UB Swimmers Shine On Final Day Of 2017 Nationals
Women Post An Impressive 9th Place Finish Out Of 40 Teams And Men Take 20th Out Of 32 Teams
Birmingham, Ala.-The University of Bridgeport swim teams wrapped up a fantastic four days at the 2017 NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving National Championships that took place at the Crossplex in Birmingham, Alabama as part of the 2017 NCAA Division II Winter Sports Festival with several more All-American performances on Saturday evening. As a team, the UB women finished in the Top-10 in the nation taking ninth place out of 40 scoring teams with 168 points. The Bridgeport men finished in 20th place out of 32 scoring teams with a total of 89 points. Queens (N.C.) University won both the men's and women's 2017 national titles.
For the Bridgeport women, first-year competitor Oksana Marchuk (Mlyniv, Ukraine) made it four straight days of individual All-American finishes, as she finished fourth in the 100 Freestyle in a time of 50.27. Oksana also earned All-American honors in the 200 Butterfly, the 200 Free and the 200 IM at the 2017 Nationals.
Junior Annagrazia Bonsanti (Caracas, Venezuela), after earning All-American honors in the 1000 Freestyle on Wednesday and the 500 Free on Friday, turned in her third individual All-American swim in a distance event by finishing fourth in the 1650 Free in a time of 16:41.07.
Both Marchuk and Bonsanti added to their All-American totals in the final event of the women's competition, as they teamed with Nina Stegu and Rebeka Repman in the 400 Freestyle Relay to finish in fifth place in a time of 3:23.11. On Friday, the same quarter swam to All-American honors in the 800 Free Relay.
For the UB men, freshman Erik Hren (Maribor, Slovenia) completed his stellar Nationals debut turning in his third long-distance, All-American swim, as he took third place in the 15650 Freestyle in a time of 15:16.91. Hren also grabbed All-American honors in Birmingham in the 1000 and 500 Freestyle.
Teammate junior Brian Kelly (Mahwah, N.J.) picked up Honorable Mention All-American honors in the 1650 Free taking tenth place in a time of 15:29.85.
In the men's 200 Backstroke, Wilmar Du Plessis (Bloemfontein, South Africa) finish in sixteenth place in a time of 1:48.70 to earn Honorable Mention All-America honors.
The UB men's 400 Freestyle Relay team took 20th place on Saturday in a time of 3:02.94.