GVSU hits the water against Wayne State, retains rivalry trophy

Joe Maher-Edgin

The men’s team claimed a 159-141 victory, while the women’s team was defeated in a 165-135 decision.

The Lakers also won third aspect of the competition, raising money for a select charity, which helped the teams bring the trophy back to GVSU for another year.

“One point was awarded for a men’s victory, one point for a women’s victory and a final point for raising the most for charity,” said GVSU head coach Andy Boyce.

The Lakers raised $2,050 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

“The meet was very competitive for both the men and women,” Boyce said. “They are our biggest rival in the conference. A lot of the races came down to hundredths of a second … That’s the kind of competition we look for.”

For the GVSU men’s team, senior Aaron Beebe hit three NCAA B marks, one each in the 200 yard butterfly (1:51.68), 100 fly (50.13) and 200 individual medley (1:53.33).

On the women’s side, senior Carly Bush won two events in the meet, claiming victory in both the 1000-yard and 500-yard freestyle events.

Senior Lauren Dorsey made third-place contributions in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley.

Dorsey also assisted the GVSU A 200-yard medley relay team to a second-place finish.

“Wayne State is a great team every year, even with losing a couple of key swimmers from last year who graduated,” Dorsey said. “It’s a great dual meet for us and a fun rivalry. I think we performed very well… We made some improvements with conference finals coming up, we are really giving everything to fine tune our performance.”

In addition to its win over the Warriors, GVSU also found victory in the form of a 128-76 win, including victories in eight events, over Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on Jan. 2.

The Lakers return to the pool on Saturday for a meet against the University of Findlay at the GVSU pool at 1 p.m.

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