GVSU swimming and diving earns scholar team honors

The Grand Valley State men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs have both earned College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of American Scholar Team honors for the fall 2017 semester.

The 14th-ranked Laker women tallied a team grade point average of 3.21 with 18 student athletes achieving a 3.0 or better, while the 5th-ranked men recorded a team GPA of 3.08, and 21 student athletes notched a GPA of 3.0 or better. 

To earn the honor, teams were required to post a GPA of 3.0 or higher for the fall semester.

GVSU, the defending men’s and women’s GLIAC Champions, will return to action at the 2018 GLIAC Championships Wednesday, Feb. 14, through Saturday, Feb. 17. All of the action will take place at the Jenison Aquatic Center.  

GVSU men’s tennis drops season opener versus Lawrence Tech

The Grand Valley State men’s tennis team fell at home to Lawrence Tech by a final score of 6-3 on Friday, Feb. 2, at the Premier Athletic & Tennis Club. The loss puts the Lakers at 0-1 to start the season.

Alex van de Steenoven and Sebastien Lescoulie won 8-5 at the No. 1 pairing, followed by another 8-5 decision from DJ Colantone and Jack Geissler from No. 2 doubles. Eric Zwemer and Nicholas Urban posted strong performances from the No. 3 doubles position, winning 8-1.

GVSU will be back next week on Friday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. when they host Cornerstone for another non-conference matchup.

GVSU Rifle Club qualifies for NRA Rifle Club Championships

The GVSU Rifle Club competed in the NRA Intercollegiate Indoor Metric Position Smallbore Rifle Sectional and Precision Air Rifle Standing Sectional on Jan. 25 through Jan. 27 at the Grand Rapids Rifle and Pistol Club.

Qualifications for an invitation to the NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championship are determined from minimum qualifying scores fired in the sectional matches nationwide. The Championship is hosted at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, on March 23 through March 25. Individuals who fired a score of 450 (smallbore) or 495 (air rifle) qualify for the Championship. Four-person teams can also qualify for the Championship by shooting a combined score of 1,800 (smallbore) or 1,980 (air rifle).

For the second time in club history, GVSU has qualified for the Team Championship. The air rifle team, composed of Christian Yap, Joseph Lentine, Alexander Straith and Alexander Ryan, posted a score of 2,195. The score was a 100-point improvement over last season. The smallbore team, composed of Lentine, Yap, Straith, and Ethan Potts, posted a score of 2,104. The score was a 137-point improvement over last season.

In total, eight Lakers qualified for the Individual Championship. Joining Yap, Lentine, Straith, Potts and Ryan were Collin Fox, Evan McMahon and Nelson Schrader. Yap led all competitors with a score of 564 in air rifle and was second in smallbore with a personal best 544.