INDIANAPOLIS—The UIndy men's swimming & diving team completed an historic week at the 2023 NCAA DII Championships. The Greyhounds captured the first national title in program history while also becoming the first-ever UIndy men's program to win a team championship. Meanwhile, the UIndy women's team earned its second consecutive runner-up trophy at Nationals, as both teams combined for a program record eight event titles.
Â
Saturday night featured another dominating performance by the UIndy divers. The Greyhounds finished 1-2-3 in the men's 1-meter for the second straight year. Two days after winning the 3-meter competition, sophomore
Julio Osuna competed the double with an impressive 599.50-point performance.
Jason Lenzo finished second while last year's champ
Cade Hammond took third. The trio racked up 53 points in the event and 103 points on the week.
Â
UIndy wrapped up night with its eighth event title of the week when the women's 400 freestyle relay team
Johanna Buys,
Andrea Paaske,
Mika Heideyer and
Leticia Vaselli took home the crown. UIndy's 400 FR team has taken first, second and first in the last three national meets, with Buys and Vaselli contributing on all three.
Â
FRIDAY
The women's 200 free relay team pulled off the rare 3-peat, winning their third consecutive national title in the fastest relay of them all.
Johanna Buys,
Julia Magierowska,
Andrea Paaske and
Leticia Vaselli swam a remarkably consistent (and fast) race, combining for a time of 1:30.58 to clinch a third consecutive championship in the event. Buys and Vaselli were both on the 2021, '22 and '23 200 FR teams, while Paaske contributed to the last two.
Â
Â
The UIndy men followed suit in the night's final event, winning the program's first-ever men's 200 free relay title.
Jeron Thompson,
Diego Mas,
Joao Silva and
Aqeel Joseph author the fastest relay race in DII this season as well as the fastest in UIndy history, touching in a lightning-quick 1:17.19.
Â
McCoy put a cherry on top of an amazing UIndy swimming career with her second individual national title. The 2021 200 backstroke champ added a 100-back title to her resume, touching the wall in 53.88 seconds.
Â
Â
UIndy added six more All-America First Team performances on the night, two of which coming in the men's 500 free. In the midst of one of the greatest national meets ever by a Greyhound,
Cedric Buessing notched yet another runner-up performance, setting a school-record 4:19.34 along the way.
Christian Hedeen joined him in the championship final, placing eighth among the nation's best.
Â
Two more All-Americans followed in the 100 breaststroke.
Celina Schmidt set a career best with a 1:02.22 to take fourth in the women's championship final, while
Brayden Cole earned his first All-America nod with an eighth-place showing in the men's championship.
Â
Serge Ahadzhanian rounded out the individual All-Americans Friday, taking sixth in the men's 200 butterfly on a time of 1:46.71.
Â
The divers got into the act as well. With the women's 3-meter competition the feature of the evening,
Mikaela Starr (410.60) earned her second straight sixth-place finish in the event, while
Alexis Lumaj took 12th place.
Â
OTHER NOTABLE FINISHES
9th-
Isabella Revstedt, W 100 back
9th-
Jeron Thompson, M 100 back
10th-
Liki Prema, M 100 breast
11th-
Johanna Buys, W 100 breast
11th-
Bartek Swiderski, M 100 back
12th-
Brynhildur Traustadottir, W 500 free
12th-
Sebestyen Bohm, M 100 breast
13th-
Andrea Gomez, 200 fly
15th-
Caroline Reinke, W 100 back
THURSDAY |
highlights |
gallery
UIndy went 1-2-6 on the men's 3-meter diving board, as
Julio Osuna captured the Hounds' third event title of the meet. His efforts helped the Greyhound men expand their lead in the team standings. The UIndy women, meanwhile, remain in second place behind leader Nova Southeastern.
The national meet is being held at the IU Natatorium in downtown Indianapolis Tuesday through Saturday. Action continues tomorrow with swimming preliminaries at 10 a.m. ET, followed by diving prelims at 1 p.m. and evening finals at 6 p.m.
Â
Osuna, the runner-up on the 3-meter last year, earned the program's first-ever championship in the event. He clinched it on his final dive with a score of 77.90 on a jaw-dropping forward four-and-a-half somersault. Just behind him was
Jason Lenzo, who secured second place with an impressive performance of his own.
Cade Hammond took sixth to net the team 50 points in a single event.  Â
Â
Â
In the competition pool,
Mika Heideyer scored points in two events on the night. After starting the evening with an All-America Honorable Mention performance in the 100 butterfly, she orchestrated an historic effort in the 200 free. The GLVC Freshman of the Year recorded in a time of 1:47.51 to earn runner-up honors and also blow past one of the oldest records in the UIndy annals – a 1:48.25 set back in 2011 by Greyhound great Maura Donahue.
