Oakland Kicks Off Horizon League Championships with 3 Conference Records

Horizon League – Men and Women

• Wednesday, February 19 – Saturday, February 22
• Oakland Aquatics Center, Rochester, MI (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Oakland men (6x) & Oakland women (6x) (results)
• Live results
• Live Video
• Championship Central
• Day 1 Finals Results

TEAM SCORES THROUGH DAY 1

WOMEN

1. Oakland – 109.5
2. UIC – 94
3. IUPUI – 89
4. Cleveland State – 83
5. Milwaukee – 77.5
6. Youngstown State – 67
7. Green Bay – 39

MEN

1. Oakland – 80
2. Cleveland State – 68
3. IUPUI – 64
4. Green Bay – 58

The 6-time defending Horizon League champion men’s and women’s Oakland Golden Grizzlies won all 4 of the relays to open up the 2020 Champs. Additionally, Oakland broke Horizon League Records in 3 of the 4 relays tonight.

In the first event of the meet, Oakland took the women’s 200 medley relay with a new conference record of 1:38.75. Senior Grace Shinske led the Golden Grizzlies off in 25.21, followed by junior Sydney McDowell in 27.54, sophomore Susan LaGrand in 23.91, and senior Katie Colwell in 22.09. Oakland posted the fastest split in the field on the breast, fly, andfree legs, with IUPUI’s Lauren Thompson swimming a 25.19 for the fastest back split in the field.

The Golden Grizzlies also went on to win the women’s 800 free relay in record fashion, swimming a 7:16.76. Even more impressively, Oakland managed the record in that race with a relay squad made up of 3 freshmen and a sophmore. Freshman Sovhi Nenonen led off in 1:49.45, and was followed by fellow freshmen Emily Aycock (1:48.92) and Kiera Brough (1:50.18). Susan LaGrand  anchored the squad in 1:48.21. Perhaps most impressively of all, Oakland posted the 4 fastest splits in the field.

On the men’s side, Oakland won the men’s 200 medley relay by 1.20 seconds. Freshman Marko Khotynetskyi leading off in 21.88, and was followed by junior Ryan Geheb (23.68), junior Mack Flowers (20.81), and freshman Christian Bart (19.73), touching in 1:26.10. They were just off the HL Record of 1:26.05, held by Cleveland State. Like the Oakland women, the men posted the fastest splits in the field in every stroke except one. Khotynetskyi, Geheb, and Flowers all led their respective strokes, while Bart was the 3rd fastest in the field. IUPUI’s Mason Jung led the freestylers, splitting a 19.28.

Khotynetskyi was also a member of the winning Oakland 800 free relay, leading the team off in 1:36.29. Sophomore Danylo Hrebelnyi was next in with a 1:37.38, then sophomore Ben Davis split a 1:36.89, and junior Rudy Aguilar anchored in 1:36.04, finishing in a 6:26.60. That swim was yet another Horizon League Record set by Oakland on Night 1.

There was also one diving event tonight, the women’s 3 meter. UIC’s Cyndey Liebenberg, a junior, won the event with a final score of 322.60, also breaking the Horizon League Record.