2023 Horizon League Championships Fan Guide: Oakland Set for Tenth Consecutive Sweep

2023 Horizon League Championships

• Wednesday, February 15 – Saturday, February 18, 2023
• IU Natatorium (IUPUI), Indianapolis, IN
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Oakland (9x)
  • Men: Oakland (9x)
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Championship Central
• Record Book
• Psych Sheet (not out yet)

EVENT SCHEDULE

Wednesday

• 200 medley relay
• Women’s 3-meter diving
• 800 free relay

Thursday

• 500 free
• 200 IM
• 50 free
• Men’s 1-meter diving
• 200 free relay

Friday

• 100 fly
• 400 IM
• 200 free
• 100 breast
• 100 back
• Women’s 1-meter diving
• 400 medley relay

Saturday

• 1650 free
• 200 back
• 100 free
• 200 breast
• 200 fly
• Men’s 3-meter diving
• 400 free relay

This year’s Horizon League Championships are taking place once again at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis. It’s a big year for the conference, as UIC is no longer a member, bring the swimming and diving conference size down to five women’s teams and six men’s teams. Additionally, this year marks the final season for storied Oakland head coach Pete Hovland, who is in his 43rd year as the head coach of the program. Hovland’s Golden Grizzlies have dominated the Horizon League since joining the conference, winning the men’s and women’s conference titles in all nine seasons.

Last year, the Oakland women won the meet decisively, outscoring runner-up Milwaukee by over 300 points. The men’s team won in a relatively close competition with Cleveland State. Also of note, IUPUI finished third in both men’s and women’s standings last year, and have been improving steadily since joining the conference.

RETURNING NCAA QUALIFIERS

Oakland’s Susan LaGrand is the only returning NCAA qualifier in the Horizon League this year. Following an Honorable Mention All-American season in 2020-2021, LaGrand qualified for NCAAs for the second year in a row. She finished 43rd in the women’s 200 IM, 46th in the 100 back, and 26th in the 200 back at the 2022 NCAA Championships.

SWIMMERS TO WATCH:

CLEVELAND STATE: Paddy Johnston (So. – Free/Fly), Kenny Thomas (Jr. – Free/Back), Kelsie Krisch (Jr. – Breast/IM)

Cleveland State graduated some heavy hitters from last season, especially on the men’s side. This year, the men’s roster is a little small, but they still have plenty to be excited about. Sophomore Paddy Johnston was a three-time ‘A’ finalist last year as a freshman. He finished fourth in the men’s 50 free, second in the 100 free, and second in the 100 back. This season, he’s currently ranked third in the 50 free, third in the 100 free, and second in the 100 back in the conference.

Junior Kenny Thomas took fourth in the men’s 100 back last year, also making the ‘B’ final of the 50 free and 100 free.

Junior Kelsie Krisch was a two-time ‘A’ finalist last year, finishing fifth in the women’s 200 breast and fourth in the 400 IM. She was also a ‘B’ finalist in the women’s 100 breast.

GREEN BAY: Sebby Smolecki (Jr. – Breast/IM), Miles Rohrbaugh (Gr. – diving), Faith Eilertson (So. – Breast)

Green Bay returns defending men’s 1-meter diving champion Miles Rohrbaugh, who is competing in his fifth year for the team. Rohrbaugh also took seventh in men’s 3-meter last year, making him one of the top divers in the conference.

Also keep an eye on sophomore Faith Eilertson. Last year as a freshman, Eilertson managed a fourth-place finish in the women’s 100 breast. She didn’t make it back for finals in either of her other events last year, but we’ll be looking for her to take another step forward this season.

Sebby Smolecki was a ‘B’ finalist in both men’s IM events last year.

