After four hard-fought days in the pool, the Queens University men and the Liberty College women each won Atlantic Sun (ASUN) championships.
Florida Atlantic University and Gardner-Webb rounded out the podium on the men’s side, while Florida Gulf Coast and the Queens University women finished top three on the women’s side.
ASUN Wednesday
The FAU men got off to a strong start on Wednesday, with Daniel Laureyssens and James Shevchenko going 1-2 in the 500 freestyle. The Knights got on the board, as Madeline Foster out-touched FGCU’s Emma Bjoenholdt by 0.22 to win in 4:53.65.
The close races continued as Justin Bender won the 200 IM (1:46.67) by 0.05 over Queens’ Matheus Przewalla.
Abigail Zboran won the women’s 200 IM, giving the Knights multiple podium finishes during the session. Zboran set a meet record in the race with a 1:56.06, breaking Fanny Teijonsalo of FAU’s record from 2016.
Queens senior Matej Dusa won the 50 free (19.11), while Liberty’s Kamryn Cannings won for the women (22.07) to put them on the board for the night. Dusa’s 50 was a meet record, shattering his own record from the previous year.
The night finished with Queens (1:25.67) winning the 200 medley relay, a team of Andreas Maerz, Noah Beladi, Connor Wang and Dusa. Florida Gulf Coast won the women’s 200 medley relay, with a team of Izzy Ashley, Cassandra Bauer, Libby Russum and Mia Burke.
FAU’s Isac Faxius won the 3-meter diving (298.9) and Liberty’s Shannon Icard won the 1-meter diving (267.25).
ASUN Thursday
Thursday’s finals session began with a bang, as the Queen’s men set a championship record to secure victory in the men’s 200 free relay with a team of Dusa, Nien Levy, Wang, and Daniel Meszaros.
The school was able to continue their sprint dominance with a win in the women’s 200 free relay, a team of Ryley Heck, Maren Patterson, Libby Livesay and Zboran winning in 1:30.78. FAU’s Nick Shaffer won the men’s 400 IM in 3:51.55, with Zboran scoring her second win of the weekend in 4:13.44.
Yet another meet record came crashing down in the women’s 200 free, as Sydney Stricklin ruled in 1:45.73.
Queens’ Meszaros won for the men (1:34.73) in the 200 free. The Flames shattered another record in the 400 medley relay, winning in 3:33.34. Queens edged out FAU to win for the men, coming in at 3:09.78. Icard and Faxius won the women’s 3-meter and men’s 1-meter, with scores of 310.7 and 292.75, respectively.
ASUN Friday
Queens continued its streak of splendid starts with a 1-2-3 in the 100 backstroke, as Caden Fritz beat out Maerz and Eli Brinkman in 47.17. Izzy Ackley won the 100 back for FGCU in 52.61, giving the team their first win of the meet.
The meet heated up in the 100 breaststroke, with record performances for both the men and women. Justin Bender won in 52.69 for Gardner-Webb, while freshman Aly Bozzuto gave the Flames another historic performance with a 59.17. The drama continued as FAU’s Shevchenko won the men’s 200 fly (1:46.45) and Zboran got her third win for the women.
Liberty set another meet record in the 800 free relay to finish off the session (7:06.42), as FAU took victory for the men (6:25.08).
ASUN Saturday
Saturday kicked off with Gardner-Webb’s Luke Weber winning the 1650 freestyle (15:37.05). Eden Troxell secured another win for the Flames (16:43.88).
Queens’ sprinters came through again in the 100 free, with Dusa (42.25) and Meszaros (42.78) going 1-2. Dusa set the meet’s last individual meet record, capturing his second record of the meet. Cannings won for the women, giving her a second individual win. Maerz got his first individual win in the men’s 200 back (1:44.12). In the women’s 200 back, madness ensued as FGCU’s Izzy Ackley and Malia Francis tied for first (1:54.87). Bryce Mortimer won Old Dominion’s first individual title (1:55.54).
Queens (2:52.13) and Liberty (3:15.31) finished in spectacular fashion, both winning the 400 free relays and, subsequently, the meet. Liberty set yet another meet record with its swim.
ASUN Final Team Scores – Men’s
- Queens University of Charlotte- 924.5
- Florida Atlantic University- 851
- Gardner-Webb University- 506
- Old Dominion University- 480
- Bellarmine University- 295.5
ASUN Final Team Scores – Women’s
- Liberty University- 858.5
- Florida Gulf Coast University- 690
- Queens University of Charlotte- 644.5
- University of North Carolina Asheville- 459
- University of North Florida- 273
- Gardner-Webb University- 221
- Bellarmine University- 199