By Olivia Wile, Swimming World College Intern.
It was another eventful evening at the second finals session of the 2019 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships.
The Wayne State University men claimed another relay record in the 400 medley, adding to the team’s five event wins tonight.
Northern Michigan University’s Rachel Helm won her second individual event this evening, while Grand Valley State University teammates battled it out in the men’s 100 fly.
Team scores after this evening:
- Wayne State University – 410.5
- Grand Valley State University – 391.5
- Northern Michigan University – 378
- St. Cloud State University – 172
- Ashland University – 148
- Saginaw Valley State University – 127
Women’s 200 Free Relay
The Wayne State women’s team of Lezlie Bueno Estrada, Julia Brunner, Haley Groteler and Aliza Durack got to the wall first with a two second drop from prelims (1:32.93). The Northern Michigan ladies Lena Soulas, last night’s 50 free winner, Margaret Vaitkus, Regan Kilburn and Rachel Helm, last night’s 200 IM winner, claimed second (1:33.34).
Falling behind by over a second was the Grand Valley team of Lara Deibel, Hannah Richard, Meda Kulbaciauskaite, and Mercedes Martinez (1:34.50).
Men’s 200 Free Relay
The Grand Valley men cruised to first tonight with a 1:19.87. The team of Gabriel Souza, Ben Walling, Harry Shalamon, and Jonathan Ham were just off the Grand Valley meet record of 1:19.54.
After an exciting win in the 200 medley relay last night, the Wayne State men finished second. The team of Ryan Katulski, Sasha Palazzo, Franz Mueller and Stewart Nowinksi teamed up for a final time of 1:20.26.
The Northern Michigan team of Renars Bundizs, Maskin Kapustin, Henry Bauer and Joshua Cosgrove fell three seconds behind their competitors finishing third (123:18).
Women’s 400 IM
Wayne State Senior Emily Marginean followed her team’s record-breaking trend with a new GLIAC meet record in the 400 IM, winning the event with a time of 4:17.35. With the rest of the field struggling to keep up, Grand Valley Freshman Samantha Laurich got to the wall next with a 4:23.21. Following close behind her was another freshman, Victoria Postmus from Davenport University, once again increasing her team score by finishing third (4:24.68).
Lara Deibel from Grand Valley worked some of her senior magic, dropping four seconds from prelims and finishing fourth with a time of 4:26.16. Fellow Senior Savanna Saunders of Northern Michigan claimed fifth (4:31.31). Her teammate, Sophomore Gabriella Spajic, got to the wall sixth with a time of 4:33.26.
Wayne State Freshman Ashleigh Allen made her GLAIC finals debut with a seventh place finish (4:36.91). Her teammate Senior Hannah Berich finished eighth (4:40.08).
Men’s 400 IM
Junior Joao Ribeiro kept the Wayne State momentum going with another first place finish. He claimed the 400 IM with a time of 3:50.16. Grand Valley Freshman Keegan Hawkins finished behind him with a second place finish (3:52.48).
Next to the wall was Northern Michigan Senior Ryan Leonard with a time of 3:56.60. Junior Leonardo de Oliveira of Wayne State claimed fourth (3:57.12).
Falling in the four minute range were David Miranda of Northern Michigan, Marius Mikalauskas of Grand Valley, Matthew Filsinger of Ashland University and Janne Roovers of Northern Michigan. Finishing fifth and sixth were Miranda (4:00.74) and Mikalauskas (4:01.02). Filsinger got to the wall seventh with a time of 4:02.94. Roovers finished eighth at a 4:06.98.
Women’s 100 Fly
Northern Michigan’s Rachel Helm answered her first place finish in the 200 IM last night with another victory in the 100 fly. Helm broke the GLIAC meet record with a 54.61 in prelims. Her time this evening was just off that mark at a 55:06, but still got her a win.
Mercedes Martinez of Grand Valley claimed a close second place with a time of 55:49.
