Queens and FAU Men Tie for ASUN Men’s Team Title; Delaware Claims Women’s Crown
The Queens University of Charlotte and Florida Atlantic University men tied to share the ASUN Conference championship over the weekend, while the University of Delaware clinched their first women’s conference championship. Delaware finished third on the men’s side. Florida Gulf Coast University and Queens placed second and third on the women’s side, respectively.
Wednesday
Florida Gulf Coast began the meet in historic fashion, setting an ASUN record in the 200 medley relay. The team of Izzy Ackley, Cassie Bauer, Libby Russum and Mia Burke finished in 1:36.80. The Queens men made sure to keep the energy going, setting a record in their 200 medley relay, with a team of Pablo Ortega, Cal Bartone, Emil Harlem and Nien Levy finishing in 1:24.34.
The conference’s youth made a strong first impression, as Queens freshman Leonzie Tenzer (4:46.80) and Florida Atlantic sophomore James Shevchenko (4:22.74) were victorious in the 500 freestyle. Queens then picked up two more wins, as Abigail Zboran (1:59.84) and Matheus Przewalla (1:45.65) were victorious in the 200 I.M. Russum (22.50) got the Eagles on the board with a win in the 50 free, while FAU’s Daniel Laureyssens (19.43) took victory on the men’s side. Georgia State’s Karlee Wells placed first in the women’s 3-meter diving with a score of 292.05.
Thursday
The University of Delaware started off the day with a statement, as a team of Angi Ragazzoni, Bri Cottingham, Victoria Novinskiy and Judy Liu finished in 3:36.28 to earn the program’s first win. This year marked the Blue Hens’ first in the conference, moving from the Colonial Athletic Association. Queens continued its record-setting ways on the men’s side, as a team of Caden Fritz, Bartone, Harlem, and Daniel Meszaros won in 3:07.13 in the 400 medley relay.
The Blue Hens continued their strong day with senior Victoria Novinskiy (51.92) and sophomore Kade Snyder (46.27) prevailing in the 100 butterfly. Freshman Piper Price added another win for the Blue Hens in the 400 I.M (4:15.97), while Shevchenko took victory on the men’s side (3:48.22). Delaware senior Angi Ragazzoni (1:48.41) continued the team’s impressive night in the 200 free on the women’s side, while Laureyssens (1:32.42) added another win on the men’s side. Laureyssens’ swim was a historic one, setting a new conference record. Blue Hen senior Alex Pastris scored a win in the women’s 1-meter diving, with a score of 281.60. FAU’s Rocco Simonelli won the men’s 3-meter diving, scoring 368.90.
Friday
Queens kicked off the day with an 800 freestyle relay win, as the team of Tenzer, Zboran, Sabina Kupcova and Maddie Foster finished in 7:12.86. FAU took its first relay win on the men’s side, with a team of Laureyssens, Simon Wright, Rush Clark and Shevchenko finishing in 6:24.30.
Florida Gulf Coast University got its first individual win of the meet as Ackley (53.04) took the 100 back. Snyder (46.00) won the 100 back on the men’s side for Delaware. The Blue Hens maintained their momentum into the 100 breast as senior Bri Cottingham (1:00.90) and senior Matvei Namakonov (51.51) earned wins. Delaware also won the 200 fly on the women’s side as Novinskiy finished in 1:55.65 to clinch her second win of the meet. Nick Karaivanov (1:45.97) won the event on the men’s side to give Queens University a great finish to the night. Queens’ Juan Gonzalez placed first in the men’s 1-meter diving, with a score of 303.30.
Saturday
Florida Gulf Coast University nailed down a win in the 400 freestyle relay on Saturday. The team of Jasmin Kroll, Russum, Nadia Helm and Leah Gentry-Tuney finished in 3:18.68. FAU took another relay win on the men’s side as Leyton Roe, Laureyssans, Noah Reeves and Shevchenko won in 2:52.64.
Delaware senior Lauren Hartzel earned crucial points for the team, winning the 1650 freestyle in 16:30.48. The Blue Hens stayed hot on the men’s side, with freshman Cody Lonsberry winning the 1650 by just 0.10, finishing in 15:25.13. Florida Gulf Coast got its first win of the night as Kroll (49.41) won the 100 free for the women. Laureyssens was victorious on the men’s side (42.59), his third win of the meet. Delaware’s Ragazzoni (1:56.82) took the win in the 200 back while Agustin Orechia (1:43.15) eked out a victory on the men’s side for Gardner-Webb.
Florida Gulf Coast got a victory in the 200 breast as Aislyn Barnett (2:11.40) won on the women’s side. Old Dominion closed out the night on a high note with Bryce Mortimer taking the team’s lone win of the meet, finishing the 200 breast in 1:56.02. Florida Gulf Coast’s Alexandra Anduezo finished first in the women’s platform diving with a score of 220.95, while FAU’s Trevor Kuhn placed first in the men’s event with a score of 320.40.
Laureyssans was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Swimmer on the men’s side and Ragazzoni was Most Outstanding in the women’s meet. Simonelli and Gonzalez tied for men’s Most Outstanding Diver while Wells was named Most Outstanding Diver on the women’s side. Queens’ Akos Horvath was honored as men’s Most Outstanding Rookie and Tenzer picked up the women’s honor. Jeff Dugdale of Queens was the Men’s Coach of the Year and Pablo Marmolejo of Delaware was the Women’s Coach of the Year. Queens’ Aaron Hintz was the Diving Coach of the Year for the men, and Florida Gulf Coast University’s Chris Murray received the award for the women.
ASUN Final Team Standings (Men)
1. Queens University of Charlotte – 782.5
1. Florida Atlantic University – 782.5
3. University of Delaware – 762
4. Gardner-Webb University – 394
5. Old Dominion University – 367
6. Bellarmine University – 219
ASUN Final Team Standings (Women)
- University of Delaware – 1627
- Florida Gulf Coast University – 1619
- Queens University of Charlotte – 1217.5
- Georgia Southern University – 795.5
- University of North Carolina Asheville – 768
- University of North Florida – 648.5
- Old Dominion University – 563
- Gardner-Webb University – 470.5
- Bellarmine University – 286
