Nova Southeastern women’s swimming team wins first national title in Division II
Indiana has been good to NSU so far.
The Nova Southeastern University Sharks won their first women’s swimming national title on Saturday at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
If things continue to go well for NSU, the men’s basketball team — which entered Sunday 31-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation in NCAA Division II — will win its first national title on March 25 in Evansville, Indiana. Nova Southeastern under coach Jim Crutchfield made a statement in its opening-round game, defeating eighth-seed Miles 97-55.
The swim win was incredibly meaningful for coach Ben Hewitt, who grew up swimming at that same IU Natatorium.
“To me, it’s the cathedral of USA swimming because of all the big meets that have been held there,” said Hewitt, who went on to become a Division III swimmer at Wabash College. “I never thought as a kid I would come back home and win a national title as a coach.”
The Sharks — who finished third nationally in 2018 and 2022 in their best previous results — owe their championship in large part to sophomore Emily Trieschmann.
Trieschmann, a Florida State transfer who plans to swim two more years for NSU, won individual national titles in the 500-meter freestyle, the 1,000 free and the 1,650 free. She set a national record with her time in the 1000.
She also won national titles in two relays and could be named the NCAA Division II Swimmer of the Year on Tuesday.
“I knew a national title was possible when I joined the team in June, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up,” said Trieschmann, who is from Boca Raton. “I didn’t want to stress out.”
Six other NSU swimmers won at least one national title either as an individual or as part of a relay squad: freshman Emilia Ronningdal (four championships); senior Savanna Best (four); sophomore May Lowy (two); freshman Mollie Morfelt (two); senior Sasha Maslova (two); and sophomore Ilaria Murzilli (one).
Hewitt, by the way, has been with the NSU swim program since it started in 2010. He was an assistant then, and he concluded his seventh season as a head coach with a belly flop into the IU Natatorium after NSU had clinched the national title.
“I experienced some true happiness with what the team accomplished as a group,” Hewitt said. “It was a release of energy and a lot of fun.”
STU IN SWEET 16
The St. Thomas University Bobcats men’s basketball team (26-7) has reached the Round of 16 for the first time in the program’s NAIA history.
All 16 teams will gather this week in Kansas City, and unranked STU will open against Mississippi’s Tougaloo (31-1) on Monday at 3 p.m. Tougaloo is on a 19-game win streak.
STU coach Patrick Crarey II is in his second year with the Bobcats. Crarey was hired in May of 2021, leaving him little time to recruit for his first season, which finished with a 13-10 record.
This season, he brought in three recruits who made first-team All-Sun Conference: 5-8 senior point guard Fred Mulbah, who set the school record for single-season assists; and 6-3 junior shooting guards Dalon Dean and Milton Matthews.
Mulbah, a transfer from the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown (NCAA Division II), leads the nation with 8.1 assists per game. He ranks third on STU in scoring (12.4).
“Fred is probably only 5-foot-7, but he has a 40-inch vertical, and he can windmill dunk,” Crarey said. “He has elite speed, vision and passing skills.”
Dean, who set the school single-season record for three-pointers, is averaging 15.7 points while shooting 38.8 percent from distance.
“Dalon is an effortless shooter from 25 feet in,” Crarey said of Dean, a junior-college transfer.
Matthews leads STU with an 18.9 scoring average and ranks second in 3-point shooting percentage (40.8). He’s a Division I transfer from North Carolina A&T.
Crarey said of the 15 players on last season’s initial roster, only four remain, and only one of those is in the rotation.
Jordan Hernandez, who is from Killian, is the only local player in the regular rotation.
It’s a tight group, Crarey said.
“Our guys want to keep the season going,” Crarey said. “If we lose, this group will never get together as a full group again.”
THIS AND THAT
▪ FIU’s baseball team extended its winning streak to eight games on Sunday by beating Marist, 13-12, on Tim McHugh’s walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. This is FIU’s longest winning streak since 2017.
FIU (11-6) rallied from a 9-0 deficit. McHugh, in his first career FIU at-bat, came back from a 0-2 count before smacking his line drive past a diving third baseman.
On Wednesday, FIU will host Miami as the Panthers attempt to extend a streak that has seen them win four one-run games. During this streak, FIU has won five slugfests despite allowing 17, 14, 12, 8 and 7 runs.
▪ FIU’s men’s basketball team (14-18) bowed out of its first-round Conference USA matchup against Louisiana Tech with an 81-76 overtime loss on Wednesday. FIU rallied from a 20-point deficit to force OT.
FIU coach Jeremy Ballard, signed through April of 2026, has a good foundation going forward, including 6-4 sophomore shooting guard Denver Jones and 5-11 freshman point guard Arturo Dean. Jones finished second in the league in scoring (20.0) and made first-team All-USA. Dean was the league’s Freshman of the Year.
▪ Miami’s 18th-ranked women’s tennis team (9-2) defeated fifth-ranked North Carolina State on Friday. It was Miami’s first win over a top-five team since 2016. Overall this season, Miami has four wins over top-25 teams.
▪ Florida Memorial’s women’s basketball team (24-6) had its 14-game win streak snapped in the first round of the NAIA tournament. This was the first Lions team ever to win the Sun Conference regular season and postseason titles.
▪ The STU men’s swim team finished second in the nation at the NAIA finals in Columbus, Georgia.
▪ NSU’s women’s basketball team (21-9) was eliminated from the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at Tampa, losing 79-73 to Eckerd.