NCAA Division II Championships: Nova Southeastern Chasing Fourth Title (Psych Sheets)
The NCAA Division II Championships has a dynasty on the women’s side. It has the opposite on the men’s after last year’s unusual circumstances.
When this year’s meet convenes on March 10-14 in Evansville, Indiana, the quests will be very different historically. Nova Southeastern is in search of a fourth straight women’s title, while the men’s field is looking to author a different finish than last year’s vacated title with the pysch sheets released this week.
Three different teams have been runners-up to Nova, with Drury last year, Colorado Mesa in 2024 and the University of Indianapolis in 2022 for the third straight year. With Queens’ ascent to Division I, you have to go back to 2014 for the last time a team in this year’s field that wasn’t Nova Southeastern won the crown.
On the men’s side, controversy defined last year’s meet. Drury won its first championship since 2014 but had to vacate the title due to a positive drug test. Officially there is no returning champion. Tampa, the 2024 champ, was the runner-up in 2025. Four different squads have finished with the most points in the meet each of the last four years, Drury’s disqualification notwithstanding.
The men’s race is a battle of quantity vs. quality. Indy ranks just sixth with nine individual swimmers qualified for the meet. But boy do they pack a punch.
The Greyhounds have the top seed in seven events. Jeremias Pock leads the way in the 200 individual medley, 400 IM (with teammate Silas Buessing second), 100 breaststroke and 200 breast. Swann Plaza leads in the 1,000 free, 500 free and 1,650. (Reminder that Division II allows four individual events and runs both a 1,000 free and 1,650 free for the distance lovers; pysch sheets released this week didn’t include relays.)
That top-heaviness may make up for Indy having only the fourth-most swims in the meet at 22.
Drury leads the way with 30 swims. Its lone individual top seed is Alvaro Zornoza Quiros in the 200 back.
Tampa has the most individuals at 15 to go with 29 swims. Colorado Mesa, which finished ninth last year, has 27 swims from 14 individuals. Grand Valley State was fourth in 2025 but is down to just eight qualifiers and 12 swims. Wingate could make a jump with 12 qualifiers. It finished in sixth place in 2025.
McKendree is a dark horse. It finished third last year and has 10 individuals for 17 swims. But that includes the top seed in both the 200 free and 200 fly, Volodymyr Gavrysh.
Outside of the team title contenders, Lynn’s Maurice Grabowski is the top seed in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 back.
The women’s title race looks like a two-horse affair between Tampa and Nova Southeastern. Tampa has 18 swimmers qualified for 41 swims, with Burlingtyn Bokos the top seed in the 400 IM. The Greyhounds are looking to recover from an uncharacteristic sixth-place result last year.
Nova has the sprint edge among its 14 entries and 36 swims. It has three of the top five in the 50 free. Second there is Kristina Orban, the top seed in the 100 free and 100 fly, which makes for a lot of potent relay combinations.
It’s a big drop in terms of total swims after those two. Colorado Mesa has 14 swimmers and 28 swims, with Ada Qunell the top seed in the 200 free. CMU was third last year. Drury, last year’s runner-up, is next with 20 swims from nine individuals.
Indy has more quality than quantity, with nine swimmers and 17 swims. Last year’s fourth-place finisher boasts the top seed in the 50 free in Kirabo Namutebi and the top 100 breaststroker in Celina Schmidt.
In the same vein of possible top-heavy points accumulation, West Florida has just six swimmers and 15 swims. But Livia Rodrigues is the top seed in the 200 IM, and Agata Naskret is a long way out in front in both backstroke events as well as the second choice in the 100 free.
One other swimmer from the non-title contenders to watch is Justice Beard, the top seed in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650 free, from University of Missouri-St. Louis.
