The Oakland men and women pounced on early leads on the road in East Lancing, but the host Spartans were able to battle back to pick up home wins against their in-state rivals.
The Michigan State men were able to win 154.5-143.5 despite winning only four individual events (and tying in one), while the Spartan women won 163-135.
Men’s Meet
The Spartans couldn’t have started things better, going 1-2 in the opening 200 medley relay. The team of Samuel Schulze, Alec Kandt, Kyle Workman and Bryan Williams went 1:31.54 for the win, followed by the MSU B squad.
But the Oakland Grizzlies roared back, winning the next three events – Amr el Sayed‘s first of two wins in the 1000 free (9:32.01), Jorden Merrilees’ first of a trio of victories in the 200 free (1:39.11) and Aleksander Danielewski‘s 50.91 100 backstroke win – to tie the score at 37-all.
Michigan State swept the top two spots in the 100 breast with Ian Rodriguez‘s 57.25 and Alec Kandt‘s 57.30 getting in ahead of Oakland’s Hrafn Traustason, who went 57.43. Oakland’s Mitchell Alters touched out a pair of Spartans to win the 200 fly and keep the score close, and then Grizzly Grant Harding and Spartan Pat Falconer tied for the top spot in the 50 free to end the opening session.
MSU went 1-2 in 1-meter diving (with Brennan Labar winning with a 303.67) before Harding returned to top Falconer in the 100 free, 45.28 to 46.46. In a strange twist, Falconer tied again, this time for second with teammate Kyle Workman.
But Merrilees returned to win the 200 back (1:50.07), Traustason took the 200 breast (2:05.00) and el Sayed won the 500 free to make three in a row for the Grizzlies and stake them to a 6-point lead with just a few events to go.
Michigan State wasn’t about to quit, though, winning the 100 fly (Bryan Williams, 48.92) and 3-meter diving (Brennan Labar, 299.18) to pull back ahead.
But as he did multiple times Thursday night, Merrilees got back in the pool for Oakland, winning the 200 IM in 1:51.88 to push the meet to the final relay in a winner-takes-all showdown.
Harding got Oakland out to a full-second lead on the leadoff leg, but the rest of the MSU relay slowly chipped away at that lead until Spartan anchor Nick McGowan touched the wall with a half-second win, giving Michigan State the team title.
Women’s Meet
The Michigan State women won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:46.35, but Oakland was able to take second and third to keep things close early, a sign of things to come.
Becca Berman took the 1000 free for MSU, and Summer Strickler kicked off what became a good night for her by winning the 200 free in a tight battle. That put MSU ahead by 17 early.
But Oakland went 1-2 in the 100 back with Karin Tomeckova and Kira Rietveld going 57.17 and 57.25 respectively. Then Tekara Martin won the 100 breast to put the visitors up by 3.
MSU answered back with 1-2 finishes in the 200 fly, led by Elizabeth Brown’s 2:03.88, and 50 free (Emily Parsons, 24.18) to grab the lead an run away with it going into diving.
Oakland’s Tricia Grant scored 282.53 to win 1-meter diving before Summer Strickler came back to win the 100 free in 51.84.
MSU led by 26 at this point, but a 1-2-3 sweep from the Grizzlies in the 200 fly erased half of that lead in one fell swoop. Then Martin returned to win the 200 breast by just .02 and things were tight as can be once again.
Patricia Aschan won the 500 free for Oakland, avenging her 1000 free loss to MSU’s Becca Berman to give the Grizzlies just their second lead of the night. But MSU went 1-2-3 in the 100 fly (Elizabeth Brown, Sarah Love and Marcella Kupraszewicz were all 57s) to put the visitors back in a hole entering the final diving break.
This time MSU won on the boards, with Alicia Menzies scoring 310.88 to win and effectively seal the meet for the Spartans, barring any DQs.
Aschan won the 200 IM in 2:06.19, but MSU took second and third to officially clinch the meet with 150 points. The Spartans then went 1-3 in the final relay to ice the victory, getting a 3:31.01 out of the A squad.
