Canton, Ohio----The Wingate University men’s swimming team put an exclamation point on its participation in the 2010 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships Saturday night, winning the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of 2:58.22. The national championship is Wingate’s fourth overall and second of the 2010 event, held at the C.T. Branin Natatorium.
The Bulldogs completed the four-day meet with 290 points, equaling the best-ever finish with a sixth-place team showing. The Wingate women finished the 2010 championship event in 23rd place with 24 points. Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania was the host for this year’s national championships.
Wingate freshman
Paige Schmidt (Clearwater, Fla.) concluded her first NCAA meet with an honorable mention All-American performance in the 1650 Freestyle. Schmidt earned an 11th place finish with a time of 17:24.86. On Wednesday night, she took home first team All-American honors with a fifth-place showing in the 1000 Freestyle. She posted a school record time of 10:17.78 in the 1000 Freestyle.
Bulldog senior
Samantha Vencl (Wickliffe, Ohio) completed her Wingate career by swimming the anchor leg of the 400 Freestyle Relay. The Bulldogs finished 19th with a time of 3:32.84, missing out on honorable mention All-American laurels by 44/100 of a second. Joining Vencl on the 400 Freestyle Relay team are juniors
Cheryl Vaccaro (Charlotte, N.C.) and
Nicole Moody (Grovetown, Ga.) and sophomore
Malin Kersmark (Malin-Bjarred, Sweden).
Wingate senior
Mason Norman (Duluth, Ga.) had a huge night for the Bulldog men. The Blue Grass Mountain Conference Swimmer of the Year anchored the meet-ending 400 Freestyle Relay, posting a 43.29 split. The Bulldog national championship 400 Freestyle Relay team includes (in order of appearance) senior
Gus Chagas (Recife, Brazil), freshman
Rory Julyan (Cape Town, South Africa), senior
Daniel DeFrancisco (Cali, Colombia) and Norman.
Earlier in the day, Norman finished second in the 100 Freestyle with a time of 44.36. Chagas also earned first team All-American honors in the sprint event, placing fifth at 44.53. Julyan earned honorable mention All-American honors in the 100 Freestyle, charting in the 16th position (45.90).
Interestingly enough, Chagas (45.00), Julyan (45.03) and Norman (43.29) swam faster 100 relay splits than they did in the individual 100 Freestyle event. De Francisco was the glue holding everything together, as he posted a 44.90 split. The national championship is the third for Chagas and the first for Julyan, De Francisco and Norman.
A familiar Wingate rival won the 100 Freestyle. UC San Diego senior
Dan Perdew touched first with a time of 44.10. The race marked the third time in three years Perdew and Norman have finished one-two in a national championship race. Perdew won the 50 Freestyle in 2008 and 2010 with the
ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® candidate a touch behind in both races. Norman and his teammates earned a measure of revenge, as the UCSD Tritons finished second in the 400 Freestyle Relay Saturday (2:58.49).
The Bulldogs picked up two honorable mention All-American swims in the 1650 Freestyle. Wingate freshman
Cole Dutton (Surfside Beach, S.C.) finished 14th with a time of 15:58.02. Senior
Guilherme Veiga (Vinton, Va.) earned the final honorable mention All-American spot, placing 16th with a time of 16:00.51.
Drury (Mo.) University won both team titles. On the men’s side, the Panthers amassed 538 points. The rest of the men’s top 10 team standings include Incarnate Word (Texas), Wayne State (Mich.), Grand Valley State (Mich.), Ouachita Baptist (Ark.), Wingate, UC San Diego, Missouri S&T, West Chester (Pa.) and Ashland (Ohio). The fifth-place OBU TigerSharks were only 10 points ahead of the Bulldogs (300-290).
The Drury women made a bold statement, winning the NCAA Division II team title with 657 points. BGMC champion the University of Tampa was 12th with 101 points. Thirty-seven schools scored points on the women’s side. Twenty-nine men’s teams scored points during the 2010 national championship event.
Fans can access the national meet website at the following address:
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/c-swim/champpage/c-swim-div2-index.html
