 "Photo: Ron Harper / Special to The South End")
The Great Lakes International Athletic Conference held the swimming and diving championships in the Matthaei Feb. 10-13. Wayne State’s women’s team finished first with 901.5 points, 118 ahead of second place Grand Valley State. On the men’s side, it was the GVSU taking the top spot as WSU claimed second.
On the first day of the four-day event, the men’s swimming and diving team took fifth place. Despite a lackluster opening performance hampered by a disqualification, freshman Oskar Nordstrand was a highlight for the team. He finished the 1650 freestyle with a score of 15:44.76, which put him in second place.
After the first day of events, the WSU men found themselves looking up after digging themselves into a 45-point hole behind day-one leader, Lewis University.
The WSU women’s swimming and diving team enjoyed great success on the first day. They finished first with a total of 178 points. They had a firm grasp on the first place position over Grand Valley State, who finished with a total of 123 points on the first day of competition.
WSU took first place out of eight teams into day two with high hopes of putting another solid day together. Stephanie Ekleberry, WSU swimmer, said she feels her team has made the necessary adjustments throughout the course of the season to have a chance to win.
“I am really happy with how our team is performing and how our team has progressed,” Ekleberry said.
Cody Narlock participated in the GLIAC championship after being unable to dive in last month’s invitational at Wayne State due to a back injury. Regardless of Narlock’s dives, he seemed to be a fan favorite and he had the crowd cheering.
“I feel a lot better this week. It feels great to get back out there and compete,” Narlock said. “I am happy to have an opportunity to compete with my team in GLIACS.”
Day two of the championship started much better for the WSU men’s team. They fought their way to second place out of six teams competing for the men’s title.
Wayne State’s swimmer Cauli Bedran, a senior from Brazil, established himself as a force after participating in two first-place relay teams and won the individual 50 freestyle competition.
For the men’s diving, standout senior Cayce Bolt led the Warriors with a second place finish from the one-meter board.
“I am just going out there and competing. All I want to do is help my team and just enjoy this week with some great competition. It feels great to be out there, and I hope we can continue to do well and get some solid performances from our guys,” Bolt said.
The women for WSU proved to be capable of holding their lead over a surging GVSU team. WSU finished the day with a cumulative score of 342 and a slim 14 point lead.
Grand Valley and Wayne State really distanced themselves from the rest of the pack, with Ashland in third with a total score of 195.
Ashley St. Andrew was one of the most impressive swimmers this week, collecting her third title in her college career in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:55.28 and boosted her NCAA “A” qualifying time as well.
Elaina Hogle also had a successful day, winning her third career title in the 200 individual medley. Other standout warriors include Ana Gonzalez Pena, junior, who improved her National “B” time and Sara Franklin who helped win the 400 medley relay.
The Wayne State men fell behind Ashland and even further behind Grand Valley State after day three. Grand Valley kept distancing themselves throughout the week and never really allowed Wayne State or any other team within striking distance.
WSU finished day three with a total of 434.5 points and Grand Valley State set the bar at 584 points. Joaquin Abascal Gallegos, red-shirt freshman, competed in the 400 meter medley and took first to help jumpstart the day for the Warriors.
Another high note for WSU was four swimmers, Gallegos, Nordstrand, sophomore Matthew Laschuk and senior Justin Shields, performed well enough to earn a national bid.
“I am swimming really well this year and it’s exciting because I have put in a lot of work. It is also exciting how well we are performing as a team and we just have to stay focused and keep getting better,” Laschuk said.
Day three for the WSU women’s team was essential because they opened their lead to 80 points (652-572) over GVSU.
WSU posted an astounding four individual victories, highlighted by St. Andrew, and won another relay medley. St. Andrew set another pool record in the preliminary round on the third day with a time of 1:52.18 in the 200 freestyle.
The men had great success on the last day, which helped them secure their spot in second. They had come into this year having won five out of the last seven GLIAC Championships.
GVSU won the event with a total score of 866 followed WSU with 710.5, and Ashland took third with 701.
Cayce Bolt won the three-meter dive and sealed the second place position for the men. It was the fourth time the senior won the event in his career.
Gallegos, who finished first in the 200 breaststroke, improved his NCAA “A” qualifying time and also took first in two other races. Laschuk, qualified for NCAA “A” cut with a second place finish in the 200 butterfly.
The women’s team took their 80-point lead into the final day of events needing a solid performance to secure their victory — which is exactly what they did by smashing the old record of total points accumulated.
Hogle took the GLIAC Women’s swimming and diving athlete of the year, which she is quite familiar with having won the award twice already.
WSU was led by St. Andrew who accumulated 71.5 points throughout the day Feb. 13. She won her fourth title in the 1000 freestyle. Ekleberry finished strong that day, too, placing second in 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:26.94.
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