The New Year’s resolutions of the Grand Valley State University men’s and women’s swim and dive teams are paying off so far in 2013.

Both teams were victorious in their meet against Nova Southeastern University following an intense training period at Florida International University.

“We endured some pretty heavy training during the six-day period,” said head coach Andy Boyce. “I was impressed with our ability to endure all of that conditioning and beat Nova Southeastern – one of the top schools in Division II.”

The men’s squad won 137-61 behind a pair of first place finishes from newcomer Gianni Ferreo in the 200 IM and the 500 free. Both victories were good enough for an NCAA B cut.

The Lakers also received first-place finishes in individual events from Patrick Sheppell (1000 free), Michael Griffith (50 free), Nate Stoller (100 fly), Milan Medo (100 free), Sven Kardol (100 back) and Erik Aakesson (100 breast).

The women’s meet came down to the final event, but GVSU managed to came away with a 109-96 victory. Sophomore Sarah Roeser was a double-winner in the meet, taking home first-place finishes in both the 50 free and 100 free.

Starting the New Year in a different state seemed to reenergize the Lakers.

“It was a pretty intense week,” said junior Kirsten Emerson. “The new setting helped re-motivate everybody. We’re very excited for the second half of the season.”

The teams entered conference action at the University of Findlay on Saturday with a bit of a disadvantage after they had endured over 30 hours of bus rides in three days.

However, it didn’t seem to effect the Lakers, as the men crushed their GLIAC opponents by a score of 242-36. Medo continued his successful season with individual victories in the 50 yard backstroke and 100 yard backstroke.

The women’s squad was also victorious with a score of 203-121, and one senior in particular, Jasmine Ramahi, found needed success.

Ramahi placed first in the 1-meter diving event one year after being sidelined with a serious concussion. Her score of 259.58 was good enough to qualify her for the national championships at the A qualifying mark.

“Last year I had a concussion that sidelined me for six months and I wasn’t able to qualify,” Ramahi said. “It’s a great accomplishment for me personally to hit that qualifying mark. I’m overwhelmed with joy.”

Boyce said he expects the team to perform well down the stretch, and is particularly excited to see how his team performs at the conference championships.

“We should be ready for the second half of the season,” Boyce said. “We’ve got a couple of rivals coming up here soon, and then we’ll see how we do in the conference championships.”

The Lakers will hope to stay perfect in 2013 against a pair of conference foes next week.

The men’s and women’s teams will welcome Wayne State on January 12th and Indianapolis on January 19th. Both events start at 1 p.m. in Allendale.

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