Â
Cedric Buessing continued his impressive week with another school record. After winning the 1000 free national title last night, Buessing became a back-to-back national runner-up in the 400 IM. His time of 3:45.41 bested his own school record by six-tenths of a second.
Â
Andrea Gomez earned her second straight fifth-place finish in the 400 IM, good for her fourth career All-America nod.
Â
Butterfly-specialist
Kael Yorke made his second consecutive appearance in the championship final of the 100 fly. He posted a time of 47.30 to earn eighth place among the nation's best.
Â
Serge Ahadzhanian won not one but two B finals, earning ninth-place points in both the 100 fly and 200 free. The latter race saw the Ukrainian speedster post a 1:36.81, good for the second-fastest 200 free time in program history. Teammate
Jeron Thompson contributed to the team total as well, taking second in the 100 fly consolation final.
Â
Karolina Dubcakova and
Julia Magierowska also put up some big times in consolation finals. Dubcakova won the 400 IM B final by just .01 seconds, while Magierowska's third-place showing the 100 fly consolation race came on a time of 54.77, which moved her into the Greyhounds' all-time top five.
Â
Finally, the Greyhound 400 medley relay teams cashed in with All-America performances on both sides.
Kaitlyn McCoy,
Celina Schmidt, Magierowska and
Johanna Buys earned second place, while the quartet of
Bartek Swiderski, Ahadzhanian and
Joao Silva took fourth.
Â
WEDNESDAY |
gallery
Senior
Johanna Buys headlined the story of day two. The Lusaka, Zambia native made history with the fastest 50 free time ever recorded by a Division II female student-athlete. She won her first career individual national title and fourth overall with a time of 22.10, breaking the school, meet and DII records in a single swim.
Â
Buys would share the spotlight with sophomore
Cedric Buessing, who won the men's 1000 free. He shattered his own school record in the process, recording a time of 8:55.88.
Â
Â
Buys would later swim the butterfly leg of the 200 medley relay team, helping the Hounds take second place in the night's penultimate race. She was joined by
Julia Magierowska,
Celina Schmidt and
Leticia Vaselli, who combined for a runner-up time of 1:40.11.
Â
The UIndy men also took second in the 200 MR.
Jeron Thompson,
Liki Prema,
Kael Yorke and
Diego Mas crafted a time of 1:25.01, slicing .02 seconds off the school record while touching just eight hundredths behind conference-rival Drury.
Earlier in the evening, Mas and Thompson earned some more major hardware. The paired sprinted to a third- and fifth-place finish, respectively, in the 50 free. Both student-athletes bested the previous school record, with Mas turning in a 19.32 and Thompson a 19.37.
Â
Kaitlyn McCoy continued her fantastic Greyhound career with her ninth individual All-America honor. She placed fifth in the 200 IM final with a time of 2:01 flat, good for her third straight top-five finish in the event.
Â
On the boards,
Mikaela Starr earned her best-ever finish at Nationals, as her score of 433.55 on the 1-meter was good for fifth place. Teammate
Alexis Lumaj also earned team points for the Hounds, placing 10th.
Â
Vaselli won the dramatic consolation final of the women's 50 free, matching her collegiate best with a time of 22.96 to take ninth overall by .01 seconds.
Â
OTHER NOTABLE FINISHES
9th-
Emilia Colti-Dumitrescu, W 1000 free
11th-
Celina Schmidt, W 200 IM
11th-
Christian Hedeen, M 1000 free
11th-
Joao Silva, M 50 free
12th-
Karolina Dubcakova, W 1000 free
13th-
Brynhildur Traustadottir, W 1000 free
13th-
Stanislaw Chalat, M 1000 free
TUESDAY
The Greyhound quartet of
Kaitlyn McCoy,
Leticia Vaselli,
Mika Heideyer and
Brynhildur Traustadottir opened the festivities by combining for the fastest women's 800 freestyle relay time in program history. Their time of 7:21.52 not only earned eighth place and All-America accolodaes, but also bested the school record by .02 seconds.
Â
The UIndy men's team followed with an All-American performance of their own.
Cedric Buessing,
Serge Ahadzhanian,
Christian Hedeen and
Joao Silva also took eighth place, with their combined time of 6:29.40 topping a five-year-old school record.
Â
Earlier in the day, the diving pre-qualification meet was held at the Natatorium. All five UIndy divers in attendance officially advanced to Nationals, with
Alexis Lumaj,
Mikaela Starr,
Cade Hammond,
Jason Lenzo and
Julio Osuna all earning a chance at All-America and national championship accolades later this week.
Â
Â
