INDIANAPOLIS -- Taking their first NCAA National Team Titles, the men's and women's swim teams of Queens (N.C.) took hold of the Division II Swimming and Diving Championship on Saturday, March 14, 2015, with an astonishing 540.5 on the women's side and 433.5 points on the men's side. The Royals grabbed a total of 12 national records during the four-day competition with two more coming in tonight's events.
Queens would upset Drury who had an impressive 10 year run on the men's side and took six of the last eight years on the women's side. Queens saw a total of 19 first place finishes in the school's first team national championship.
Matthew Josa took the men's Swimmer of the Meet award with Patricia Castro-Ortega taking the Women's Swimmer of the Meet Award. Head Coach Jeff Dugdale grabbed both the men's and women's Coach of the Meet Award to round out the Royals trek to the title.Patricia Castro-Ortega broke the first record of the evening, setting a new NCAA national record in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 48.92 and adding to her list of four individual NCAA Standards.
Queens' second record of the evening fell in the women's 400-yard freestyle relay which grabbed a 3:18.75. Castro-Ortega took lead in the race followed by Lillian Gordy, Alexandra Marshall, and Caroline Arakelian, respectively.
Nicholas Arakelian took a first place in the men's 1650-yard freestyle. His time took the school record with a 15:10.33 touch. Alex Menke joined Arakelian on the podium taking the third place for the meet with a 15:16.84.
Continuing to dominate the meet, Matthew Josa added the 200-yard backstroke to his list of accomplishments. Josa's swim of 1:41:45 took the first place spot for the competition.
Queens proved powerful in the 1650-yard freestyle with Meridith Boudreaux taking a sixth place touch at 16:53.23 with Kathryn Johnston following close behind with the 12th seeding time of 17:00.62. McKenzie Stevens added on more to the score board with 17:04.50 and a 14th overall rank.
Lillian Gordy combined with Castro-Ortega in the 100-yard freestyle finding her way to the wall for a seventh place finish with a time of 50.08.
Continuing to add points to the board, C. Arakelian raced for a third place finish in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:57.66.
Niclas Eriksson took the podium in the 200-yard breaststroke finding a second place touch. Eriksson flew threw the water to take a 1:55.65 time narrowly missing the gold medal.
The men's side of the 400-yard freestyle relay found Hayden Kosater, Zachary Phelps, Eriksson and Ben Taylor, respectively, taking seventh place with a time of 2:58.33.
Taking the top spot in the 100-yard freestyle, Alexandra Marshall touched first with a time of 50.59, adding to Royals' success in the consolation heat for ninth overall.
In a highly competitive race, Phelps, John Suther, and Taylor put points on the board for the team as they worked their way through the consolation heat. Phelps took a 1:46.96 11th place touch. Suther took the 12th rank with a 1:47.10 while Taylor took 14th with a 1:48.50.
Continuing the success of the consolation heats, William Hicks found a third place touch in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:59.31, improving from his seed time of 2:01.32, a personal best.
