Women's Swimming | 3/10/2017 9:19:00 PM

Birmingham, Ala.----The Wingate University women's swimming team added another national championship to a crowded trophy case Friday, as the Bulldog 800 Freestyle Relay team touched first with a time of 7:16.37 in the 2017 NCAA Division II swimming and diving championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex Friday night (complete results). The Wingate women were the number one seed, shaving three seconds from its top season time of 7:19.50. Queens University of Charlotte finished second with its silver-medal time of 7:18.75.
 
Bulldog junior Alex Divelbiss (Pueblo, Colo.) swam the 800 Freestyle Relay anchor leg, posting a 200 meter time of 1:47.90 to break open the race. Divelbiss earns her fourth first team All-American trophy of the 2017 NCAA event. She was joined on the 800 Free Relay quartet by sophomores Hanna Van Horen (Hofstade, Belgium) and Maria Madsen (Dragoer, Denmark) and freshman Abby Kosic (West Chester, Pa.).
 
Van Horen got things started with a 1:49.61 time in her 200 meters. Kosic followed with a time of 1:49.11. Madsen swam neck-and-neck with the Queens entrant, recording a time of 1:49.75 and setting the stage for Divelbiss to make her anchor-leg statement. The national championship is first for each of the four Navy Blue and Vegas Gold-clad Bulldogs.
 
The two Bulldog teams maintain their status on the team leader boards, as the Wingate women are third and the WU men are seventh. The men's and women's swimming and diving championships are part of the NCAA Division II winter championships festival. Fans can follow the Bulldogs via live statistics, Saturday morning live video and Saturday night live video.
 
Additional Wingate women's highlights:
 
Event 23
Women's 100 Backstroke
 
Wingate senior Academic All-America® Vika Arkhipova (Seversk, Russia) finished seventh with a time of 54.52. Northern Michigan University freshman Rachel Helm (Newcastle upon Tyne, England) won the women's 100 Backstroke with a time of 53.79.
 
Event 25
Women's 100 Breaststroke
 
Wingate senior Jessika Weiss (Macon, Ga.) made a huge move from 16th to ninth place Friday night, winning the 100 Breaststroke consolation final with a time of 1:01.64. Classmate Olga
Kosheleva (Yekaterinburg, Russia) was 11th in the same race with her time of 1:02.37. West Florida senior Theresa Michalak (Halle, Germany) won the 100 Breaststroke championship final with an NCAA record time of 59.51.
 
Event 27
Women's 200 Butterfly
 
Bulldog freshman Charlotte Knippenburg (Atlanta, Ga.) finished sixth with a time of 2:02.18. The 200 Butterfly was her first individual final as a Wingate student-athlete. Knippenburg was seventh in the morning preliminaries with a time of 2:01.39. Northern State (S.D.) junior Hannah Kastigar (Aberdeen, S.D.) won the race with a time of 1:58.36.
 
Wingate men's highlights:
 
Event 24
Men's 100 Backstroke
 
Wingate redshirt junior Sebastian Holmberg (Njutanger, Sweden) finished 13th in the 100 Backstroke with his time of 48.83. In the morning prelims, he swam a 48.76 which was lower than his original seed time.
 
Event 28
Men's 200 Butterfly
 
Wingate sophomore Niklas Martin (Kempton, Germany) held serve, finishing 14th in the men's 200 Butterfly with his time of 1:49.68. His morning prelims time was 1:48.71, also 14th on the 200 Butterfly charts.
 
Event 31
Men's 800 Freestyle
 
Wingate finished fourth in the men's 800 Freestyle Relay with a time of 6:30.45, almost three seconds better than its seed time. Team members included (in order of appearance) redshirt sophomore Lennart Queiss (Langen, Germany), Niklas Martin, freshman Ben Evans (Dover, England) and senior Leif-Henning Klüver (Risum-Lindholm, Germany). Queens set a new NCAA record with its triumphant time of 6:18.46.
 
The Wingate men have 139 points, good enough for seventh place on the team charts. Queens is first with 450.5 points. The top two through five teams on the men's leader board are Drury (276 points), Nova Southeastern (214 points), Grand Valley State (207 points) and Florida Southern (197 points).
 
On the women's team leader board, Queens is first with 349 points. Drury is second with 305 points. The remainder of the top five teams includes Wingate (253 points), Nova Southeastern (182 points) and Lindenwood (179 points).
 
Twenty-two Wingate University swimming student-athletes qualified for nationals. In addition to the D2 swimming national meet, wrestling and men's and women's indoor track and field will also decide titles at the Birmingham CrossPlex this week.
 
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, consistently ranked as a top 10 "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,200 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 35 minors, 12 career concentrations, nine pre-professional programs, master's degrees in accounting, business, education, physician assistant studies and sport management and doctorates in education, pharmacy and physical therapy.
 
With a 14 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity. 
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past 10 years. For more information, go to www.wingate.edu.
 
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing colleges in the 2000's with 88 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate is number one in this millennium with 88 Academic All-America® honorees. Wingate is tops among all SAC schools with 97 lifetime Academic All-America® picks. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.