2012 NSISC Championships Final Results

CLEVELAND - Vlad Zinca and Yvan Nys picked up wins on the final day of the New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference Championships at the Delta State Aquatic Center. The freshmen duo won the 200-Butterfly and 200-Backstroke events en route to helping the Statesmen to a second place finish overall in the team competition at the conference meet.

Zinca's win helped him earn the Top Male Athelete Award of the conference championships as well, scoring a maximum 60 points with his three event wins in the 200-Individual Medley, 100-Butterfly and 200-Butterfly.

Maria Torres Perez also had a victory Saturday night, picking up her second victory of the confrence championships. After winning the 1000-Freestyle on night one, Torres showed her distance-race dominance with a convincing win in the 1650-Freestyle with a 17:13.80, over 12 seconds ahead of second place.

Lady Statesmen teammate Rebekah Napier-Jameson also swam onto the top of the podium in the event with a third place finish.

The Lady Statesmen finished fourth overall in the team competition.

Nys performed an upset in the 200-Backstroke, making a pass in the last 75 yards of the event. The South African native went on to win by 1.17 seconds in the event, posting a strong time for National Championship contention.

Heidi Nichols had a strong showing in the 200-Breastroke event, leading the first half of the race, before settling into third place in a very tightly ciontested race.

One of the biggest swims of the night came from Michael Dubose in the 200-Butterfly. Zinca picked up the win in the event, but it was DuBose who pushed him to the finish. The Daphne, Ala. native set a career best time in the event and matched Zinca until the final 25 yards of the event.

Lady Statesmen Maria Torres Perez, Dani Meerholz, Stephanie Gonzalez and Heidi Nichols were named to the All-NSISC team. Statesmen Vlad Zinca, Wolfgang Mairinger, Tobias Tombers, and Yvan Nys were also named to the All-NSISC team.

Zinca is assured of a slot in the NCAA Division II National Championships in mid-March in Mansfield, Texas. Several other Statesmen and Lady Statesmen are eligible for the event. Be sure to check back with GoStatesmen.com as those selections will be available Wednesday, Feb. 29, when invitations are announced.