UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University swimming and diving teams concluded the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Monday from the Gerstacker Regional Aquatic Center. SVSU finished fourth in the women's team standings with 436 points, while the men were 5th with 391.5 points.
Northern Michigan University was the women's team champion while Grand Valley State University took the men's title.
Following the meet, Libby Caird was named GLIAC Women's Diver of the Year, and Adrien McGill was named GLIAC Men's Diver of the Year.
Caird took home the 1-meter diving title on Monday and was runner-up in the 3-meter event on Saturday. The senior earned GLIAC Diver of the Week honors five times over the course of the season.
McGill was named Diver of the Year by the conference following his 1-meter title with 450.45 points, and 3-meter title with 437.90 points. The sophomore from Grand Ledge, Mich., was named GLIAC Diver of the Week three times during the season.
"The divers had an amazing and historic weekend. Libby won her first GLIAC championship and was awarded Women's Diver of the Year, Adelaide had PRs on both boards as well and improved from her placing at last year's GLIAC championship. Corbin also PR'd on both boards, just missing his national qualifying score. Adrien's sweep of diving events will be cemented in history forever. Sam had a great meet by having PR'd on both boards this weekend. This weekend has written a new chapter in the story of SVSU diving and the continuance of excellence, I'm so very proud of the divers and honored to be able to coach such wonderful kids."-Head Diving Coach Joe Gucwa.
Women's Highlights:
- Libby Caird was the winner of the 1-meter dive with 448.10 points. It was the first GLIAC title for the Jenison, Mich., native.
- Tonya Guryeva was runner-up in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.63 seconds, hitting the NCAA DII B-Standard. Piper St. Clair earned points in 14th place with a time of 53.53.
- Emma Cornell took eighth place in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:25.50. Kimble Darbee finished 10th in 2:27.61, Lisette Fennueff was right behind in 11th with a time of 2:27.87. Grace Charnstrom was 15th with a time of 2:31.93.
- Guryeva, Cornell, St. Clair, and Sydney Shipps closed the meet with a third-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, finishing with a time of 3:28.86 and a new school record
Men's Highlights:
- Logan Fox took sixth place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.13 seconds.
- Alejandro Robles Ruiz took home runner-up honors in the 200-yard backstroke, hitting the NCAA DII B-Standard and setting a school record with a time of 1:46.39. Eric Slabbert also hit the NCAA DII B-Standard in sixth place with a time of 1:47.89.
- In the longest race of the meet, Matteo Capotosti earned a sixth-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle race with a time of 15:55.45, setting a new SVSU school record and hitting the NCAA DII B-Standard.
- Ruiz, Fox, Slabbert, and Zachary Rychel took home a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:01.00 for a new school record for the Cardinals. The 100-meter freestyle split of 44.21 seconds was a new school record for Ruiz.
Quote from Head Coach Jason Lintjer:
"This was a huge step for SVSU. We ended up setting 14 school records. We had so many individuals step up and compete at a high level. I'm so proud of this team and how they performed."
Final Team Standings:
Men
GVSU 973
Wayne State 577
Northern Michigan 576
SCSU 422
SVSU 391.5
Davenport 267
Augustana 245.5
Women
Northern Michigan 846.5
Wayne State 801.5
GVSU 765
SVSU 436
Davenport 377
Up next:
The Cardinals will travel to the University of Michigan next Friday for a meet in Ann Arbor, Mich.
