The SVSU swimming and diving teams continued competition in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships on Feb. 6 in the Gerstacker Regional Aquatic Center.
The third day of championship competition brought many highlights for the Cardinals which left their team standings at fourth in the women’s division with 304 points and fifth in the men’s with 286.5 points.
In the women’s events, freshman Flora Mia Szklenar placed fourth in the 200-yard butterfly race with a time of 2:05.60. Taking 14th was senior Kimble Darbee in 2:14.10 while junior Chelsea Fenton placed 16th with a time of 2:18.09.
In the 100-yard backstroke, senior Erin McDowell took fifth place with a time of 57.53 seconds. Sophomore Zoe Vance landed in 10th placed with a time of 58.87 and junior Kelsie Thomas finished 14th in 59.44.
Freshman Lucy Engle-Wilkerson placed sixth in the 500-yard freestyle race with a time of 5:08.71. Close behind was senior Tonya Guryeva in seventh with a time of 5:09.52 while senior Sydney Shipps finished in 10th place in 5:09.73.
In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Engle Wilkerson and Shipps joined freshmen Piper St. Clair and Kylie Clark to place fifth with a time of 7:44.41.
Senior Emma Cornell placed sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.57. In the event’s B-Finals, freshman Grace Charnstrom took 12th in 1:08.09 while junior Lisette Fenneuff, close behind at 1:08.46, placed 13th.
For the men, the Cardinals conquered the 3-meter diving event taking the top two spots for the first time in SVSU diving history. Winning his second GLIAC title of the weekend, sophomore Adrien McGill took first place with 437.90 points while freshman Corbin Montpas came in second with 433.35.
In the 100-yard backstroke, junior Alejandro Robles Ruiz finished second in 48.66 seconds to set a new school record and hit the NCAA Dll B-Standard.
Junior Christian Rottier also hit the NCAA Dll B-Standard, placing third in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 54.71 seconds. Freshman Josh Rottier came in sixth with a time of 55.71.
In the 500-yard freestyle, freshman Matteo Capotosti placed ninth with a time of 4:35.59.
Capotosti, Ruiz, freshman Logan Fox and senior Zachary Rychel set a new SVSU school record, placing third in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 6:44.25. Robles Ruiz set another school record in the event, with a 200-yard freestyle split of 1:37.50.
In the final day of competition at the GLIAC championships on Feb. 7, the Cardinals solidified their team standings.
Ultimately, the men’s team remained in fifth place with 391.5 points while the women’s team stayed in fourth with 436 points.
Grand Valley State University (GVSU) ranked first in the men’s team standings while Northern Michigan University took the top spot for the women’s teams.
In the men’s events, Ruiz set yet another school record and hit the NCAA Dll B-Standard earning second place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:46.39. Also hitting the NCAA Dll B-Standard was freshman Eric Slabbert, finishing sixth with a time of 1:47.89.
In the 100-yard freestyle, Fox placed sixth with a time of 46.13 seconds.
Capotosti earned sixth place while setting a new school record and hitting the NCAA B-Standard in the 1650-yard freestyle race with a time of 15:55.45.
In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Fox, Slabbert, Ruiz and Rychel set another new school record with a fourth-place finish of 3:01.00. Ruiz also set another individual school record in the event with a 100-meter freestyle split of 44.21 seconds.
McGill also received the title of GLIAC Men’s Diver of the Year following the meet.
For the women, senior Libby Caird was named GLIAC’s Women’s Diver of the Year after earning her first GLIAC title by placing first in the 1-meter dive event with 448.10 points.
In the 100-yard freestyle, Guryeva hit the NCAA Dll B-Standard with a secondplace finish of 51.63 seconds. St. Clair took 14th in the event with a time of 53.53.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, Cornell placed eighth with a time of 2:25.50. Darbee placed 10th in 2:27.61, Fenneuff came in 11th with a time of 2:27.87 and Charnstrom earned 15th in 2:31.93.
Cornell, Guryeva, Shipps and St. Clair finished the meet by setting a new school record in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:28.86.
On Saturday, Feb. 12 athletes were sent to compete in a First Chance Meet at the University of Michigan as well as in the GVSU Diving Invitational.
At the First Chance Meet, Cornell, Guryeva, St. Clair and Szklenar finished with a time of 1:36.43 in the women’s 200- yard freestyle relay.
In the women’s 400-yard medley relay, senior Erin McDowell teamed up with Guryeva, Szklenar and Cornell to finish in 3:50.26.
Ruiz took the men’s 100-meter freestyle time trial with a time of 44.37 seconds.
Ruiz also joined Josh Rottier, freshman Joao Pedro Noguera and senior Sanders Modglin in the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay time trial to finish with a time of 1:22.35.
At the diving invitational, Caird won the women’s 1-meter dive with 486.16 points. Junior Adelaide Spencer hit the NCAA Dll B-Standard with a score of 409.20 in the event.
McGill placed second in the men’s 1-meter dive with 445.05 points with Montpas close behind in third with a score of 431.18.
Montpas also won the men’s 3-meter dive event after six dives with 284.78 points.
The Cardinals will spend the next month preparing for the NCAA Dll Championships being held in Greensboro, N.C. from March 9-12.
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