IUPUI: Emmaleigh Zietlow (So. – Free), Logan Kelly (So. – Breast/IM), Lauren Thompson (Sr. – Back), Gabrielle Puryear-Lynch (Fr. – Fly/Free), Spencer Jyawook (Jr. – Free/Fly)

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the season so far in the Horizon League, IUPUI sophomore Emmaleigh Zietlow has made a massive leap forward in her second year with the program. The Horizon League Freshman of the Year last year, Zietlow won the women’s 500 free (4:54.52) and 1650 free (16:55.93). This fall, Zietlow broke out, clocking the fastest 500 free in Horizon League history with a 4:44.88, nearly ten full seconds faster than she swam to win the event at last year’s championships. She also posted a 16:36.70 in the 1650 at mid season. Both swims currently lead the conference by truly massive margins, making her the heavy favorite in both events.

The Jaguars have another bright young talent on their women’s roster. Freshman Gabrielle Puryear-Lynch is currently ranked second in the conference in the 200 fly with a 2:01.86. Importantly, she’s currently behind Oakland’s Susan LaGrand, who is overwhelmingly unlikely to swim the event at these Championships. Puryear-Lynch is also second in the 500 free this season behind Zietlow.

Senior Lauren Thompson was a big contributor for IUPUI last year, finishing second in the women’s 100 back and 200 back.

IUPUI sophomore Logan Kelly is pretty much unquestionably the top men’s breaststroker in the conference currently if we’re taking both the 100 and 200 breast into account. As a freshman last year, Kelly won the men’s 100 breast in a new HL Record of 52.38, then took the 200 breast in 1:55.16, also a HL Record.

Junior Spencer Jyawook is another bright spot for the Jaguars. Jyawook won the men’s 100 fly by a wide margin last year, also taking third in the 50 free and fourth in the 100 free.

MILWAUKEE: Jay Jensen (Jr. – Free/IM), Mara Freeman (Fr. – Back)

Junior Jay Jensen finished sixth in the men’s 1650 last year and was a ‘B’ finalist in both IMs. This season, Jensen is currently ranked in the top eight in the conference in all three events.

Milwaukee freshman Mara Freeman is already looking to be one of the top backstrokers in the conference. Freeman is currently ranked third in the women’s 100 back and fifth in the 200 back in the conference this year.

OAKLAND: Susan LaGrand (5th – IM/Back), Marko Khotynetskyi (Sr. – Back), Christian Bart (Redshirt Sr. – Breast/Sprint Free), Jordyn Shipps (So. – Free/Fly/IM), Jonas Cantrell (So. – Free)

The Golden Grizzlies have dominated the conference for the last nine seasons. This season marks fifth year Susan LaGrand‘s final year with the team. LaGrand has been one of the fastest swimmers in Horizon League history, holding conference records in the women’s 100 back, 200 back, and 200 IM. LaGrand has also qualified for NCAAs the past two seasons, earning Honorable Mention All-American honors in 2021. On top of that, LaGrand has been Horizon League Freshman of the Year, Horizon League Athlete of the Year three times, and Horizon League Swimmer of the Meet for the conference championships twice.

Outside of LaGrand, Oakland sophomore Jordyn Shipps is a force to be reckoned with. Last year as a freshman Shipps won the 100 fly at the Horizon League Championships, also finishing second in the 200 fly and 200 IM. Interestingly, Shipps also leads the conference this season in the 50 free and 100 free, so it will be interesting to see which events Shipps ends up racing for her championship lineup.

Senior Marko Khotynetskyi has been the top men’s backstroker in the conference since he arrived at Oakland and leads the conference in both back events this season as well. Redshirt senior Christian Bart won both Horizon League Athlete of the Year and Swimmer of the Meet in 2021. He’s won conference titles in the 50 free (1x), the 100 free all three years he’s competed, and the 100 breast (1x).

