The Grand Valley State University men and women’s swim and dive teams came into this weekend’s stretch of meets with the hope of continuing their early season winning streak.

“We felt like we had a good week of practice and that our training had put us in a spot to win,” head coach Andy Boyce said. “October is the busiest month for us. We have to come prepared every weekend.”

The Lakers started the weekend with a trip across town to Calvin College, where they were hoping to continue the season unblemished with wins over the Knights and GLIAC rival Hillsdale College.

“Calvin has one of the nicest facilities on this side of the state. We usually post pretty fast times whenever we compete there,” Boyce said. “Our staff did a really good job this week with preparing both teams to post good times.”

The Lakers dominated in every facet of the meet as the women took home first place in nine events while the men left with 11 first-place finishes en route to their first dual sweep of the season.

Sophomore Gianni Ferrero and junior Milan Medo led the Laker attack with a pair of double victories. Ferrero took home first in the 200 free with a time of 1 minute, 41 seconds and in the 500 free with a time of 4:35. Medo finished first in the 200 IM (1:55.79) and 100 free (46.95).

“I thought we were in a good spot throughout the day in a number of events,” Boyce said. “Gianni and Medo really came through with good swims in their races, (and) it gave us a lot of momentum, which ultimately helped us win the meet at the end of the day.”

Sophomore Taylor Wiercinski’s successful start to the season continued as she swept both diving events, winning the 1-meter with a score of 269.40 and the 3-meter (284.85). Junior Emily Eaton also added a double victory in the 100 back (59.14) and 50 free (24.44).

“I thought overall we had a good showing for it being this early in the season,” junior Olivia Schultz said. “I thought our relays were especially strong, and that’s a really good sign for us as we move forward into the heavier part of the season.”

The Lakers capped off the weekend with another sweep, as both men and women’s teams defeated GLIAC rival Ashland University. The men won easily by a score of 158-75. The women followed suit, beating Ashland 138-90.

“I thought this weekend turned out to be really successful for both teams,” sophomore Nick Zacek said. “It’s great for us to be able to get off to strong start in the GLIAC. Hopefully we can sustain this momentum as we move forward.”

Medo’s hot streak continued into Saturday’s meet as he took home first place honors in the 50 free (21.30) and 100 free (47.27). His weekend was capped off in the 200 medley relay as he, Ferrero, Michael Griffith and Danny Abbott took first with a time of 3:26.77.

“We just have to focus on our training this upcoming week of practice and make sure that we stay healthy,” Zacek said. “The main focus is on Wayne State, but we just have to attack every meet as we did this past weekend.”

The Lakers will have a week of rest before they host Lewis University on Saturday.
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