Oakland Swim and Dive Keep Good in Horizon League Championship Sweep

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Oakland University males’s and ladies’s swimming and diving groups are as soon as once more Horizon League champions, as each groups clinched the title on Saturday on the IU Natatorium following quite a few standout performances. With this yr’s sweep, the Golden Grizzlies lengthen their Horizon League Championship report to 13, having gained yearly since becoming a member of the convention.

The closing day of competitors featured the 1650 free, 200 again, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, males’s three-meter dive, and the 400 free relay.

1650 FREE

In the longest occasion of the championship, the Oakland ladies positioned 4 swimmers within the prime eight after not having any finalists final season. Freshman Megan Donnelly completed second in 16:50.51, and sophomore Kelley Hassett took third in 16:59.04, finishing a 2-3 end. Junior Casey Sanders positioned seventh, and junior Delaney Buckner was eighth.

The males’s 1650 free produced an Oakland victory as freshman Cooper Dillman took first in 15:16.32, profitable by greater than 5 seconds. Senior Nicholas Karel Subagyo and freshman Victor Teeters additionally competed within the mile, inserting fifth and sixth, respectively.

200 BACK

For the primary time this championship, the Golden Grizzlies accomplished a 1-2-3 sweep within the ladies’s 200 again. Freshman Lydia Soldatke captured her second backstroke title, profitable in 1:55.88. Junior Clarissa Bezuidenhout and sophomore Grace Albrecht accomplished the sweep, with occasions of 1:56.78 and 1:59.12. 

Joining within the success, freshman Ajjuub Ezzat and junior Max Haney went first and second within the males’s 200 again, giving Oakland 5 of the six prime finishes between the 2 races. Ezzat earned his first particular person victory in 1:42.42, with Haney shut behind in 1:43.92. Juniors Eli Stoll and Andrew Gelston positioned fourth and seventh.

100 FREE

In a photo-finish race, freshman Kendra Venter tied for second within the 100 free alongside an IU Indianapolis swimmer, touching in 50.34. Three extra Golden Grizzlies reached the finals, with freshman Avery Beal, sophomore Viviane Partridge, and senior Erika Pietras inserting fourth, sixth, and seventh.

For the second consecutive day, senior Harry Nicholson broke a report in the course of the morning prelims. This time, he set a Horizon League mark with a 42.93 to earn the highest seed within the males’s 100 free. In the finals, he lowered his time once more to 42.85, setting a brand new faculty report, however IU Indianapolis claimed the win and established a brand new Horizon League report.

Nicholson’s runner-up end led a powerful group of Golden Grizzlies within the occasion. Fellow senior Charles Brown took third in 43.38, whereas senior Micah Scheffer and junior Joseph Countryman positioned fourth and sixth.

200 BREAST

The ladies’s 200 breast featured a 3-4-5 end for Oakland. Freshman Charisse Hickham positioned third with a time of two:19.12, incomes her first podium of the championship. Fourth and fifth went to underclassmen as properly, with freshman Grace Aguilar-Fernandez and sophomore Maya Dobry securing the finishes.

After already punching his ticket to the NCAA Championships on Friday night time, senior Christopher Palvadre aimed to earn a second particular person invite within the males’s 200 breast. He touched the boards in 1:54.08, setting a brand new faculty report and attaining the NCAA qualifying time, however completed second to IU Indianapolis, simply lacking out on a further occasion at NCAAs. Junior Alex Lakin positioned eighth within the occasion.

200 FLY AND MEN’S THREE-METER DIVE

In the ladies’s 200 fly, senior Mia Englender and Donnelly certified for the finals, ending fourth and eighth. In the boys’s race, freshman Ike Martinez tied a 17-year-old faculty report, profitable in 1:44.19 to match this system mark and set a brand new Horizon League report. Stoll and Gelston added seventh- and eighth-place finishes.

Freshman diver Owen Cox superior to his second closing of the championship, serving as Oakland’s lone consultant within the three-meter. Seeded fifth after prelims, he in the end positioned seventh within the finals.

400 FREE RELAY

To shut out the championships, each Oakland relay groups delivered title-winning performances within the 400 free relay. The ladies’s staff of Venter, Partridge, Pietras, and Beal posted a 3:20.09 to win, setting each a college and Horizon League report. In related vogue, the boys’s staff of Nicholson, Countryman, Scheffer, and Brown claimed first in 2:52.30, additionally establishing faculty and Horizon League marks.

AWARDS

The Golden Grizzlies collected three awards on the conclusion of the meet. For the third yr in a row, Oakland earned the Women’s Freshman of the Meet honor. Soldatke joins Albrecht and Bezuidenhout within the Golden Grizzlies’ three-peat of the award, with all three specializing within the backstroke occasions. Soldatke gained the 100 and 200 again, completed runner-up within the 200 IM, helped the 400 medley relay to a runner-up end, and contributed to a third-place end within the 200 medley relay.

Oakland additionally claimed the Men’s Freshman of the Meet, awarded to Dillman. He earned the glory by profitable the 400 IM and 1650 free, and inserting fifth within the 500 free.

For the second straight yr, head coach Mitch Alters was named the Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year, marking the second time he has earned the title in his three seasons on the helm. 

By the tip of the meet, the Golden Grizzlies had gained 17 occasions, completed runner-up in 16, positioned third in 12, set 10 faculty data, established seven Horizon League data, and punched one ticket to the NCAA Championships.

With each groups profitable the Horizon League Championship, the historic streak lives on. The males’s swimming and diving program has now captured 48 consecutive convention titles, whereas the ladies have gained 31 straight. Both groups stay undefeated within the Horizon League, having claimed the championship yearly since becoming a member of the convention in 2013-14.

FINAL STANDINGS 

Women

1. Oakland: 896.5
2. Milwaukee: 641
3. IU Indianapolis: 530
4. Cleveland State: 442
5. Youngstown State: 430
6. Green Bay: 273.5
7. Northern Kentucky: 131

Men

1. Oakland: 904
2. IU Indianapolis: 785.5
3. Youngstown State: 494
4. Milwaukee: 438
5. Cleveland State: 191
6. Green Bay: 193
7. Northern Kentucky: 150.5

UP NEXT: While this meet concludes the staff’s season for Oakland swimming and diving, many athletes will proceed competing. Zone Diving will happen March Sep 11 at Eastern Michigan University. The CSCAA National Invitational Championship will characteristic quite a few Golden Grizzlies from March 12-14 in Ocala, Florida. Finally, Palvadre will journey to Atlanta, Georgia, to compete on the Division I Swimming and Diving Championships, March 18-21.

Results and recaps from days one, two, and three might be discovered on goldengrizzlies.com.

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