Oakland Men Break 800 Free Relay Mark on Night 1 of Horizon League Championships

2026 Horizon League Championships

• February 18-21, 2026
• IU Natatorium, Indianapolis, IN
• SCY (25 yards)
• Start Times: Prelims- 10 am ET, Finals- 5:30 pm ET
  • Wednesday: Finals Only- 5:30 pm ET
• Defending Champions
  • Women: Oakland (12x)
  • Men: Oakland (12x)
• Participating Teams: Cleveland State, Green Bay, IU Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Northern Kentucky, Oakland, Youngstown State
• Psych Sheets
• Championship Central
• Horizon League Championships Preview
• Watch: ESPN+

After one day of action from the IU Natatorium, it is the Oakland Golden Grizzlies holding leads on both the men’s and women’s sides of the 2026 Horizon League Championships.

Highlighting the first session was the Oakland men’s 800 freestyle relay, clocking a new Horizon League Championship meet record in 6:21.43 as Karel Subagyo (1:36.19), Joey Countryman (1:36.01), Max Haney (1:35.50), and Harry Nicholson (1:33.73) overcame an early deficit to earn the Horizon League title and lower their own 2023 mark of 6:23.41.

Early in the race, it was Youngstown State’s Quinn Cynor blasting a 1:34.44 to give the Penguins a little more than a half-second lead before handing it over to freshman Pablo Santos, who maintained the lead with his 1:36.16 split. Haney then began to get the Golden Grizzlies into gold medal position as he caught YSU’s Lorenz Beck (1:37.26), giving Nicholson a .16 second advantage into the final leg, where he would put YSU’s anchor Valer Kennedy (1:40.10) in the rearview on their way to Horizon League history.

In the meet’s opening contest, the Milwaukee women’s 200 medley relay surged to the win in 1:40.02 as Mara Freeman (25.11), Gabrielle LePine (27.54), Maddi Hayashi (25,08), and Christina Brooks (22.29) finished a half second faster than runner-ups IU Indy in 1:40.52, and three quarters of a second faster than Oakland (1:40.77).

On the men’s side, it would be the Jaguars of IU Indy taking the win in home water over the Grizzlies (1:24.85) as Grayson Tidwell (21.60), Logan Kelly (23.50), Hugo Arteaga (20.63), and a massive anchor leg Yassin Abdelghany (18.63) charged to a half second win in 1:24.36, missing the meet record by just two tenths.

In the lone diving event of the day, IU Indy’s Alaina Heyde jumped a spot from her prelims placing to take the women’s 3-meter win in 284.60. She was followed by YSU’s Hanna Held (270.05) and Oakland’s  Victoria Sanders (258.10).

Oakland’s women’s 800 free relay also found themselves atop the podium, taking a three-second win over Youngstown State in 7:18.47. Mia Englender (1:50.08), Kelley Hassett (1:50.15), Viviane Partridge (1:48.06), and Erika Pietras (1:50.18) did not lead in this race until the 600 mark, after YSU’s Olivia Sweetman (1:48.75) and Orla MacInnes (1:50.30) put the Penguins in front for the first half of the race. Still, the big 3rd leg of Partridge crept up to Hannah Murray (1:49.41) of YSU, and was able to give Pietras the advantage coming home.

Team Standings After Night 1:

Women:

1. Oakland 103
2. IU Indy- 101
3. Milwaukee- 90
4. Cleveland State- 85
5. Green Bay- 70
6. Youngstown State- 60
7. Northern Kentucky- 24

Men:

1. Oakland- 74
2. IU Indy- 72
3.  Youngstown State- 66
4. Milwaukee- 58
5. Green Bay- 54
6. Northern Kentucky- 50
7. Cleveland State- 30