The Wingate men completed the four-day event with 714 points. Queens University of Charlotte was second with 565 points. The third-place JHU Blue Jays had 520.5 points. Wingate head coach Kirk Sanocki received the Bob Busby Award for men’s Coach of the Year. Bulldog sophomore Iaroslav Denysenko (Poltava, Ukraine) earned BMC Swimmer of the Meet laurels for the second year in a row.
Johns Hopkins recorded 818 points to take the women’s crown for the second straight year. Wingate had 560 points as the top NCAA Division II finisher. The Bulldogs finished second to the Blue Jays in 2011 as well. Queens finished third on the 2012 team leader board with 388 points. JHU sophomore Taylor Kitayama (Boulder, Colo.) was named the BMC Swimmer of the Meet. Six-time NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year George Kennedy from Johns Hopkins won the Bob Busby Award for women’s Coach of the Year.
Denysenko won the 1650 Freestyle Saturday with an NCAA Division II "A" cut time of 15:17.40. Second-place finisher Alex Graudins from SCAD-Savannah was 16-plus seconds behind Denysenko. The Bulldogs had three student-athletes earn All-BMC honors in the 1650 Free: freshman Max Normand (Orlando, Fla.) and junior Cole Dutton (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) joined Denysenko on the All-BMC squad. Wingate freshman Kyle Riordan (Canton, Ohio) won the 1650 Free "B" final.
For the second year in a row, Denysenko won three-of-three distance races, placing first in the 500, 1000 and 1650 Freestyle events. He won the 500 Freestyle Thursday with a new meet and conference-record time of 4:22.68. The 2011 NCAA Division II national champion in the 500 Free, Denysenko missed the D-II 500 Free record by one-tenth of a second. On Wednesday, Denysenko won the 1000 Freestyle with a meet-record time of 9:04.86. He also swam the anchor leg on Wingate’s second-place 800 Freestyle Relay quartet Wednesday night.
Wingate sophomore Marko Blazevski (Skopje, Macedonia) won the 200 Butterfly Saturday, recording an NCAA Division II "B" cut time of 1:50.87. The 2011 BMC Swimmer of the Year, Blazevski won the 400 Individual Medley Friday night.
The Bulldogs had four student-athletes earn All-BMC honors in the 200 Backstroke. Sophomore Tim Kniffler (Mulheim, Germany) was second with a time of 1:49.25. SCAD-Savannah’s Ryan Searles won the event with a new meet and conference-record time of 1:46.33. Kniffler was the defending champion, as he recorded a 2011 triumphant time of 1:49.35.
Wingate occupied the sixth, seventh and eighth-place spots in the 200 Back. Freshman Chris Morris (Millville, N.J.) swam a personal-best 1:52.37 to take sixth place. Seniors Lee Sousa (Cornelius, N.C.) and Santino Viselli (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) were seventh and eighth, respectively. All four Bulldogs recorded 200 Backstroke "B" cuts.
In the 400 Freestyle Relay, Wingate earned the silver medal. The Bulldogs missed an NCAA Division II "A" cut by three/one hundredths of a second. Team members included freshman Issam Zeraidi (Brussels, Belgium), sophomore Liubomyr Lemeshko (Poltava, Ukraine) and juniors Spencer Waganaar (Satellite Beach, Fla.) and Rory Julyan (Cape Town, South Africa).
Wingate junior Paige Schmidt (Clearwater, Fla.) won the BMC 1650 Freestyle race for the third year in a row, touching first Saturday with an NCAA Division II "A" cut time of 16:58.16. The 2010 BMC Swimmer of the Year, Schmidt won the 1000 Freestyle Wednesday night with a time of 10:16.55. She finished third in the 500 Freestyle Thursday night with a personal-best time of 5:00.10.
Bulldog freshman Amy Saunders (Brisbane, Australia) was sixth in the 1650 Freestyle with a personal-best time of 17:42.19, earning an All-BMC ribbon. Saunders occupied the same position in the 500 Freestyle.
