1:12.38)   6:29.29 (1:37.52)
  4 Grand Valley                        6:30.12    6:29.99   30  
     1) Bosch, Matthew FR             2) r:0.22 Miret Sala, Roger JR  
     3) r:0.21 Hieber, Eric SO        4) r:0.20 Hawkins, Keegan SR    
    r:+0.74  22.36        47.15 (47.15)
      1:11.85 (1:11.85)   1:36.44 (1:36.44)
        1:58.52 (22.08)     2:23.16 (46.72)
      2:48.47 (1:12.03)   3:14.11 (1:37.67)
        3:36.14 (22.03)     4:00.81 (46.70)
      4:26.51 (1:12.40)   4:51.96 (1:37.85)
        5:13.67 (21.71)     5:38.47 (46.51)
      6:04.12 (1:12.16)   6:29.99 (1:38.03)
  5 Lindenwood                          6:35.14    6:30.04   28  
     1) Mateos-Mongelos, Matheo SO    2) r:0.33 Linder, Zach SR       
     3) r:0.29 Krastev, Radostin FR   4) r:0.28 Jaworski, Vincent SO  
    r:+0.67  22.82        47.66 (47.66)
      1:12.74 (1:12.74)   1:37.97 (1:37.97)
        1:59.12 (21.15)     2:23.39 (45.42)
      2:48.41 (1:10.44)   3:14.38 (1:36.41)
        3:36.56 (22.18)     4:01.32 (46.94)
      4:26.51 (1:12.13)   4:52.03 (1:37.65)
        5:14.05 (22.02)     5:38.23 (46.20)
      6:03.60 (1:11.57)   6:30.04 (1:38.01)
  6 Simon Fraser                        6:36.33    6:31.47   26  
     1) Fuller, Mathew SR             2) r:0.26 Gagne, Collyn SR      
     3) r:0.36 Fath, Leo JR           4) r:0.03 Zhang, Jimmy JR       
    r:+0.68  22.49        46.83 (46.83)
      1:11.67 (1:11.67)   1:36.60 (1:36.60)
        1:58.87 (22.27)     2:22.98 (46.38)
      2:47.94 (1:11.34)   3:12.81 (1:36.21)
        3:34.69 (21.88)     3:59.20 (46.39)
      4:24.64 (1:11.83)   4:51.12 (1:38.31)
        5:13.17 (22.05)     5:38.12 (47.00)
      6:04.56 (1:13.44)   6:31.47 (1:40.35)
  7 Drury                               6:32.65    6:32.35   24  
     1) Ostrowski, Karol SO           2) r:0.27 Vandergraaf, Ean SR   
     3) r:0.19 Wahby, Ahmed 5Y        4) r:0.18 Karacic, Dominik JR   
    r:+0.72  22.13        47.03 (47.03)
      1:12.37 (1:12.37)   1:37.98 (1:37.98)
        2:00.15 (22.17)     2:24.74 (46.76)
      2:49.95 (1:11.97)   3:15.34 (1:37.36)
        3:37.33 (21.99)     4:02.85 (47.51)
      4:29.35 (1:14.01)   4:56.04 (1:40.70)
        5:17.07 (21.03)     5:41.63 (45.59)
      6:06.90 (1:10.86)   6:32.35 (1:36.31)
  8 Wingate                             6:33.66    6:32.60   22  
     1) Snitko, Marcel JR             2) r:0.04 Ohnov, Slava SR       
     3) r:0.18 Puhalovic, Bozo SO     4) r:0.25 Marcos, Miguel FR     
    r:+0.71  22.66        47.49 (47.49)
      1:12.70 (1:12.70)   1:37.63 (1:37.63)
        1:59.23 (21.60)     2:23.68 (46.05)
      2:48.83 (1:11.20)   3:14.22 (1:36.59)
        3:36.21 (21.99)     4:01.74 (47.52)
      4:28.02 (1:13.80)   4:54.31 (1:40.09)
        5:17.00 (22.69)     5:41.83 (47.52)
      6:07.10 (1:12.79)   6:32.60 (1:38.29)
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