National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

March 10, 1997

Division II

Drury hopes to disrupt Oakland's bid to win fourth straight championship

Event: 1997 Division II Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Overview: Oakland looks for a fourth straight championship after rolling up large victory margins in each of the last two years. Returning champions include breaststroker Jay Judson and freestylers Raffi Karapetian, David Paxton and James Collins. The Pioneers also will get help in the relays from backstroker Ido Meron, butterflyer Yoav Ritter and freestyler Ken Ehlen. Oakland has finished either first or second in 14 of the last 18 championships ... Drury, in its third year of Division II competition, does not have Oakland's history but may have the talent to give the Pioneers a run for the crown. The Panthers return last year's swimmer of the meet, Miroslav Bobak, who won the 200-, 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles. Drury also features David Aniot, who won two events last year, and defending 400-yard individual medley champion Chris Maender. In addition, freshman Peter Domanicky could factor into the freestyle sprints. "He's really quick and could have a big meet in the sprints," said Panthers head coach Brian Reynolds, 1996 Division II coach of the year. "Jesper Pietch has looked strong in the middle distances, too. Freshman Cameron Black is another good sprinter--we've picked up our sprint abilities and should be able to push Oakland. We need to break through with a relay or two. Oakland's always got all the depth you need to win a championship, so they're the team to beat without a doubt" ... Other contenders include Cal State Bakersfield, which won this event eight straight years from 1986 to 1993. The Roadrunners feature diver Trevor Hoagland on both the one- and three-meter boards, Cory Tague in the backstroke and Bill Ferguson in the individual medleys.

Field: The meet is open to all qualifiers who have met the NCAA's established minimum standard in an event. Entries are unlimited in number; however, no team is allowed more than 18 competitors.

Dates and site: The championships will be March 12-15 at the Palo Alto College Natatorium in San Antonio, hosted by the San Antonio Sports Foundation.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 5203 for the first day's results, 5204 for the second day's results, 5205 for the third day's results and 5206 for the final day's results. Individual and team results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Championships results will be published in the March 24 issue of The NCAA News.