The NCAA News - News and Features

March 9, 1998

Division II Men's Swimming and Diving

Cal State Bakersfield, Drury ready to step into championship spotlight

Event: 1998 Division II Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Overview: The four-year reign of Oakland is over, with its departure to Division I. In the wings, Cal State Bakersfield and Drury are ready to lay claim to the championship. Cal State Bakersfield captured eight straight titles before Oakland took the crown away in 1994. This year, Cal State Bakersfield has 18 swimmers competing. The Roadrunners are experienced, with all-Americans Chris Breitbart (individual medley, breaststroke and distance events), Cory Taggue (backstroke, butterfly, individual medley and freestyle), Todd Fulton (individual medley, breaststroke and freestyle), Bill Ferguson (individual medley, backstroke and freestyle), and Tony Muniz (butterfly and distance) .... Drury hopes to win its first Division II championship. Last year's runner-up, the Panthers are ranked No. 1 in the Division II poll this year. Drury is solid in all of the relay events, where all of its teams have earned qualifying times this season. The Panthers return Miroslav Bobak (200-, 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles), Aaron Hawks (butterfly and backstroke), David Aniot (breaststroke and individual medley), Chris Maender (two-time champion in the 400-yard individual medley), Jesper Pietsch (freestyle) and Bryan Pratt (breaststroke). Freshman Valentin Serafimov looks to make an impact in the 50-, 100- and 200-yard freestyle events .... Other teams to watch include Indiana (Pennsylvania), host Ashland, Missouri-Rolla and Truman State.

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 11-14 at the C. T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio. The championships will be hosted by Ashland.

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 23 issue of The NCAA News.