CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's and women's swimming teams kicked off day one of the 2021 Kellianne Nagy Fall Frenzy in dominant fashion winning all ten of the events at Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center on Friday night.
The day opened with the prelim trials beginning at 9:30 a.m. for both the men and women. The prelim runs saw the Royals take the top spot in all six events, including the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard IM, and 50-yard freestyle. The women kickstarted the event as three Royals,
Monica Gumina,
Sophia Lange, and
Rebecca Dany finished in order at the top of the 500-yard freestyle. In the men's event,
Luke Erwee took first place with a time of 4:24.46.
Moving forward, the Royals pair of
Tova Andersson and
Kayla Tennant took first and second in the women 200-yard IM.
Danielle Melilli would wrap up the women's events with a top finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.96.
The morning was highlighted by two new event records as
Balazs Berecz set a new record in the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:46.67. The impressive time breaks former Royal and Olympian Marius Kusch's time of 1:46.86 back on Nov. 16, 2018. The second record was set by
Matej Dusa in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 19.21 which automatically qualifies him for the NCAA Championships.
After a brief intermission, the swimmers who qualified returned to the pool for the finals. In the evening cap, the teams competed in ten events and saw the Royals place first in all ten events. The Royals would shine in the four team events as
Monica Gumina,
Danielle Melilli,
Tova Andersson, and
Cece Mayer made the B cut in the 200-yard freestyle relay. In the 400-yard medley relay,
Vladyslava Maznytska,
Danielle Melilli,
Cece Mayer, and
Monica Gumina hit the B cut mark with a time of 3:40.63. On the men's side,
Matej Dusa,
Skyler Cook-Weeks,
Kimani Gregory, and
Alex Kunert posted an event record in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:17.82. In the 400-yard medley relay to conclude the night, the Royals took the top two spots with
David Wahlen,
Jan Delkeskamp,
Alex Kunert, and
Matej Dusa making the A cut with a time of 3:12.82, which automatically qualifies the pairing for NCAA's. Shortly behind them was
Andreas Marz,
Balazs Berecz,
Kimani Gregory, and
Luke Erwee with a time of 3:16.49.
In the individual races, the highlights came in the 50-yard freestyle as
Danielle Melilli set an event record with an A cut time of 22.65 which qualifies the junior for the NCAA Championships.
Cece Mayer took second in the event with a time of 23.21. In the 50-yard men's freestyle,
Matej Dusa earned his bid to the championships with an A cut time of 19:37 and
Skyler Cook-Weeks made the B cut with a time of 19:67.
The Royals would take the top spot in the 500-yard freestyle relay, 500-yard freestyle, and 200-yard IM. In the men's 200-yard IM, Queens would hold the top five spots with
Balazs Berecz finishing first at 1:47.10.
The 2021 Fall Frenzy is comprised of schools from various levels, including Converse, Emmanuel, Gardner-Webb, James Madison, Mars Hill, Pfeiffer, UNC Asheville, Wingate, Lenoir-Rhyne, and Milligan.
Day two of the fall frenzy will get underway tomorrow with the prelims beginning at 9:30 a.m. before the finals at 5:00 p.m. The frenzy will conclude on Sunday with the schedule remaining the same. Be sure to follow the Royals all season on
Twitter and
Instagram to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on social media @QueensAthletics to stay updated on all Royals sports.
