GREENSBORO, N.C. – The McKendree University men's swimming and diving team finished in the Top 5 in both of Wednesday's relay events as the Bearcats sit in fourth place overall as a team following the first day of the 2022 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships held here at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
In Wednesday's first day of action at the NCAA Championships, the Bearcats scored four of the first day's six events, including having both of its 200 freestyle and 200 medley relay teams earn All-American honors after finishing fourth and fifth overall respectively.
McKendree opened Wednesday's first day of the finals with a fifth place finish in the 200 medley relay as the Bearcats recorded a time of 1:25.71 to score 28 points and earn All-American status for all four of its swimmers. The members of the 200 medley relay team were junior
DaVante Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Queens College), sophomore
Filipe Pinheiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colegio Ao Cubo), senior
Gregg Lichinsky (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) and junior
Caleb Law (Anchorage, Alaska/Robert Service).
After not having a swimmer qualify for either the 1,000 freestyle or the 200 IM finals, the next event that the Bearcats scored in came in the 50 freestyle as Lichinsky and graduate student
Xander Skinner (Namibia, Africa/Windhoek Afrikaans Private School) qualified for the consolation finals after placing ninth (19.70) and 16th (19.90) respectively in Wednesday's preliminaries.
In the consolation finals of the 50 freestyle, Lichinsky swam a time of 19.67 to finish in ninth place and earn Honorable Mention All-American honors, while Skinner was 12th in the finals with a time of 19.75 to also earn Honorable Mention All-American honors. With their performances in the consolation finals, Lichinsky and Skinner scored a total of 14 points.
The Bearcats also made some history in the 1-meter diving competition as senior
Ethan Larson (Anchorage, Alaska/PAIDAIE Cooperative School) finished in 10th place with a score of 396.00 and that 10th place finish is best for the Bearcats in diving at an NCAA Championship meet in school history. Hanson scored seven points with his 10th place finish.
In the final event of the night, the 200 freestyle relay, the Bearcats recorded a school record time of 1:17.59 to finish in fourth place and earn First-Team All-American honors. The time of 1:17.59 bettered the old school record of 1:18.32 set at the 2020 NCAA Division II National Championships. The members of the fourth place 200 freestyle relay team were Lichinsky, Law, freshman
Emilio Perez (Milwaukee, Wis./Greenfield) and Skinner. Lichinsky, Law and Skinner were members of the previous 200 freestyle relay team in 2020.
At the NCAA National Championship Meet, the top eight swimmers in each individual event earn First Team All-American honors, while places 9-16 receive Honorable Mention All-American accolades.
In Thursday's second day of the championships, the Bearcats will have three competitors – Lichinsky, Perez and freshman
Jackson Lustig (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) - in the preliminaries of 100 butterfly and two competitors – Skinner and freshman
Alireza Yavari (Isfahan, Iran/Shayestegan) – in the 200 freestyle. On Thursday evening, the finals will be conducted in 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle and 400 medley relay. In the 400 medley relay, the Bearcats have the No. 2 time in Division II on the season, while Skinner has the top time in the 200 freestyle.
