Focusing on Progress

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – From one year to the next, California Baptist University has improved at the NCAA Division II Championships.

This week, the Lancers will look to extend their streaks of progress to three years at the Division II Championships hosted at Indiana University's Natatorium from Wednesday to Saturday. CBU doubled its success last season, as it jumped from a 20^th-place finish in 2014 to 10^th.

The national championship event will begin at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. For those in the area, tickets may be purchased online at www.ncaa.com/tickets. All-session and single-session tickets for the championships are on sale. All-session passes range from $30 to $70 and single-session tickets range from $10 to $15 for finals events. @IndSportsCorp and @NCAADII can be followed on Twitter for live tweets and information throughout the event.

If the Lancers are to improve for the third year in a row at the NCAAs, they will need to pull off some upsets and move up the board. Psych sheets score them out to a 12^th-place finish in the division, according to SwimSwam.

"That's without taking diving into consideration, and we are a good diving school," Coach Rick Rowland said. "I think top-10 is a good goal for the men this season, and it's attainable."

Outperforming seeds is not something foreign to CBU. Just a few weeks ago, the team defied expectations to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship for the first time in program history over second-ranked Lindenwood.

Seven swimmers and two divers qualified for the team this year. Senior Josh Hanson was selected to compete in five individual different events, as he pursues an NCAA championship.

Hanson's sister, Mary, won the program's and CBU's first NCAA title back in 2014. Now, he has a chance to win a championship in his final collegiate competition, after being oh so close with a runner-up finish in the 400 IM a season ago.

A 10-time All-American, Hanson, comes in seeded first in the 200 IM (1:46.07) and second in the 200 back (1:44.61). He also qualified in the 400 IM, the 200 free and 200 butterfly.

Robert Griffith figures to be a big scorer for the Lancers, as well, qualifying in multiple individual events – the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyles. His 15:20.44 and 9:09.13 rank second and third in the 1000 and 1650, respectively.

Fellow distance freestyler Elijah Barrows was the third individual swimmer to qualify, as he will compete in the 1650.

Divers Zach Parry, Kendall Rummell and Andrew Rotundo both qualified to compete for CBU, with each doing so on both boards, the 1-meter and 3-meter.

"I like where we are at right now," Dive Coach Jeff Couto said. "We just have to stay within ourselves, trust our preparation and do all we can to glorify God."

One of the Lancers' relay teams, the 800 free, also qualified with a 6:31.59. It gives Hanson an opportunity to swim on a relay, but is bigger in giving three more swimmers – Alexis Ohmar, Tanner Shore and Bernardo Gonzalez Valentim – a chance to swim in individual events where they hold Division II B cuts this season.

"If these athletes can make top 16 in their events, those are added points," Rowland said. "We need our guys to really push and move up."

Ohmar and Valentim will swim the 100 and 200 frees, Shore the 200, 500 and 1000 frees and Barrows the 500 and 1000.

Schedule

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Players Mentioned

Elijah Barrows

Robert Griffith

Josh Hanson

Alexis Ohmar

Zach Parry

Andrew Rotundo

Kendall Rummell

Tanner Shore

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