Women's Swimming | 3/7/2017 8:40:00 PM

Birmingham, Ala.----The opening ceremonies have concluded and the NCAA Division II winter championships festival is set to begin Wednesday morning with the 2017 NCAA Division II swimming and diving championships (complete schedule). Twenty-two Wingate University swimming student-athletes have qualified for nationals. In addition to the DII swimming national meet, wrestling and men's and women's indoor track and field will also decide titles at the famed Birmingham CrossPlex.
 
Wingate senior Vika Arkhipova (Seversk, Russia) is participating in her fourth NCAA Division II swimming and diving championships. "The NCAA meet is one of those events in life which stays with you forever," Arkhipova says. "I am proud to say I am able to experience it this year for the fourth time in my career."
 
"I remember the NCAA meet my freshman year in Geneva, Ohio," Arkhipova says. "I was fascinated to have a chance to compete against the best DII swimmers. Since then, participating in this meet became a tradition for me."
 
A 2016 CoSIDA NCAA Division II Academic All-America®, Arkhipova does not take the experience for granted. "I wish everyone on my team had a chance to experience this at least once in his or her life," she says. "This meet is not like any other. Everyone you see at breakfast in the hotel, on the pool deck or somewhere in the city with the credentials of a 'Participant' is one of the fastest swimmers in the United States. The feeling of being a part of such a community is amazing."
 
Arkhipova and her teammates helped the Bulldog women's swimming team finish a school-record second in the 2016 NCAA Division II national championship meet in Indianapolis. The Bulldog men finished 16th, only 4.5 points behind number 15 Indianapolis. The Bulldog women won six 2016 national titles (three relays, three individuals). The Wingate University swimming program has 37 national championships entering the 2017 NCAA event.
 
Arkhipova won a relay gold medal (400 Medley Relay) and an individual gold medal (200 Backstroke). Senior Jessika Weiss (Macon, Ga.) won two relay gold medals, joining Arkhipova on the 400 Medley Relay and starting Wingate's championship haul by swimming a leg on the 200 Medley Relay. Classmate Caitlin Coughlin (Cochranville, Pa.) earned a national title by playing a role on Wingate's 200 Freestyle Relay quartet.
 
Wingate set NCAA Division II records on the way to victories in the 200 Medley Relay (1:39.90), the 400 Medley Relay (3:40.28) and the 200 Butterfly (52.52). The Bulldogs will have an opportunity to defend their 200 Medley Relay title Wednesday night. The 400 Medley Relay finals are slated for Thursday night.
 
Arkhipova will have a chance to defend her 200 Backstroke national title Saturday night, as she is the number three seed in the 2017 event with her time of 1:57.33. She is the number six seed in the 100 Backstroke with her time of 54.53.
 
Wingate junior Alex Divelbiss (Pueblo, Colo.) is listed among the top six seeds in four events: the 100 Freestyle (sixth, 50.28), the 200 Freestyle (fourth, 1:48.10), the 200 Individual Medley (sixth, 2:01.34) and the 400 Individual Medley (sixth, 4:22.09). The 2017 BMC Swimmer of the Year won three individual events (200 and 400 Individual Medley and 100 Freestyle) and two relay competitions (800 and 400 Freestyle Relays) at this year's conference meet. Her first individual event is Wednesday, when she will compete in the 200 IM.
 
Wingate freshman Ben Evans (Dover, England) is the number seven seed in the men's 1000 Freestyle, thanks to his BMC gold-medal time of 9:12.55. He is the ninth seed in the 1650 Freestyle (15:31.71). Wingate redshirt sophomore Lennart Queiss (Langen, Germany) is the number seven seed in the 200 Freestyle with his time of 1:37.01. Queiss and senior Leif-Henning Klüver (Risum-Lindholm, Germany) helped the 'Dogs finish second in the 800 Freestyle Relay at the 2016 NCAA championships.
 
Arkhipova plans to live this week to the fullest. "This year is very special for me," she says. "First, I am a senior…and this is my last meet ever as a student-athlete. Second, it is a festival year which makes you feel like you are a part of a much bigger community than just swimming. Three sports (swimming, track and field and wrestling) compete at the same time in Birmingham."
 
"We all live at the same hotel, where everything unites us," Arkhipova says. "For example, we have access to the student-athlete lounge where we have a chance to spend quality time with each other. I am super excited to represent Wingate for the next four days…and I am hoping we are going to achieve something we have never done before. WUWHAT?! WUSWIM!!"
 
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, consistently ranked as a top 10 "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,200 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 35 minors, 12 career concentrations, nine pre-professional programs, master's degrees in accounting, business, education, physician assistant studies and sport management and doctorates in education, pharmacy and physical therapy.
 
With a 14 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity. 
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past 10 years. For more information, go to www.wingate.edu.
 
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing colleges in the 2000's with 88 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate is number one in this millennium with 88 Academic All-America® honorees. Wingate is tops among all SAC schools with 97 lifetime Academic All-America® picks. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.