EVANSVILLE, Ind.— The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks got out to a fast start on the first night of the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships as the Maverick women took second in the 800-yard freestyle relay while the men took third with a school-record time on Tuesday here at the Deaconess Aquatics Center.
The CMU's women's quartet of
Ada Qunell,
Hanna Sasivarevic,
Kendyll Wilkinson and
Olivia Hansson combined for a time of seven minutes, 13.88 seconds, just off the Mavs' season-best of 7:13.57 and put up 34 team points to stand in second through one event.
Meanwhile, the men's combination of
Guillaume Guth,
Ben Vester,
Richard Schmiedefeld and
Jonas Friess combined for a time of 6:19.80, smashing the former CMU record of 6:22.63, set by the same four men earlier this season at the TYR/CMU Invitational.
In the process, the Mavs racked up 32 team points in the opening event of the championships.
Guth's opening 200 free split of 1:33.46 also broke his own school-record of 1:33.87 from last month's RMAC Championships and had the Mavericks in the lead at the end of the opening leg. His German teammates then all turned in splits between 1:35.40 and 1:35.53.
Tampa came back to win the event in a national record time of 6:16.64 after Nova Southeastern won the women's event in 7:08.52, just off the Sharks' national record of 7:08.52, set at the 2024 NCAA Championships.
As top eight finishers, the Mavericks quartets both landed on the podium and will receive First Team CSCAA All-America certificates.
Qunell is now a 14-time all-American while Hansson has 11 honors. Wilkinson has four while Sasivarevic has two.
Schmiedefeld now has six career all-America honors in his two seasons with the Mavs while Vester has two. Guth, a first-year Maverick, earned his first as did Friess at the NCAA Division II level. Friess as a 9-time NAIA All-American at Saint Ambrose (Iowa).
Earlier in the day, the Mavericks shined in the pre-championship diving qualification meet. Five CMU women and four Maverick men emerged from that meet to join their swimming counterparts in the official championship meet, which continues Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. CDT (9 a.m. Mountain) with preliminary round heats in the 50 free and 200 individual medley events as well as the slower sections of the 1,000 freestyle.
The men's 1-meter diving preliminaries will begin at 1 p.m. CDT (Noon Mountain) with the consolation final to follow 30 minutes after. The championship diving final will be a part of the evening finals session at 5:30 p.m. CDT (4:30 p.m. Mountain).
