NSU Men’s Swimming Captures First SSC Title!

Holding a comfortable lead heading into the finals at the inaugural Sunshine State Conference swim  meet, the Nova Southeastern University men’s swimming claimed the first-ever conference title ever given out by the SSC. The Sharks won convincingly over the five-team field with 956.5 points, while NSU women finished fifth with 408. The meet was hosted by Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.

The first-year men’s program dominated the competition from beginning to end winning by a margin of 213 points. Tampa finished second at 743.5, while Florida Southern (740.5) finished third. Saint Leo (402) and Rollins (394.5) rounded out the top five. Tamps claimed the first-ever women’s title by 108.5 with 932 points. Florida Southern (823.5) followed as the conference runner-up, while Rollins (513.5), Saint Leo (464) and Nova Southeastern finished third through fifth respectively.

Sunshine State Conference Commissioner Jay Jones presents NSU’s Jorge Ospina with Male Swimmer of the Meet Award.

The Sharks were led by Jorge Ospina (Jr., Lazimillos, Venezuela) who posted four separate NCAA “A” qualifying times in the 800-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard medley relay, 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard butterfly to earn SSC Male Swimmer of the Meet honors.

“It is a privilege to be a part of a group of individuals who have shown so much pride in wanting to perform at the highest level,” head coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron said. “I asked the swimmers to do one thing and that was to be great every session and perform at their best. They did exactly that and still have more potential.”

By the conclusion of the championship meet, NSU earned two more NCAA automatic qualifiers for the Division II national championships bringing the total number to seven. Ewa Jamborska (Jr., Katowice, Poland) and Armin Hornikel (Jr., Goose Creek, S.C.) will join the five other event participants in San Antonio, Texas Mar. 9-12 having posted “A” qualifying times in the 200-yard breaststroke. Jamborska paced the women with a qualifying time of 2:16.29, while Honrikel finished second on the men’s side at 2:01.83, both of which were school records.

In the distance freestyle, NSU had four men set provisional qualifying times during the 1,650-yard event. Jonas Grundstrom (Jr., Fagersta, Sweden) set a school record with his time of 15:45.48 to finish second in the event. Chris Norris (Fr., Tallahassee, Fla.) followed in third with a time of 15:59.54, while Nathan Caldwell (Fr., Naples, Fla.) finished fourth at 16:15.14. Alex Tarr (Jr., Everett, Wash.) rounded out the men’s second through fifth finishers at 16:18.51. On the women’s side, Kristen Ghandour (Fr., South Neptune Beach, Fla.) finished 13th at 20:58.88.

Both Ashley Aranda (Jr., Kenner, La.) and Devin Martin (So., Duluth, Ga.) posted NCAA “B” provisional times in the 200-yard backstroke. Aranda finished second at 2:04.53 setting a school record, while Martin finished fifth at 2:06.85. On the men’s side, freshman Josh Davis (Huron, S.D.) set a school record time of 1:50.74 to provisionally qualify for NCAA’s, while Daren Rubenchik (Fr., Ontario, Canada) also provisionally qualified at1:54.24. Tyler Wilson (Fr., Ft. Myers, Fla.) finished seventh at 1:57.20.

Ash Dougan (Jr., Tewksberry, England) started things off in the 100-yard freestyle with a “B” qualifying time of 45.23 setting a new NSU men’s record in the prelims, but still finished second in the finals with a time of 45.47. William Bunge (Jr., Springfield, Mo.) followed with a time of 47.52 in ninth place of the consolation finals, while Jim Shelley (Fr., Charlottesville, Va.) finished 15th at 49.41. Alex Zatylny (Fr., Quebec, Canada) finished eighth for the women at 54.81.

Behind Jamborska’s “A” qualifying time in the women’s 200-yard breaststroke, NSU’s Ashley Bransford (Fr., Santa Cruz, Aruba) followed with a “B” qualifying time of 2:22.28 to finish fourth. Following Hornikel on the men’s side, Jonathan Key (Fr., Biltmore Lakes, N.C.) finished fifth with a “B” qualifying time of 2:08.46 in the same event, while Cameron Pfahler (So., Neptune Beach, Fla.) finished eighth at 2:10.83 and Eddie Bandi (Fr., Valrico, Fla.) finished 14th in the consolation finals at 2:16.29.

Racing concluded with the 400-yard freestyle relay. Heading into the event with the conference title all but sealed up, NSU’s relay of Ospina, Hornikel, Bunge and Dougan finished third with a NCAA “B” qualifying time of 3:03.07 setting a new NSU record. Grundstrom, Shelley, Rubenchik and Caldwell followed with a ninth-place finish with a time of 3:12.25. For the women, Bransford, Aranda, Jamborska, and Zatylny combined for a time of 3:34.97, which was good enough to finish third in the timed finals.

The Sharks now turn their attention to preparing for the national championships hosted in San Antonio, Texas in three weeks.

The NCAA will announce the 2011 Division II national championship invitations on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011. The Sharks already have seven different events that have automatically qualified, but now await word on potential provisional qualifiers in multiple events.