Swim and Dive teams competed in NCAA DII National Championships 

While the women’s swim and dive team came out of the national championships in 21st and the men’s in 10th, junior diver Gracyn Segard stole the show with her national title in the women’s 1 meter dive. As their season comes to an end, the teams returned back to Grand Valley State University from Greensboro, N.C. after the week (March 9-12) concluded.

The men’s team saw two Lakers in the top 10 finalists on day one starting with sophomore Eric Hieber placing sixth in the 1000m free with 9:08.57 and sophomore Cyrus Irwin in seventh for the 1m dive with 422.90. On day two, senior Keegan Hawkins earned All-American honors with his sixth-place finish in the 400 IM with a 3:51.10.

The women’s team saw Segard’s third overall All-American honor with her fourth-place finish of 450.25 in the 3m dive while the men’s 800 free relay team (freshman Matt Bosch, Hieber, junior Roger Miret Sala and Hawkins) finished fourth with 6:29.99, breaking the GLIAC and GVSU record.

On the last day, Segard earned her championship with a score of 433.15, now having won back-to-back championships in the event for a total of three diving national championships in just two years. 

Christian Negron drafted to Grises de Humacao 

Senior forward Christian Negron on the Grand Valley State University men’s basketball team has used up all of his years of extra eligibility and is now taking strides to further his basketball career. As a 2023 12th round draft pick for the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league in Puerto Rico, Negron will play for the Grises de Humacao.

Negron finished high school at Larkin in Chicago with second team All-State honors, moving up to play for Loyola University Chicago for two seasons, reaching the NCAA Final Four in 2018. When he transferred to GVSU in 2019 he earned second team All-GLIAC with the third-highest block total in GVSU history. He started in all 30 games, averaging 11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

His senior year, which did not count towards eligibility in 2020, he started all 19 games and ended the season with First team All-GLIAC and All-Defense, leading the team with 13.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. This season, Negron has continued improving his skills as one of the senior leaders on the team.

Women’s Basketball’s Mike Williams earns Coach of the Year 

Seven-season head coach of the women’s basketball team Mike Williams concluded this season with a record 22-game win streak and the GLIAC Coach of the Year award. During his time here at GVSU, Williams has tallied an overall record of 176-38 including this season so far, winning at least one game in the NCAA National Championships six out of the seven seasons that he’s been the head coach of the program.

Among his many accomplishments here at GVSU, building an incredibly successful program over the last seven years has earned him the COTY honors for the second time in his career.