The last meet of the regular season Saturday, Jan. 21 at home was one to remember for the Grand Valley State swim and dive team.

The men’s and women’s teams each claimed a win over Indianapolis, the men winning 174-125 while the women took home a 170.5-115 victory.

The swim team will not compete again until the GLIAC conference championships in February, but the divers will have another shot at competition before they compete at conference, and will host a competition Saturday, Jan. 28 in the Fieldhouse Pool.

“The invitational will be a big help” said senior diver Kayla Marquardt. “Normally we do six dives, but at the invitational and at conference we will do 11.”

The regular season finale opened with a heartfelt introduction for the seniors. This being the last meet for them in this pool, the seniors stood in front of their parents and fans as they were announced one-by-one and cheered on.

All of the Lakers were impressive for their last meet, but Jenn Priebe, a swimmer with a story that could tug at the heartstrings, was a standout. Priebe missed most of her senior season due to sickness, but has been back for the past two competitions with the women’s swim team.

Priebe finished first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:58.24. She also finished first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.03.

“It was one of the most important meets of my career,” Priebe said. “It was also a way to show my team that I will always be there for them, and always do my best to put points on the board. I’m appreciative of the teammates I’ve had the last four seasons, I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.”

Another great performance for the women’s side was Leonie Van Noort. She broke a pool record in the 500 freestyle with a final time of 4:55.59. She also finished first in the 200 freestyle relay as part of the GVSU A-team with a final time of 4:01.65.

For the men, Danny Abbott had another meet for the books. He finished first in the 400 medley relay as part of the GVSU A-team with a final time of 3:22.72. He also finished second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.61, and finished the day off by coming in first in the 400 freestyle relay with the GVSU A-team, touching in 1:23.96.

Diving went as expected—GVSU won both of the boards again. For the men, Brad Dalrymple was back finishing first in both the 1-meter and the 3-meter boards. He won the 1-meter with a score of 282.82, and won the 3-meter with a score of 358.12.

Kayla Marquardt also had a good day finishing first on the 1-meter dive, and second on the 3-meter. She won the 1-meter dive with a score of 235.20, and finished second on the 3-meter board with a score of199.57.

Marquardt, being a diver, has another opportunity to showcase her skills before the conference meet in late January.

For all the seniors, this was an emotional day with it being the last meet in the GVSU pool—one that most had been swimming in since they were freshmen.

It wasn’t just an emotional day for the seniors, though. For the last four years, the coaches shared a bond with their student-athletes.

“The way (the seniors) stepped up today and with what they have ahead of them, I’m very proud of them,” said GVSU coach Andy Boyce. “It’s exciting to see what they can do and the type of leadership they can give to help us win a conference title.”

GVSU will battle for the conference championship Feb. 8-11 in Saginaw, Michigan. The dive team will host a diving invitational Jan. 28th in the GVSU Fieldhouse Pool.