2018 Horizon League Champs Day 4: Oakland Wins 5th Straight Titles

2018 HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

TEAM STANDINGS

WOMEN

  1. Oakland – 687.5
  2. Milwaukee – 593
  3. Cleveland State – 586
  4. UIC – 456
  5. IUPUI – 402
  6. Green Bay – 375.5
  7. Youngstown State – 243
  8. Wright State – 139

MEN

  1. Oakland – 731.5
  2. Cleveland State – 665.5
  3. Green Bay – 457
  4. IUPUI – 447
  5. UIC – 438
  6. Wright State – 383.5
  7. Milwaukee – 272.5

Horizon League Swimming & Diving Specialty Awards
Women’s Specialty Awards:
Athlete of the Year: Molly McNamara – Cleveland State
Freshman of the Year: Sydney McDowell – Oakland
Swimmer of the Meet: Grace Shinske – Oakland
Diver of the Meet: Cydney Liebenberg – UIC
Swimming Coach of the Year: Paul Graham – Cleveland State
Diving Coach of the Year: Susan Bromberg – UIC

Men’s Specialty Awards
Athlete of the Year: Mitch Stover – Wright State
Freshman of the Year: Rudy Aguilar – Oakland
Swimmer of the Meet: Paul Huch – Oakland
Diver of the Meet: Joe Smith – Oakland
Swimming Coach of the Year: Sean Dwyer – Wright State
Diving Coach of the Year: Larry Albright – Oakland

On the final day of the 2018 Horizon League Championships the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies came away with both the men’s and women’s team titles. That marks the 5th consecutive Horizon League title for both Oakland teams, which is the number of years they have been in the conference, as well as the men’s 40th and women’s 24th consecutive team title. The Oakland women’s 400 free relay team and Molly Mcnamara in the 200 fly broke Horizon League records on the final day of competition.

Grace Shinske completed her sweep of the backstrokes by winning the 200 back by a second over runner-up Sara Bentley, touching in 1:57.92 to 1:58.91. Shinske split the race very well, putting down 50 splits of 27.99/29.89/30.32/29.72. Shinske’s time came in just a little of the Horizon League record of 1:57.48.

William Gayne won the men’s 200 back in a tight race with Dominik Niedzialek and Mitchell Stover, who tied for 2nd. Gayne came in at 1:44.55, compared to Niedzialek and Stover touching in 1:44.98. Niedzialek was charging on the final 50, throwing down a 26.65 on the final split, compared to 27.20 from Gayne and 27.24 from Stover. Their times came in well under the NCAA B cut, but it won’t be enough for them to get invites to the NCAAs. However, Gayne and Niedzialek are just freshmen, so they will have plenty more opportunities in the future. The HL record stands at 1:43.86.

Molly Mcnamara broke the Horizon League record in the 200 fly, posting a 1:57.69 to win by 5 seconds. Mcnamara split the first 150 of the race very well, hitting the wall at 1:25.95 (26.32/29.84/29.79), but fell off quite a bit on the last 50, going a 31.74. Had her final 50 stayed where her 2nd and 3rd 50s were, Mcnamara would have been a mid-1:55, which would of given her a good shot of being invited to the NCAAs.

The Oakland team of Katie Colwell, Amber Lefler, Arynn De Leeuw, and Holly Morren combined to post a new conference record of 3:20.38 in the 400 free relay. Colwell led off in 50.09, followed by splits of 50.26, 50.76, and 49.27 respectively. Colwell went 49.93 in the 100 earlier in the night, and Morren went 49.22 to win the 100 earlier in the night.

In This Story

0
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments