Even a five-hour bus ride home couldn’t drown the elation out of diver Kyle Gebraad after the Grand Valley State University men’s swimming first place finish at the Doug Coers Invitational at Ball State University in Muncie Ind. on Saturday.

“Wow, what a weekend for us here, it was really great to come in and perform like we know we are supposed to,” Gebraad said.

The GVSU men stole a win from Division I host Ball State with a score of 734.5 to 701.5, solidifying their position going into next weekend’s Calvin Invitational.

The women’s team didn’t fare quite as well, but turned in a second place finish after being outpaced by BSU 867-464. The women fell behind early the first day and couldn’t overcome a 148-point first day deficit.

Junior diver Katie Vulpetti had a solid performance on the boards over the weekend, winning on the one-meter board.

“The BSU team was very strong and I think they pushed our team to new limits both on the boards and in the lanes,” Vulpetti said.

The men’s team, down by only 22 points after day one, got wins in the 200-yard freestyle relay and in the 400-yard freestyle anchored by Milan Medo.

Coach Andy Boyce downplayed the role of Medo in his team’s win, instead focusing on the team’s achievements.

“Milan had a good match as did everyone.” Boyce said, “Times were a little slower than last week at Michigan State but we won on the men’s side.”

In a close tournament that went down to the final race, Medo proved to be the difference for the men. GVSU couldn’t shake away the Cardinals for the first three legs of the 400-yard freestyle, but pulled away as Medo entered the pool and took charge.

“He’s one of those guys that we have to have in the pool because he’s such a great contributor,” Gebraad said.

Gebraad took second for the men on both the one-meter board and three-meter boards, using his front 2.5 pike to earn 6.5s across the board.

“I improved a lot over last week.” Gebraad said. ”I was more prepared, more comfortable and I guess you could say more focused than I have been.”

The team travels to the Calvin Invitational Nov. 29 and 30 before a layoff for exams and the holidays. Boyce said that the team needs to compete well at the invitational to avoid a holiday slump.

“We have a little rest after this meet so it’s important to do well,” Boyce said, “We need to drop some time and get some more people qualified for nationals though so there isn’t a whole lot of time to take a break.”
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