GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University swimming and diving teams turned in several standout performances against a pair of ranked opponents Saturday afternoon, competing against Calvin and Grand Valley State in a tri-meet at Calvin University.
Both Cardinal teams earned victories over Calvin while falling to Grand Valley State. The SVSU men defeated Calvin 175-122 and fell to GVSU 178.5-118.5, while the women earned a 193-106 win over Calvin and fell 210-89 to the Lakers.
The distance group produced some of the Cardinals' biggest performances of the afternoon, led by William Hsiao, who recorded NCAA B-cut times in both the 1,000 and 500-yard freestyle. Hsiao finished second in the 1,000 with a time of 9:21.08 before winning the 500 in 4:30.92.
Ali Aygün joined Hsiao in giving SVSU a dominant showing in the distance events. Aygün won the 1,000 free in 9:15.87 to lead a Cardinal one-two finish and later placed second behind Hsiao in the 500 with a time of 4:33.81.
On the women's side, Lexi Hieber (Wixom, Mich., Walled Lake Western HS) led an equally impressive effort. Hieber swept the distance freestyle events, winning the 1,000 in 10:24.30 before returning to take the 500 in 5:03.96. Lena Lautscham (Leimen, Germany, Lowenrot Gymnasium) finished just over a second behind Hieber in the 1,000 at 10:25.41, while Ella DesJean (Indianapolis, Ind.) gave SVSU another one-two finish in the 500 with a time of 5:05.85.
DesJean also finished runner-up in the 200 free, touching in 1:53.42, just 0.34 seconds behind the event winner. Carolina Heinz (Porto Alegra, Rio Grande do Sul, Colégio Saber) followed in third at 1:53.48, putting three swimmers within four-tenths of a second at the front of the field.
Nathan Walker (Christchurch, New Zealand, Shirley Boys HS) put together a strong meet for the Cardinal men, highlighted by a victory in the 200-yard individual medley. Walker finished in 1:52.42, edging Calvin's Tim Hays by 0.58 seconds. He also placed seventh in the 200 free at 1:42.14 and fifth in the 200 breaststroke at 2:04.96.
Connor Lauritzen added a victory in the 200 breaststroke, touching first in 2:01.48. Lauritzen also finished third in the 100 breaststroke at 56.26 and eighth in the 200 IM at 1:58.31.
Hadyn Gould (Adrian, Mich.) turned in a pair of strong backstroke performances, finishing third in the 100 back in 49.54 and fourth in the 200 back at 1:50.13. Gould also placed fifth in the 100 butterfly with a time of 49.37.
The Cardinal women received additional strong performances from Sammy Fowler (Wellington, New Zealand, St. Hildas School) and Asia Swiderska. Fowler finished fourth in the 100 free at 53.75 and third in the 200 IM at 2:10.53. Swiderska placed third in both butterfly events, recording a 2:09.32 in the 200 and a 57.74 in the 100.
The SVSU men capped the afternoon with one of their strongest performances of the meet in the 400 free relay. Florian Quappill (Hildesheim, Germany, Humboldt Gymnasium), Juan Garcia, Lyon Hall (McFarland, Wis.) and Adam Bebars (Abudhabi, United Arab Emirates) combined to win the event in 3:02.67, finishing ahead of Grand Valley State and Calvin.
The performance completed a strong afternoon for the Cardinals against high-level competition, with both teams earning dual victories over Calvin and SVSU collecting multiple event wins and an early pair of NCAA B cuts.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley swimming and diving heads up to Marquette, Michigan for two meets next weekend. First, the Cardinals compete against Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State on Friday, October 23 at 6 PM. Then, those three are joined by Grand Valley State for a quad-meet on Saturday, October 24 at 11 AM. Both meets will take place in the PEIF Pool.