Further behind first and second was Grand Valley’s Hannah Richard with a third place finish (56.29). Julia Brunner of Wayne State followed close behind, coming in fourth with a time of 56.47. Also in the 56 range was Grand Valley Sophomore Freyja Garbaccio, finishing fifth (56.90).
Teammate and Freshman Melina De Court made her first GLIAC finals appearance this evening with a sixth place finish (57.30). Briana Arnold, another freshman from Northern Michigan, finished close behind at 57.34. Davenport Freshman Dominyka Rapsyte finished eighth (58.58).
Men’s 100 Fly
It was a Grand Valley battle for first in the men’s 100 fly. Beating out his senior teammate was Sophomore Oscar Laura Armengol with a winning time of 47.45. Gabriel Souza got to the wall second with a time of 47.61, off his record time of 46.27 set back in 2017.
Wayne State Senior Rasmus Olsen finished a close third with a time of 47.91. His teammate, Senior Dmytro Drobnych just missed the 47 range, coming in fourth with a time of 48.00. A close race all around, Harry Shalamon from Grand Valley got to the wall fifth (48.16).
Wayne State Freshman Abdelrahman Hassan contributed to his team with a sixth place finish (49.08). Sophomore Mason Hooker represented the Saginaw Valley State men in finals as he cruised to seventh with a 49.37. His teammate, Senior Dyan Kopacki finished eighth (50.06).
Women’s 200 Free
Winning her second event of the meet was Grand Valley’s Melina Goebel. The junior dropped her prelim time by two seconds, finishing with a 1:49.24. Northern Michigan’s Lena Soulas missed the chance to claim her own second win of the meet by a mere tenth. She got to the wall second with a time of 1:49.34.
Wayne State Junior Ashlen Michalski took third with a 1:51.36.
Saginaw Valley State University Freshman Sydney Shipps made her way back to finals this evening claiming fourth (1:52.51). Also finishing in the 1:52 range was teammate Senior Alexandra Davis, coming in fifth (1:52.72).
In the 1:54 range was Lezlie Bueno Estada, finishing sixth (1:54:89) and Grand Valley Junior Sidney Weaver finishing seventh (1:54.92). Grand Valley Senior Allison Wells finished eighth (1:56.21).
Men’s 200 Free
Lajos Budai of Northern Michigan took the 200 free this evening by .02, beating out Wayne State Junior Ahmed Ahmed. Budai finished first with a time of 1:38.10 while Ahmed finished at a 1:38.12.
The race for first continued between Wayne State’s Franz Mueller, finishing third (1:38.12), and Jonas Reinhold, a junior from Northern Michigan got to the wall fourth (1:38.61).
Teammate and Junior Jonathan Busse finished fifth with a time of 1:39.60, while Junior Joel Huth from St. Cloud State University made his team’s first finals appearance finishing sixth with a time of 1:40.21.
Grand Valley Freshman Daniel Mullen claimed seventh (1:40.28). Grantas Dapkus of Northern Michigan finished eighth (1:40.62).
Women’s 400 Medley Relay
The women’s team of Michalaski, Jia Yi Koh, Brunner and Katherine Svisco claimed another Wayne state relay win with a final time of 3:45.06.
Coming in a close second was the Grand Valley Team of Melina De Court, Celia Hoag, Martinez and Goebel with a time of 3:46.65.
Northern Michigan fell third, swimming slightly slower than their seed time. The team of Kilburn, Dana Stroven, Briana Arnold and Soulas finished with a 3:47.49.
Men’s 400 Medley Relay
Another relay record fell at the feet of the Wayne State men tonight. The team of Drobnych, Palazzo, Olsen, and Katulski broke the Grand Valley meet record by over a second finishing with a 3:11.26.
The Grand Valley team of Shalamon, Mikalauskas, Souza and Walling were just behind with a 3:12.85.
Trailing by five seconds were the Northern Michigan men. The team of Bundizs, Arnoldo Herrera, Bundai and Reinhold finished third (3:17.92).
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Well done!