GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University swimming and diving program competed in a tri-meet hosted by Calvin University on Saturday afternoon, taking on Grand Valley State and Calvin. The Cardinals men's and women's teams both beat the Knights and fell to the Lakers.

The men defeated Calvin 194-102 while falling to Grand Valley 233-66. The Cardinal women edged Calvin 153-146 and lost to Grand Valley 241-58.

SVSU recorded several top-three finishes throughout the day, highlighted by event wins from Lexi Hieber, Carolina Bononi Heinz, Thomas Smith, and Alvaro Rodriguez.

Hieber took the women's 1000-yard freestyle in 10:30.51 and added a top-five finish in the 500-yard freestyle (5:09.35). Bononi Heinz captured the women's 100-yard freestyle in 52.37 seconds and placed second in the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.92). Hannah Martin Cook took third in the women's 100-yard backstroke (58.37) as well.

On the men's side, Smith finished third in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:00.43) and fifth in the 500-yard free (4:46.62) and 200-yard butterfly (1:55.21), while Rodriguez placed second in the 200-yard butterfly (1:53.34). Alp Hacioglu was runner-up in the men's 100-yard breaststroke (55.81), and Hadyn Gould in the men's 100-yard backstroke (49.43) as well.

In diving, Rory Kauffman placed second on the men's one-meter board with a score of 271.15 and third on the three-meter at 249.95, while Layla Winklepleck sixth on both women's boards, scoring 213.00 (1-meter) and 205.40 (3-meter).

The SVSU women's 400-yard freestyle relay of Bononi Heinz, Ella, Andrea Bustos, and Hieber finished third overall with a time of 3:35.24, while the men's 400-yard free relay of Lyon Hall, Rodriguez, Bora Cabbar, and Florian Quappill finished second in 3:03.94.

Up Next: Saginaw Valley comes back home for their next competition, hosting Northern Michigan and Findlay on Friday, October 24 at 3:30 PM. The Cardinals compete against Findlay the following morning at 11:00 AM