GLIAC Championship

JENISON, Michigan, February 16. THE Grand Valley State women's swimming & diving team claimed its first-ever GLIAC Championship Saturday night at Jenison High School with a GLIAC Championship meet record 897 points. Wayne State finished second (869) and Indianapolis third (433). The Lakers' title in 2009 broke Wayne State's streak of three straight titles. In addition, GVSU head coach Andy Boyce was named the Women's Coach of the Year and Lauren Dorsey (Howell, Mich.) was named the Freshman of the Year.

GVSU entered the final day with 33 point lead over the Warriors, but WSU quickly regained the lead by taking seven of the first eight spots in the 1000 free. Erin Kinney (Walker, Mich./West Catholic) finished fifth in the 1000 free in a school-record time of 10:25.95, which also met the NCAA DII B standard. Katie Lawrie (Whitby, Ont.) finished 10th and also hit the B cut. Danielle Buglio (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) claimed the GLIAC title and shattered the school record in the 200 backstroke in an NCAA DII A cut time of 2:04.46. Ashley Bronkema (Zeeland, Mich.) finished eighth in a time of 2:10.52.

GVSU regained the lead with 58 points in the 100 freestyle. Katelyn Childers (St. John's, Mich.) finished fourth and met the NCAA DII B cut with a time of 52.51. Melissa Faletti (South Lyon, Mich.) finished sixth (52.89) and met the B cut, as did Allison Scholz (Ada, Mich./Catholic Central) with a time of 52.92. Kaitlin Myszkowski (Farmington Hills, Mich./Mercy) finished eighth (53.75), while Kim Baughman (Farmington Hills, Mich.) hit the B cut with her 10th place finish (53.25).

Lauren Dorsey set a GLIAC record, crushed the school record and hit the NCAA DII A cut with a time of 2:17.09. Sam Stump (Goshen, Ind./Fairfield) finished third and hit the B cut with a time of 2:24.26, while Toni Musto was fifth (2:27.77). Freshman Carly Bush continued the record-setting meet with a third-place, school record A cut time of 2:04.14. Jenna Thayer (Okemos, Mich.) also hit the A standard with her sixth-place finish (2:05.59) and Alison VanKampen (Zeeland, Mich./East) was ninth in a B cut time of 2:08.49. Erin Lynch (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) touched in 2:10.97 and finished 10th.

Freshman Karen Verbrugge (Ada, Mich./Forest Hills Central) finished second on the 3-meter board with a score of 398.30, while Rachel Strom (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern) was fifth (361.85). Alison Sante (Bloomfield, Mich./Marian) notched sixth (340.10) and Jenna Fredrickson (Rockford, Mich.) eighth (291.15). GVSU closed the meet with yet another school record in the 400 free relay. Thayer, Scholz, Faletti and Childers hit the NCAA DII A cut by touching in second place (3:28.67).

Grand Valley State set 15 school records, hit the NCAA DII A cut standard 19 times in the finals and the B standard 24 times. GVSU will next compete at the NCAA DII National Championships March 11-14 in Houston, Texas.

Overcoming a 17.5-point deficit after three days of competition at the GLIAC Championships, the Wayne State men's swimming and diving team surpassed Grand Valley State after Saturday's final events to claim its fifth conference title in the last seven years.

Winning all six events Saturday, the Warriors totaled 900 points, most in school history and second-most in GLIAC history, in the four-day event held at Jenison High School. GVSU collected 834.5 points, followed by Indianapolis in third (523). Ashland (477), Lewis (379), and Findlay (162.5) rounded out the six-team field.

The squad swept the individual accolades from the league as well. Sean Peters earned his seventh career GLIAC Men's Coach of the Year award, while Jesper Akesson (Malmo, Sweden) was named Freshman of the Year and Sean Smith (Auburn, Mich./Bay City Western) took Athlete of the Year honors.

Fernando Costa (Porto, Portugal) broke the GLIAC record as well as his own school record in the 1000 free (9:15.06), while James Ekleberry (Rochester Hills, Mich./Avondale) placed sixth and improved his NCAA qualifying time (9:39.11).

Smith, who broke the conference record in the preliminary 200 backstroke, lowered the mark another three seconds in the final (1:45.64). Jimmy Lee (Windsor, Ont./Riverside) came in third (1:50.42).

Six Warriors scored points in the 100 free, led by Akesson who lowered his school record from the preliminary round by another .02 seconds (45.06). Sebastian Rzepa (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley) placed third (45.56), followed by Justin Shields (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) in fifth (45.83) and Cauli Bedran (Rio de Janiero, Brazil) in sixth (45.84), both of whom improved their "B" qualifiers.

Swimming in the consolation 100 free, Per Bergstrom (Fagersta, Sweden) placed 12th (47.18) and Alex Davidson (Napoleon, Mich./Jackson) came in 15th (47.57).

Matthew Laschuk (Tecumseh, Ont./Academie Ste. Cecile) lowered his "A" cut with a first-place finish in the 200 breaststroke. Matt Victor (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) came in fourth (2:08.25), Matt Carlson (Plymouth, Mich./Canton) placed seventh (2:09.94), and Jay Koehler (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Lake Shore) finished 15th (2:16.03).

Smith, who set a school- and GLIAC-record time of 1:49.31 in the preliminary 200 butterfly, was under the mark again Saturday night (1:48.79) but finished second to teammate Duarte Mourao (Loures, Portugal) who also earned a new "A" cut (1:47.27).

Justin Rauhoff (Richland, Mich./Comstock) claimed fourth place (1:52.51) and improved his "B" cut, while Ben Dueweke (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) placed sixth (1:52.98).

Wrapping up the meet was the first-place 400 free relay quartet of Shields, Rzepa, Akesson, Bedran, which set new school and conference records (2:59.65).

Many of the Warriors will begin preparing for the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 11-14 in Houston, Texas.

Special thanks to Grand Valley State and Wayne State for contributing this report.

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