The Oakland men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams set numerous records in the pool on its way to repeating as the Horizon League swimming and diving champions.
The Golden Grizzlies ended the meet with 842 points on the women’s side and 813 points on the men’s side to easily outdistance runner-up Milwaukee which finished with 607 points in the women’s race and 624 on the men’s side.
For his efforts guiding Oakland to a repeat championship in men’s and women’s race, Golden Grizzly head coach Pete Hovland was named Horizon League Coach of the Year.
Oakland’s dominance in the pool was reflected in the voting by the League’s head coaches as Oakland swept Men’s and Women’s Swimmer of the Meet, as well as Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Student-Athlete of the Year.
Patricia Aschan was named the Women’s Swimmer of the Meet and Swimming and Diving Student-Athlete of the Year after scoring an event-best 60 points in the pool for the Golden Grizzlies. The sophomore won the 200-yard individual medley on Thursday with a winning time of 2:01.45 and won the 400-yard individual medley on Friday in a League and Championship record time of 4:16.84. She added to her title collection on Saturday with a win in the 200-yard butterfly.
Like Aschan on the women’s side, Jorden Meerilees was named the Men’s Swimmer of the Meet and Swimming and Diving Student-athlete of the Year. Meerilees had a fantastic meet as he set League and Championship records in all three individual events he competed in. He won the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 4:17.05, the 400-yard individual medley in a time of 3:45.73 and the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:43.86. Meerilees was also on three relay teams that took first place, including the 800-yard freestyle relay team that set a League and Championship record in 6:29.84.
Oakland’s Tricia Grant was named the Women’s Diver of the Year after taking first place in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. Milwaukee’s K.J. Heger was named the Men’s Diver of the Week after winning both diving events on the men’s side. Grant’s coach, Larry Albright, was the Women’s Diving Coach of the Year, while Heger’s coach, Todd Hill, was the Men’s Diving Coach of the Year.
Brie Hines of UIC was named the Women’s Freshman of the Year. The UIC rookie won the 500-freestyle on Friday with a Championship record time of 4:5.67. She won the 1650-freestyle on Saturday by almost 10 seconds in a time of 16:42.62. She placed third in the 1,000-freestyle.
Wright State’s Mitchell Stover won the Men’s Freshman of the Year award. Stover announced his arrival at the swimming championships with a League and Meet record time of 1:46.72 in the 200-yard individual medley. He finished second in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 3:51.95.
Specialty Award Winners
Women’s Freshman of the Year: Brie Hines, UIC
Men’s Freshman of the Year: Mitch Stover, Wright State
Women’s Diver of the Meet: Tricia Grant, Oakland
Men’s Diver of the Meet: K.J. Heger, Milwaukee
Women’s Swimmer of the Meet: Patricia Aschan, Oakland
Men’s Swimmer of the Meet: Jorden Meerilees, Oakland
Women’s Swimmer and Diving Athlete of the Year: Patricia Aschan, Oakland
Men’s Swimmer and Diving Athlete of the Year: Jorden Meerilees, Oakland
Women’s Diving Coach of the Year: Larry Albright, Oakland
Men’s Diving Coach of the Year: Todd Hill, Youngstown State
Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year: Pete Hovland, Oakland
Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year: Pete Hovland, Oakland
Saturday, Feb. 28 Results
Women’s 1650-Yard Freestyle: Brie Hines, UIC – 16:42.62
Men’s 1650-Yard Freestyle: Max Gatzke, Milwaukee – 15:31.77
Women’s 200-Yard Backstroke: Claire Friederick, Green Bay – 2:00.34
Men’s 200-Yard Backstroke: Jorden Meerilees, Oakland – 1:43.86**
Women’s 100-Yard Freestyle: Nikki Flynn, Oakland - :50.20
Men’s 100-Yard Freestyle: Tuomas Kiviluoma, Oakland - :44.71
Women’s 200-Yard Breaststroke: Takara Martin, Oakland – 2:13.54
Men’s 200-Yard Breaststroke: John Schihl, Oakland – 1:58.44
Women’s 200-Yard Butterfly: Patricia Aschan, Oakland – 2:01.65
Men’s 200-Yard Butterfly: Mitch Alters, Oakland – 1:47.65
Women’s 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: Oakland (Flynn, Flowers, Rietveld, Morren) – 3:21.63
Men’s 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: Oakland (Kiviluoma, Morren, Binder, Merrilees) – 2:56.74
