Pete Hovland’s Grizzlies swam away with yet another Summit League Championship title tonight making that 14 consecutive wins. Racking up a total of 977 points for the Women, and 1,038 for the Men. Over the course of the meet, six league records were broken by OU and 13 NCAA B cut times were earned. On the final day of the meet saw 19 school records lowered by various schools.
1,650 Freestyle
Laps, on laps, on laps. Vanessza Balogh of Oakland University finished first in 16:51.11 not quite able to come up on her own league record, which was set in 2011 at 16:32.55. Julieanne Stears, also from OU, claimed second at 17:03.12 followed by Andee Budahl of South Dakota State University at 17:04.62. This event provided Eastern Illinois (17:23.18), University of South Dakota (17:25.57), and IUPUI (17:26.95) with school records from their fourth, fifth and sixth place finishes.
Amr El Sayed was able to score another league record and NCAA B cut with his 15:14.45 swim; this finish also places Sayed at number 27 in the nation in this event… at least today! Blake Yeager of SDSU touched second at 16:05.25 and Matthew Abercrombie third at 16:09.86. Rich Sunkel of IUPUI lowered his school record with a 16:15.81 finish for fifth place.
200 Backstroke
This final saw three records go down on the Women’s side. Karin Tomeckova of OU took down the league record and earned herself a B cut time with her 1:57.31 finish. Alyssa Busch, also from OU, touched second and earned herself a B cut time at 1:58.14. The third pace finisher from IUPUI, Lexi Laird not only took down the school record she set earlier in prelims, but she also became the first women in her school’s history to touch under two minutes at 1:59.90. Additionally, Paige Stavely of South Dakota lowered her school record to 2:02.72
Oakland Men went 1-2 in this event with Anders Jensen touching first at 1:43.33 earning a B cut time and the 16th fastest time in the nation, followed by Jorden Merrilees at 1:46.93. Third was claimed by Ian Ford of South Dakota with a new school record of 1:47.51.
100 Freestyle
Freshman rock star Nikki Flynn of Oakland took the first place title home touching at 50.73, followed by Kaylin Caron (SDSU) with a new school record of 51.16 for second place. Lizzie Bourgeois, who can seemingly always be counted on for a pre-race dance behind the blocks, took third at 51.23 also with a new school record. At prelims earlier in the day, Natalie Renshaw was able to lower Omaha’s school record to 51.03.
Oakland Men swept this event tonight. Grant Harding earned his first career league title with his winning swim of 44.48, followed by Matyas Keresztes at 44.80 and Zach Johnson at 45.29. Tony Carroll, the fourth place finisher of IUPUI, set a new school record of 45.58 in the prelims.
200 Breaststroke
Jennifer Oleksiak (IUPUI) set a new school record, and took first place with her 2:17.91. Second place went to Shannon Moceri of South Dakota who touched at 2:19.46, also with a new school record. Maddie Hutt took third at 2:20.42.
The Men’s event saw a school record set by Adam Ferguson of IUPUI in the morning prelims with a time of 2:05.23. Unfortunately, Ferguson was not able to better than in the finals. Hrafn Traustason and Tobias Hansen of OU battled it out for first with Traustason touching first at 2:01.86 followed by Hansen at 2:01.93. Shea Patrick of SDSU took third with a 2:03.67.
200 Butterfly
Sandra Czerska, Emily Ludema, and Julia Vela took the first three places in this final. Czerska touched at 2:00.18, Ludema at 2:00.81, and Vela at 2:05.08. Kate Dailey of SD lowered her school record to 2:07.34 with her fourth place finish.
Oakland continued to rake in the wins with this final: Mario Rusnak in first at 1:48.40 and Mitchel Alters in second at 1:48.58. Colin Krysl of SD took third with a 1:51.46 and a new school record. In the prelims, Dan Enge of EIU was able to lower his school record to 1:53.28.
Men’s Three-Meter Diving
USD’s Dustin Gens had the crowd cheering pretty loudly tonight, he took home the championship title with 294.15 points, followed closely behind by IUPUI’s Mitchell Gauger in second with 290.05, and Cody Watts at 284.20.
400 Freestyle Relay
Last one fast one! Nikki Flynn, Kyra Rietveld, Christine Seiple and Sandra Czerska of OU took this home in 3:24.81. SDSU took second, and set a school record with their 3:27.55. Lastly, the ladies of Omaha took third at 3:29.51.
On the Men’s side of things, Grant Harding, Amr El Sayed, Zach Johnson, and Matyas Keresztes of OU won the last title of the meet in 2:57.96. Western Illinois touched second at 3:05.75, and Eastern Illinois came in third at 3:06.14.
Full results including splits: http://www.ougrizzlies.com/livestats/c-swim/index.htm
Women – Team Rankings – Final
1. Oakland University 977
2. IUPUI Jaguars 517
3. University of Nebraska Omaha 512.5
4. South Dakota State University 476
5. The University of South Dakota 420
6. Eastern Illinois University 279.5
7. Western Illinois University 148
Men – Team Rankings – Final
1. Oakland University 1038
2. South Dakota State University 510
2. IUPUI Jaguars 479
4. Eastern Illinois University 453
4. Western Illinois University 397
6. The University of South Dakota 377
