Photos by Mark Burnham
Three Clan teams dominated at their very first NCAA Division II National Championships. Women’s swimming, women’s indoor track and field, and men’s wrestling proved to America that Simon Fraser University belongs in this level of competition.
The Clan sent a total of 13 athletes to the Division II Festival in Birmingham, Alabama, where the small group battled to the end in all of their events. They brought home three NCAA National titles, four top-three performances, and 10 of the 13 athletes earned All-American honours.
Mariya Chekanovych and Helen Crofts earned the Clan’s first ever NCAA National titles, as the freshman swimmer and the senior runner beat out every single competitor in their respective events to put the Clan on the map.
Women’s Swimming
At the pool the women had an excellent weekend, entering the championship ranked 14th, but finishing in ninth position overall — an outstanding accomplishment, as they were a sixperson team.
Chekanovych won SFU’s first title in the 100-yard breaststroke on March 8, posting a new NCAA record time of 1:01.50. She entered the competition with the top ranking and did not disappoint, edging out the second place competitor by 0.35 seconds.
She earned her second title — and the Clan’s third of the weekend — the next afternoon racing to the championships in the
200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:13.35.
On the first day of competition the 200-yard medley relay team consisting of Chekanovych, Kristine Lawson, Nicole Cossey and Alexandria Schofield earned third place for the Clan in a time of
1:42.84, securing the school’s first trip to the podium that weekend.
The relay success did not stop there as the following afternoon the four girls would return to the podium, this time in second place, as they swam the 400-yard medley relay in a time of 3:44.15.
Individually, Cossey earned All-American status in two events, placing sixth in the 100-yard freestyle and seventh in the 50-yard freestyle events in times of 51.12 and 1:42.84, respectively. Teammate Carman Nam also placed 10th in two events for the Clan.
Women’s indoor track and field
On the track, the five-woman team had great success as well as each athlete earned AllAmerican status at the meet, highlighted by Crofts title in the 800-metres. In their signature event, Crofts, Michaela Kane and Lindsey Butterworth all raced to All-American status, with Kane and Butterworth finishing shortly behind the captain in fifth and eighth positions. Sarah Sawatzky barely missed the final for that event.
Crofts’ championship came on March 9 as the senior led the way throughout the 800-metre event, winning in a blazing time of 2:05.96. It was her fastest time of the season and an impressive feat, having ran both the 800metre preliminaries and the distance medley relay the day before. Croft was a two-time NAIA champion in this event, and can now add her NCAA title to her impressive resume.
In the distance medley relay the Clan finished in third position, as Crofts, Butterworth, Kane and freshman Chantel Desch raced a total of 4,000 metres in a time of 11:32.35 minutes. The following day, with Sawatzky instead of Butterworth, the team would also race to All-American status in the 4×400-metre relay, earning an eighth place finish in a time of 3:47.14.
The successes of the weekend would be historical for the Clan, as Crofts and Chekanovych became the first athletes from an international institution to win an NCAA Championships, and also a great indicator of things to come as the program continues to grow and thrive in the NCAA.
Men’s wrestling
Wrestler Skylor Davis also had an impressive weekend for the Clan, finishing in third place overall in the 125-lbs weight-class. The junior started the championship strong winning his first two matches on the first day of competition, taking down the thirdranked competitor in his first match. He would follow with a
5–2 loss by decision, but bounced back with authority in the consolation final, earning third place thanks to a 10–4 win by decision.
“My finish at the championships was both exciting and disappointing for me,” Davis explained.
“Earning third place is a huge honour at this level, and I am proud to have been able to bounce back from my loss in the semis, it was not an easy feat mentally or physically. I am disappointed that I did not win the championship as that was a goal I had set for myself this season, but I am pleased to have been able to represent SFU, and am honoured to be the first wrestler from an international institution to earn AllAmerican status in the NCAA.”
Davis’s teammate Sunny Dhinsa also wrestled for the Clan, but dropped all his matches in closely-contested battles.
“SFU is such an amazing institution, and I am proud to be able to represent them at such a high level, and look forward to all our successes to come,” continued Davis.
At this rate, there will be many.
