Oakland Leads Both Meets At Summit League Championships

Oakland Breaks 10 Summit League Records in Day One of Championship
Senior Aaron Holdsworth broke the league record in the men's 500-yard free style (4:22.15), junior Eddie Toro set a new league record in the men's 200 individual medley (1:48.25), and senior Sophia Gustafsson broke the women's meet record in the 500 free (4:56.62) to lead Oakland University at the Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday night inside the OU Aquatics Center. The Golden Grizzlies broke 10 meet records and lead after day one.
 
"I think tonight we just caught the wave and it started to swell and get bigger and bigger, "said head coach Pete Hovland. “Top to bottom, the kids had an outstanding effort. To break every conference record but one tonight (the men's 50 free) is really a phenomenal achievement. Now the challenge is after finishing on a night like this is whether or not we can keep this going. "
 
The Oakland University men's and women's swimming and diving team set  five NCAA "B" cuts, thanks to Holdsworth's mark in the 500 free, Gustafsson in the 500 free, junior Agnes Solan with her split in the 400 medley relay, (53.77),  the men's 200 free relay team of senior Nicholas Bonucchi, senior Andy Kellogg, senior Justin Veneklase and junior Marcin Unold (1:20.25) and the men's 400 medley relay team of freshman Anders Jensen,  Kellogg,  Holdsworth, and Unold (3:12.33).
 
The women's team also set league records with Solan in the 200 individual medley (2:03.04) freshman Alyssa Vela in the 50 free (23.18), the 200 free relay team of junior Sarah Ludema, sophomore Kelli Dewey, sophomore Corey Tschannen, and senior Tara Baxter (1:34.76) and the 400 medley relay team of Solan, sophomore Emily Wike, Ludema and Vela (3:46.51).
 
After day one of competition, Oakland's men's team leads the field with 300 points. In second place is Centenary with 157 points and rounding out the top three is Eastern Illinois University with 138 points. For the women, OU is leading the pack with 278.5 points, Western Illinois is in second place with 144.5 and Centenary in third with 127 points.
 
Day two of the championship will commence Friday, Feb. 20, with preliminaries starting at 11 a.m. and finals kicking off at 6:30 p.m.
 
Western Illinois Set Two School Records in Day One of Summit League Championships
The Western Illinois swimming and diving teams set two school records and had six other top-10 performances in the school record book in day one of the Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships on Feb. 19.

“We had a great first day and I am proud of how we performed today,” said Western Illinois head coach Sean Raffile. “We set a lot of lifetime bests today and I hope it continues over to the next two days.”

Leading the Westerwinds was McKinzie Jacobs who shattered an 18 year-old school record in the 500-yard freestyle by 8.67 seconds, taking second in the event with a time of 4:58.81. In the same event, two other Westerwinds broke into the all-time top-10 record book in junior Laura Dinkelmann and senior Amber Piercy. Piercy took fifth with a time of 5:07.17 (second all time in the Western Illinois record books) and Dinkelmann finished ninth (third all time in the Western Illinois record books).

The second record broke in the day was set by the 400-yard medley relay team of Alyssa Deffner, Taylor Martin, Shannon Nelson and Kaley Rowe who took second in the event with a time of 3:52.26, breaking the school record by 3.01.

Junior Lauren Trondle swam into third place in the Western Illinois record books, taking fifth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:09.67. Nelson took seventh in the event with a time of 2:10.54.

Other Western Illinois top-10 record book finishes included Martin, Rowe and Amanda Smith in the 50-yard freestyle. Rowe took fourth in the event with a time of 24.15 (third all time in the Western Illinois record books), Martin took seventh with a time of 24.48 (sixth all time in the Western Illinois record books) and Smith finished eighth with a time of 24.54 (seventh all time in the Western Illinois record books).

Eric Campbell might not have broken any school records in the 1-meter diving event, but he did claim first place in the event with a mark of 307.95 after taking second in the event last year to senior teammate Anthony Holzhauer. Holzhauer took third in the event with a mark of 295.45, respectively.

Also for the Leathernecks, sophomore Jeff Davis took sixth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:41.78 and freshman Braydon Rudy took eighth, breaking his personal-best time by 10.59 seconds. Also having personal best performances in the event were freshman Brandon Wilkinson with a time of 4:43.79 (11th place) and junior Zach Johnson with a time of 4:46.44 (12th place).

Two other Leathernecks set personal-best performances in the 200 individual medley in junior’s Brian Demijan and Josh Gregory. Gregory beat his personal best by 5.89 seconds, taking 14th in the event with a time of 2:00.08, and Demijan beat his personal best by 6.26 seconds, finishing the preliminary round with a time of 2:01.89.

In the 50 freestyle, sophomore Mike Regan had a personal best time of 22.27 (16th place in the finals) and senior Bill Hayes had a personal best time of 22.27 (preliminary round).

Day two of the championships continue tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. in the OU Recreation and Athletics Center on the campus of Oakland University. For live statistics of the event, please visit www.ougrizzlies.com.