SAN ANTONIO, Texas- Ouachita Baptist was well represented in the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving National Championships in San Antonio, as the Tigersharks finished in the top-20 in both men’s and women’s divisions on Saturday.
On the women’s side, Ouachita finished in 16th with 90 points, behind overall winner Drury with 483.5 points, while the Tigersharks finished in 12th with 129 points, as as Drury took the Division II sweep with 560.5 points.
In the men’s division, Ouachita finished seventh in the 200 Free Relay with the team of sophomores Tim Ferris and Marcus Schlesinger, junior Kristian Krc and senior Daniel Karkoska with the time of 1:22.19. Bristol-Connecticut won in 1:19.65. In the 200 Medley, the Tigersharks finished 10th with Schlesinger, Karkoska, Ferris and senior Razvan Goga at 1:30.15, while Bristol-Connecticut won the event in the time of 1:28.25.
It was much of the same thing in the 400 Medley Relay, as Schlesinger, Karkoska, Goga and Krc came in 10th, finishing at 3:19.13, while Florida Southern won it in 3:14.91. For individual events, Schlesinger finished 10th in the 50 Free at 20.32, while Karkoska finished in 11th in the 200 IM (1:49.81) and 14th in the 100 Butterfly (49.32).
In the women’s division, junior Ksenia Gromova produced an impressive week of individual and relay performances, as Gromova finished in the top-10 in the nation in five different events. In the 200 IM, Gromova finished in fourth place, turning in a time of 2:03.74, behind Southern Connecticut’s Amanda Thomas at 2:00.88. Ouachita senior Katie Patterson was right behind Gromova in seventh at 2:05.52 in the 200 IM. In the 100 Butterfly, Gromova came in at fourth again at 55.27, while Drury’s Li Tao set a national Division II record with a time of 53.55.
For the 200 Butterfly, Gromova put together a 10th place performance with a 2:03.74 timed performance. Winning the event was California-San Diego’s Alexandra Henry with a 2:00.08 time.
Ouachita finished in fifth with a strong relay performance in the 800 Free, while coming in at 15th in the 400 Free Relay. The team of junior Megan Young, freshman Jennifer Steele, Patterson and Gromova, Ouachita finished with a time of 7:31.02 in the 800 Free, behind overall winner Drury at 7:22.27. For the 400 Free, Young, Steele, Patterson and Gromova clocked in at 2:28.90 for 15th, while Drury set a national record at 3:19.75.
