ALLENDALE, Michigan, October 19. Grand Valley State swimming opened up its home schedule with a sweep of UW-Milwaukee. The men won 153-90, while the women picked up a 129-114 victory.
Grand Valley State Press Release
In their first home dual meet of the season, the Grand Valley State swim teams swept UW-Milwaukee at the GVSU Pool. The Laker men won 153-90, while the women won 129-114.
In the women’s competition, the Lakers were victorious in 7 events and placed swimmers in second or third in three events. Individually, Sarah Roeser placed first in the 50 meter free (24.53) and the 100 yard freestyle (53.79), while Sam Postmus broke the pool and school record in the 400 meter Individual Medley with a time of 4:29.33. The previous 400 IM school record was held by Toni Musto, while Caitlyn Madsen held the previous pool record for the 400 IM.
On the men’s side of competition, Grand Valley State placed first in 10 events, including the first five events of the dual-meet. Most notably, the Laker men took every point in the 200 meter freestyle, with Gianni Ferrero placing first, Gonzalo Rodriguez placing second, and Nathan Wagner placing third. Ferrero also placed first in the 100 yard Butterfly, breaking the pool record originally set by Michael Griffith.
The Lakers are back in the pool on Friday, Oct. 24, when they compete against Calvin College and Hillsdale.
UW-Milwaukee Press Release
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee swimming & diving teams swept all four diving boards and won nine events in all, but dropped a pair close decisions to two very talented Grand Valley State teams at the GVSU Pool Saturday afternoon.
Milwaukee’s women’s squad fell, 129-114, while the Panther men dropped a 153-90 decision.
“These were two tough loses today,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. “Over the years, we have earned the right to get opposing teams’ best efforts. Grand Valley State is a talented team and they have our dual circled on their calendar. When they swim us, we get some of their best times for the entire season. It’s fun for me to see some of the crazy, end-of-the-year times they put up. That being said, I still expect our student-athletes to go out and race them. Today, we didn’t do that very well. There were a lot of events that we could have won, but simply didn’t. We have to be a more resilient team. It’s very early in the season, but we have a lot more improvements to make before February.”
UWM dominated all diving events on the day. Senior K.J. Heger broke both GVSU Pool records on the day with a score of 371.85 on three meter and 347.62 on one meter. Both scores are also NCAA Zone qualifying scores. Andy LaFleur was also strong for Milwaukee, taking third on both boards.
Junior Rachel Margis also had a pair of outstanding performances in sweeping the women’s diving events. Margis first won the one-meter competition with a score of 259.28 before posting an outstanding mark of 307.72 on three meter to run away with the win. That three-meter score also equals the first NCAA Zone score of the season for Margis.
In swimming events, the UWM women claimed the first two events on the day.
Four freshmen – Sara Bentley, Charli Wike, Maggie Burns and Arica Smith – teamed up to win the opening 200 medley relay in 1:49.01, a full second ahead of the rest of the field.
In the next event, it was another freshmen finishing ahead of the pack for Milwaukee. Newcomer Alena Bodnaruk earned the first win of her young collegiate career, taking the top spot in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:48.56, nearly 15 seconds ahead of the next finisher.
Freshman Sara Bentley also claimed the first win of her career, touching the wall in an impressive 59.48 seconds in the 100 butterfly – nearly two seconds ahead of the rest of the field – for the win.
Maddy Nelson was able to touch out GVSU’s top swimmer in a thrilling 100 backstroke. The freshman won the event for the second-straight week to start her collegiate career, recording the win in 1:00.15 to beat out three Laker swimmers.
On the men’s side, Milwaukee claimed a win in the 200 free relay. Mike Lucchesi, Max Ward, Tanner Nimke and Nick Menninga combined to post a time of 1:27.11, besting Grand Valley State’s top team by less than half a second.
UWM also had numerous solid swims on the night that were just shy of the top spot.
In the 500 free, Tim Halverson was runner-up on the men’s side, while Natalie Johnson was just shy of the win on the women’s. Johnson also took second in the 400 IM, an event she has swam just once before in her college career. On the men’s side, Nic Halverson was second in the same event, missing a win by a mere one second.
Newcomer Mandie Siehs came in a close second in the women’s 100 and 200 free, while Menninga (men’s 50 free), Ward (men’s 100 fly), Wike (women’s 100 breast), the women’s 200 free relay and the men’s 200 medley relay all also posted runner-up finishes on the day.
Up next for the Panthers is the All Wisconsin Invite. The multi-team meet will take place Saturday, Oct. 25 at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer, Wis.
Results: Grand Valley State vs. UW-Milwaukee