Bowling Green State
Junior Jorden Merrilees and sophomore Takara Martin wrapped up their competition at the fourth and final day of the 2014 AT&T Winter National Championships at the Greensboro Aquatics Complex.
Merrilees advanced to the evening session once again with a time of 1:44.08 in the men's 200 Backstroke, improving his PR by one second and moving into third place all-time in Oakland history in the event. That mark was good for 10th overall and a spot in the B Final, where he finished fourth in the evening's heat with a time of 1:45.12.
During Saturday's morning session, Martin posted a time of 2:19.20 in the women's 200 Breaststroke, which ranked 60th overall.
"We had a great day today," said Oakland assistant coach Katie Sullivan. "This was a great opportunity to expose Jorden and Takara to a big event and getting them used to the environment. And, it was a fast meet against world-class swimmers and we competed well throughout the weekend."
Oakland
Mitch Alters and Aleksander Danielewski were two-time winners while Tuomas Kiviluoma, Nikki Flynn, Kyra Rietveld, Patricia Aschan and Jeremiah Morren all won once individually as the Oakland swimming and diving team wrapped up the two-day Eastern Michigan Invitational Saturday evening at the Jones Natatorium.
The Oakland men finished second behind Eastern Michigan in a field of five teams with a score of 940. The women's team placed third among six teams with 881.5 points in a close finish behind Eastern Michigan (908) and Bowling Green (900).
"After competing a full four-day conference meet format in a matter of 27 hours our two teams are pretty tired," said head coach Pete Hovland. "We swam two off the top teams in the MAC and went toe-to-toe just like our double dual meet four weeks ago with some very positive results. We learned a lot more about both of our teamsthis weekend and as a staff we have a better idea of what we need to do to be better prepared for the second half of the season."
The women's 200 freestyle relay team of Holly Morren, Rietveld, Melissa VanderMeulen and Flynn won with a meet-record time of 1:33.75, winning by five hundredths of a second.
Danielewski posted his second NCAA B Qualifying mark in as many days with his time of 48.43 in the 100 backstroke to win the event. He then won the 200 IM, slightly missing a qualifying mark and touching in a time of 1:40.40 to pace a 1-2 finish for Oakland in the event: Kiviluoma was second in 1:51.18.
Alters led a 1-2 finish for Oakland in the men's 400 IM, winning in 4:03.33, while teammate Ayrton Kasemets finished second with a time of 4:07.59. Alters then won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:35.97, edging his field by four hundredths of a second. Kiviluoma also touched first in a 1-2 finish in the 100 butterfly, beating teammate Mario Rusnak and the field with a time of 48.60. Rusnak was second in 49.29. Morren won the men's 50 freestyle with a time of 20.68.
Flynn was victorious in the women's 200 freestyle, winning with a time of 1:51.11. Rietveld just missed an NCAA B time in the 100 backstroke, touching first with a time of 55.27. Aschan captured first in the 200 IM, winning in 2:04.51.
For the men, Oakland started out with a 2-3 finish in the 200 medley relay, with the team of Danielewski, Hrafn Traustason, Rusnak and Morren touching second in 1:31.28. Oakland also had a second-place finish by John Schihl (100 breaststroke, 57.01) and a trio of relay teams: the 800 freestyle relay (Kiviluoma, Pearson, Timmons, Alters: 6:43.45), 200 freestyle relay (Morren, Kiviluoma, Binder and Danielewski: 1:22.46) and 400 medley relay (Danielewski, Schihl, Rusnak, Morren: 3:18.16).
On the women's side, Oakland finished second in the 200 medley relay (Rietveld, VanderMeulen, Morren, Flynn: 1:43.58) and the 400 medley relay (Rietveld, VanderMeulen, Morren, Flynn: 3:46.08). Oakland also got a second-place finish from Patricia Aschan in the 400 IM (4:22.57) and Nichole Contesti in the 500 freestyle (5:00.37). Tricia Grant placed second in the women's 3-meter diving with a score of 310.30.
The Golden Grizzlies return to action Friday, Jan. 16 when Oakland hosts Cincinnati, Olivet Nazerene and Kenyon College at the Oakland Aquatics Center for the start of a two-day event.