Three Wingate student-athletes received All-BMC distinction in the 200 Backstroke. Bulldog sophomore Valerie Dembny (Bremen, Germany) was second with a time of 2:03.62. Classmate Cameron Washburn (Wilmington, N.C.) was third with a 2:05.43 clocking. Wingate senior Malin Kersmark (Malin-Bjarred, Sweden) was eighth with a time of 2:07.39. All three swimmers post NCAA Division II "B" cuts, while Dembny and Washburn record personal-best times.
The 200 Butterfly was déjà-vu for the Bulldogs, as three swimmers received All-BMC laurels. Wingate junior Elly Speer (Manly, Sydney, Australia) was second with a time of 2:05.18. Sophomore Kati Budnik (Muskego, Wis.) and freshman Kellie Gervas (Imperial, Pa.) were fourth and fifth, respectively. Each member of this Bulldog trio recorded a personal-best time in the 200 Fly. Speer notched an NCAA Division II "B" cut.
Washburn and Dembny swam the first and fourth legs, respectively, as Wingate finished fourth in the meet-ending 400 Freestyle Relay (3:33.01). They were joined by junior Eduarda Zucco (Brasque, Brazil) and sophomore Amanda Gilbert (Metairie, La.). The Bulldog quartet earned an NCAA Division II "B" cut.
The Wingate women have two BMC championship trophies (2004, 2005) and six second-place team finishes (2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2012) to their credit.
The Queens University of Charlotte swim teams wrapped things up this evening at the 2012 Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships in the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center showing a vast improvement in their second year of existence. The women took a third place finish with 388 after taking 12th place just last year, while the men took second with 565 points after completing the 2011 Championships in sixth place.
The Wingate men took the top spot with 714 points, while Johns Hopkins’ women won with 818 points.
Tessa Pena and Alex Menke each began the night taking third in the 1650 free. Pena swam in at 17:16.73, while Menke tapped the pad at 15:54.50. Pena’s time was a new program record and personal best.
John Long stroked his way to a first place finish in the 100 free racing in at 43.88 for a new school record meeting A-cut standards. Teammate Joe Skuba took third in the event with a time of 45.31. Nic Eriksson won the 200-yard breaststroke race in 1:59.95 turning in a new conference and school record. His time also met A-cut standards. Christian Yeatts raced in at second in the 200-yard butterfly in 1:50.98.
The Royals ended things with the 400 free relay where the women took second and the men placed first. Lillian Gordy, Pena, Taylor Davis and Kristin Diemer raced in at 3:30.58. Long, Joe Skuba, Kyle House and Hayden Kosater swam in at 2:58.83, well under NCAA A-cut standard, for a new school record.
Next for the Queens swimmers is the NCAA DII Swimming and Diving Championships in Mansfield, Texas beginning March 14.
The SCAD Women's Swim Team finished 4th out of 13 participating schools in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championship in the 3-day meet in Charlotte, N.C. The women moved up two positions in the rankings from Thursday to the finals on Saturday evening thanks to great efforts by Catherine Duquet, Zenobia Duncan, Heather Librizzi, and the 400 Freestyle Relay Team of Gianna Grace, Fanny Varga, Kelsey Bobzien, and Duquet.
Duquet won the 200 Breastroke with a time of 2:20:51 and Zenobia Duncan finished 3rd in the same event with a time of 2:22:10. Heather Librizzi won 2nd place honors in the 1650 Freestyle with a time of 15:33:88. Finishing 3rd in the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of 3:31:73 were the team of Grace, Varga, Bobzien, and Duquet.
Johns Hopkins University finshed 1st in the BMC Championship with 818 points.
Wingate University finished 2nd with 560 points.
Queens University of Charlotte finished 3rd with 388 points.
SCAD finished fourth with 369 points.
Nine other schools completed the field
The SCAD Men's Swim Team finished 6th out of 14 schools.
Ryan Searles and Alex Graudins once again proved their Olympic worth. Searles won the 200 Backstroke event with a time of 1:46;33. Alex Graudins finished 2nd in the 1650 Freestyle with a time of 15:33:88.
Wingate University finshed 1st in the BMC Championship with 714 points.
Queens University finished 2nd with 565 points.
Johns Hopkins University finished 3rd with 520.5 points.
Washington & Lee University finished 4th with 345.5 points
Catawba University finished 5th with 285 points
SCAD finished 6th with 271 points.
Eight other schools completed the field.