In the first meet since Halloween weekend, the Grand Valley State men’s and women’s swim and dive team took on Division I school Ball State at Fieldhouse Arena. The men’s team walked away with a 198-97 win, and the women’s team added a loss to their record after losing by just two points, 151-149.

Standout performances were evident throughout the whole GVSU team, but GVSU coach Andy Boyce’s eye was caught by a select few.

“Sam Postmus was great after winning two pool records,” Boyce said. “I thought Julia Suriano was fantastic too. Leonie (Van Noort) also had another great meet.”

Postmus had a day that will go down in the annals of GVSU history—twice. Postmus bested the pool record in two separate events. She beat the pool record with a time of 17:18.5 in the 1,650-yard individual medley, and beat a second pool record in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:28.55. Postmus also finished first in the 800-yard freestyle relay with the GVSU A-team (7:47.41).

“I think it’s really exciting,” Postmus said about her new records. “Hopefully more records can be broken not only by me, but by some of my teammates too both on the pool and varsity level.”

The 1,650-yard individual medley seemed to be star-studded on the day. Julia Suriano, who finished in second, actually beat the pool record as well (17:42.09).

For the women’s diving team, Mikayla Karasek was able to qualify for states in the 1-meter dive. She finished in third place with a score of 257.61.

The 800-yard relay ended in a tight race. When the Ball State A-team’s last swimmer made her dive, the GVSU B-team was close on their trail. Luckily, the GVSU B-team had national champion swimmer Leonie Van Noort anchoring their relay, which gave them the lead and propelling them to second place behind the GVSU A-team.

The GVSU B-team finished with a time of 7:49.58, and the GVSU A-team finished with a time of 7:47.51.

As for the men’s team, there were many strong performances, one coming from an unsung hero, Gonzalo Rodriguez. Rodriguez has struggled so far this season, but after the long break he is looking to find new momentum after some lifestyle changes.

“I’ve been doing really bad during the season,” Rodriguez said. “So I decided to suit up and shave because that makes you feel mentally stronger. It’s important to stay healthy too, listen to the coaches, get eight hours of sleep, eat healthy, that sort of thing.”

Whatever Rodriguez did before the meet Saturday, he should continue to do. Rodriguez finished first in both the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:52.78, and also finished first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:43.03.

Great performances from Marius Mikalauskas, Ben Walling and Danny Abbott were prevalent Saturday as well.

Mikalauskas finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 56.31 and first in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:09.94.

Walling finished second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.56, and second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.92.

Abbott placed first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.03, he also placed first in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.66.

As for the men’s divers, Brad Dalrymple finished first in both the 1-meter (328.04) and 3-meter (316.65) dive despite a minor wrist injury.

Joe Gucwa claimed second in both boards, finishing with a score of 285.30 on the three-meter, and a score of 238.95 on the 1-meter.

GVSU will head to the Calvin College Invitational in Grand Rapids for a three-day meet starting Dec. 1 and ending Dec. 3.