Men’s records fall on Day 3

MANSFIELD, Texas —Eleven individual champions were crowned Friday evening at the Division II Swimming and Diving Championship. 

Three records fell during the course of the evening’s events as records were set in the men’s 500-yard freestyle, the men’s 100-yard backstroke and the men’s 800-yard freestyle relay.

2012 DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIPS
Day 3 Results
Full Day 3 Replay: Men  Women
Feature: For UC San Diego, two heads are better than one
Day 2 Results
Full Day 2 Replay: Men  Women
Feature: Ak.-Anchorage coach building winner
Day 1 Results
Full Day 1 Replay: Men  Women
Feature: Nova Southeastern makes waves

Nova Southeastern junior Erin Black won the first event of the evening, the women’s 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:49.86.

“We went into Erin’s preparation completely relaxed,” Nova head coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron said. “I was preparing her to go under 4:50 and the pace was right on. I told her she didn’t have to win it, but I wanted her to win it.”

Wingate sophomore Iaroslav Denysenko set an NCAA record in the men’s 500-yard freestyle by turning in a time of 4:21.48. Denysenko’s swim eclipsed CSU Bakersfield’s
Vlasta Burda mark of 4:22.58 set a decade earlier.

Julie Widmann, a junior from Ashland, won the women’s 100-yard backstronke with a time of 55.66.

“It is such a blessing to win,” she said after receiving her first-place trophy. “Everyone in the heat was so good. It was a tough race to win, but I’m glad it turned out the way it did.”

Bridgeport’s Oscar Pereiro tied his own record he set the previous night in the men’s 100-yard backstroke. Pererio, a sophomore from Spain, set the NCAA record for the backstroke on Thursday night in the men’s 400 yard medley. Pereiro was eligible to for the backstroke record because he led off the men’s medley.

Kayla Scott failed to break her record time of 1:01.58 in the women’s 100-yard breaststroke that she set during Friday morning’s preliminaries. Scott, a Wayne State (Mich.) sophomore won the championship event with a time of 1:02.16.

Eetu Karvonen won the men’s 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 53.29.

“It was a really tight race,” the Grand Canyon junior said. “I was just holding back for the last 25 [yards] and luckily I was able to catch them. It feels really great to win”

Jaclyn Hynson from Indiana (Pa.) won the women’s 200-yard butterfly by setting a national record time of 1:58.84.  She edged out Southern Connecticut’s Amanda Thomas for the win.

“Amanda is just an awesome competitor,” Hynson, a senior, said after the race. “This was just a great way for me to end my career.”

Grand Valley State’s Aaron Beebe turned in the day’s best time in the men’s 200-yard butterfly with 1:44.00.

Lindsey Taylor of Wingate won the women’s 1-meter dive.

The Wayne State (Mich.) women won the women’s 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:22.27

In the final event of the night, Florida Southern’s men’s team set an NCAA record by turning in a time of 6:27.73 and breaking Drury’s 2009 mark by nearly three seconds.

Defending men’s and women’s champion Drury sits in first place in the men’s division and the women’s team is currently in third place.

“Not a lot of good swimming for us in the morning, but a lot better this evening,” Drury coach Brian Reynolds said. “It’s really going to come down tomorrow to see if we can pile on the points in the sprint and distance events. The key for our guys is to swim really well tomorrow morning in the prelims and make sure we don’t leave anybody out of the finals that should be in there to score.

“For the women, it’s pretty tough to come back from a 55-point deficit, but we’re going to see what we can do. It’d be probably the biggest comeback that I’ve ever seen in the national meet. Not impossible, but pretty tough.”