Sophomore Jonas Cantrell won the men’s 500 free convincingly in his Horizon League debut last year and came in second in the 200 free. Notably, he was second behind teammate Rudy Aguilar, who has since graduated, in the 200 free, making him the top returner in the event this year.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE: Gavin Webb (Jr. – Free), Aleksa Radenovic (So. – Back/Fly), Miriam Frass (Fr. – Free), Brenden Reeves (Jr – IM)

Junior Gavin Webb won the men’s 1650 free last year as a sophomore. He was also a ‘B’ finalist in the men’s 500 free and 400 IM. Webb seems to have taken another step forward this season, as he currently leads the conference in the 500 free (4:25.97), 1650 free (15:25.41), and 400 IM (3:54.37).

Sophomore Aleksa Radenovic took third in the men’s 200 fly last season and is the fastest returner this season in the event. He’s already improved on his time from last season as well, having swum a 1:44.97, which leads the Horizon League this season by nearly four seconds. Radenovic didn’t qualify for any other finals last year, however, that should change this year, as he’s currently second in the conference in the men’s 100 fly as well.

Junior Brendan Reeves was an ‘A’ finalist in both the men’s IMs last year, taking seventh in both the 200 and 400 IM. Reeves is looking to repeat as an ‘A’ finalist in both events, as he’s sixth in the conference in the 400 IM and eighth in the 200 IM this season.

Miriam Frass, a freshman for Youngstown State, is looking to make some noise in her first Horizon League Championships. Frass is currently the third-fastest performer in the women’s 500 free this season in the conference. She’s also third in the 1650 free and ninth in the 200 free so far this season.

SHOWDOWN RACES

Men’s 100 Breast: The men’s 100 breast will feature a showdown between two Horizon League Champions in the event. Logan Kelly, an IUPUI sophomore who won the event last year, and Christian Bart, an Oakland redshirt senior who won the event in 2021, will be going head-to-head for the second year in a row. Moreover, the pair are tied for the top seed in the event, both coming in with season best of 53.41. It’s also worth noting that Oakland freshman Christopher Palvadre has been 53.49 this season, so he could end up making some noise as well.

Women’s 200 Fly: Coming into the season, this event looked like it was Oakland sophomore Jordyn Shipps to lose. Afterall, Shipps was the fastest returner from last year’s meet by over two seconds after finishing second in 2:01.41 last year. However, IUPUI freshman Gabrielle Puryear-Lynch popped off at the end of January, clocking a new personal best of 2:01.86, which ranks her second in the Horizon League this season. That time is two seconds faster than Shipps’ season best of 2:03.84. Notably, Oakland’s Susan LaGrand is the top performer in the event this season, but she won’t race the 200 fly at this meet.

Men’s 100 Free: Oakland’s Christian Bart is the defending champion in the men’s 100 free, having won the event comfortably in 43.32 last year. Though he won by 0.60 seconds last year, Cleveland State’s Paddy Johnston, who finished second in 43.92, was just a freshman last season. On top of that, Oakland now has grad transfer Samuel McKenzie, who has already been 43.81 this season. Given all that, the men’s 100 free should be one of the most highly contested races this year.

SWIMSWAM PICKS (TOP 3)

MEN

1. Oakland
2. IUPUI
3. Cleveland State

WOMEN

1. Oakland
2. IUPUI
3. Milwaukee

This meet is once again Oakland’s to lose. The Golden Grizzlies were already far ahead in the women’s standings last year and there hasn’t been enough movement in the teams under them to pose a real threat. On the other hand, Oakland was tested by Cleveland State last year, however, Cleveland State lost a lot of their top performers to graduation, while Oakland didn’t and gained key additions this season. All in all, the Oakland men and women are both poised for their tenth consecutive Horizon League titles.

Meanwhile, IUPUI has been trending in the right direction since joining the conference. The Jags finished third in both men’s and women’s scoring last year. In the women’s meet, they finished behind Milwaukee by 93.5 points, but the Panthers lost some key contributors. Cleveland State finished second in the men’s standings last year, but as stated above, they face a lot of losses. On top of that, Cleveland State doesn’t have divers this year, which will hurt in the team standings. Given that, it looks like IUPUI could move up to second in both the men’s and women’s scoring this year.