Oakland Swim and Dive to Host First Annual Golden Grizzly Classic

ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland University’s swimming and diving crew will host 4 colleges on the OU Aquatic Center on Wednesday for the primary annual Golden Grizzly Classic, offered by Jim Caulsey Buick GMC. 

The four-day Classic, starting on December 3, options Oakland, Wayne State, Dartmouth, Grand Canyon, and the Eastern Michigan ladies’s crew. Competition begins at 5 PM on Wednesday, with occasions beginning at 9 AM on Thursday via Saturday

WOMEN’S PREVIEW

The Oakland ladies’s crew secured a 189-111 win over Eastern Michigan of their final outing, marking their first victory over the Eagles because the 2022-23 season. The Golden Grizzlies received 11 of the 16 occasions, together with three occasion sweeps.

Top-three finishes have been achieved by a number of athletes, resembling Lydia Soldatke and Kendra Venter, who every claimed a number of occasion wins. Mia Englender’s victory within the 200 free earned her the OU Prairie Farms Women’s Student-Athlete of the Week for Nov 24-30.

MEN’S PREVIEW

The males are returning to competitors after going through Michigan and Pitt in early November, the place they fell to No. 10-ranked Michigan 244-11 and Pitt 207.5-151.5. Michigan is now ranked eleventh in line with CSCAA Polls. Despite the losses, Oakland’s males earned a number of top-three finishes, together with a second-place end within the 100 breast from Christopher Palvadre and a third-place end within the 50 free from Micah Scheffer.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS

Wayne State, a daily Oakland competitor since 2002-03, meets the Golden Grizzlies twice this season, beginning with the Classic. In their final matchup, the lads’s crew received in opposition to No. 8 Northern Michigan 163-137, whereas the ladies fell 61-239 in opposition to the No. 10-ranked crew.

Men’s diver Max Wasiniak was named GLIAC Diver of the Week after his efficiency in opposition to Northern Michigan, bringing his complete to 2 already this season. He received all 4 diving occasions, serving to the Warriors seal the win in a good competitors.

Wayne State would be the solely Division II program in attendance, however the Warriors can be able to compete as they’re ranked within the prime 25 amongst D-II colleges. The Wayne State males at present sit at 14th and the ladies at twenty third, in line with CSCAA polls. 

In final 12 months’s matchup, Oakland walked away with the win. The ladies took management of the meet, successful 152-86, whereas the lads snuck away with the win 130-106.

SCOUTING DARTMOUTH 

This would be the first-ever assembly between Oakland and the “Big Green” of Dartmouth. Competing within the Ivy League, Dartmouth often competes in opposition to colleges like Yale and Princeton. In their most up-to-date matchup, Dartmouth fell to each Cornell (142-158) and Harvard (82-217) at their house tri-meet on November 14th. The Big Green journey to Rochester, hoping to safe their first victory of the season.

SCOUTING THE THUNDER

Similarly to Dartmouth, this can be Oakland’s first time competing in opposition to Grand Canyon. The Thunder, members of the Mountain West Conference, swim in opposition to colleges on the West Coast, resembling Fresno State and UNLV. 

Entering the Classic, each the lads’s and ladies’s groups earned current wins. The ladies took house the victory in opposition to New Mexico State by a single level, 103-102, with a decisive 200 free relay after being down by eight factors getting into the race. The Nov 7-8 house meet additionally noticed victories in opposition to the lads’s and ladies’s groups from Simon Fraser, Ottawa (AZ), and Arizona Christian.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES

Eastern Michigan returns to Oakland after competing within the women-only duel meet on Nov 19. The Eagles fell 189-111, however posted 5 occasion wins and two program top-10 instances. Nina LaRose is now No. 5 in EMU historical past for the 100 breast after competing within the OU Aquatic Center, and Shayne Patrick entered the charts at No. 10 for the 200 fly.

Like Wayne State, Eastern Michigan is a frequent competitor for the Golden Grizzlies, with the Classic being the forty third assembly between the 2 colleges. EMU leads the all-time collection 22-20-1. The Eagles would be the solely competitor on the Classic with solely the ladies competing, because the males’s swimming and diving crew was discontinued after the 2017-18 season.

ORDER OF EVENTS

Wednesday | 5 PM Finals

800 Free Relay 

200 Medley Relay

Thursday | 9 AM Prelims, 6 PM Finals

3-Meter Men (5:15 PM)

500 Free

200 IM

50 Free

1-Meter Women

200 Free Relay

Friday | 9 AM Prelims, 6 PM Finals

3-Meter Women (5:15 PM)

100 Fly

400 IM

200 Free

100 Breast

100 Back

1-Meter Men

Saturday | 9 AM Prelims, 6 PM Finals

1650 Free

200 Back

100 Free

200 Breast

200 Fly

400 Free Relay

Streaming of all classes of the Golden Grizzly Classic will be discovered HERE. Tickets can be accessible for buy on the doorways earlier than the beginning of every session.

Note: Because of repairs to the University’s high-temperature sizzling water system, a bit of Pioneer Drive from Ravine Drive to the doorway to Parking Lot 17 is at present closed to site visitors. P17 and the North VIP entrance into OU Credit Union O’Rena are additionally closed. Parking for swim and dive is accessible in P16, P26, or P29 (parking storage off of Pioneer Drive). 

Spectators can solely enter the Oakland Aquatic Center via the OU Credit Union O’Rena primary entrance on the southwest aspect of the constructing off of Pioneer Drive. Entrance to the Aquatic Center is down the northeast staircase within the atrium.

Because of repairs to the high-temperature sizzling water system, the air temperature within the Oakland Aquatic Center could also be adjusted in another way than earlier swim meets. Should any modifications come up, updates can be shared promptly via GoldenGrizzlies.com and social media platforms.

How to Follow Oakland Swimming and Diving: For full data on Oakland Swimming and Diving, observe the crew on Instagram and on X at @OAK_swim_dive.