Women Move Up, Men Remain in Sixth at DII National Championship
Indianapolis, Ind. - The University of Findlay men's and women's swimming and diving teams participated on the fourth day of the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving National Championships on Friday, March 10. The event is being held at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Findlay's men remained steady on Friday and remain in sixth with 195.5 points scored while the women moved up one spot from yesterday, now in 21st.
The Oilers' first participant of the finals was sophomore Sasha Melnyk who earned second team all-American in the women's 100 backstroke. She earned her way into the consolation finals with a prelim time of 55.63 and her finals time of 55.68 was good for 16th.
One of the more electric events of the night was turned in by senior Tim Stollings in the men's 100 backstroke. Stollings was the second-fastest in the prelims and in Friday's finals, left it all in the pool, touching the wall in a time of 46.34, a new school record. That time was good for runner-up in the event, the second time in his career that Stollings has been national runner-up in the 100 back.
In the men's 100 breaststroke, junior Daniel Garcia and junior Luca Chiandussi took to the water and both came away with first team all-American status. Garcia led through 50 yards but was narrowly defeated at the end and took third with a time of 52.87, just .22 seconds behind the winner. Chiandussi, who has shown incredible growth in the pool this season, picked up his first all-American award of his career by finishing in a tie for sixth with a time of 53.24.
Sophomore Camilo Marrugo added to his collection of awards from this meet by taking second-team all-American in the 200 butterfly. His time of 1:49.87 was good for 16th.
The final events of the night were the always dramatic 200 freestyle relays. Findlay's women swam in the second heat and ended the event with the 12th-best time. Freshman Troie Grubbs, freshman Emily Mears-Bentley, sophomore Macy May, and sophomore Sydney Jones teammed up to finish in a time of 1:33.34.
Findlay's men took on the 200 frees relay, as well, as Marrugo, Stollings, freshman Zein Kawas, and junior Dags Bregis combined for a time of 1:19.93 which was good for tenth, earning second team all-American.
Saturday, March 11 is the final day of competition.