Grand Valley State University’s men’s and women’s swim and dive teams hosted GLIAC rival Wayne State University for the first time in over three years this past weekend as both teams secured the victory.

Competing for the first time in two weeks didn’t faze the Lakers as the men’s team captured a 185-106 victory, while the women’s side won 180-120.

“The overall team enthusiasm (was incredible),” said Head Coach Andy Boyce. “We had some good times, we had some bad times, but we got the job done, worked hard as a group and supported each other.”

During the men’s meet, GVSU saw winners in numerous events. 

Sophomore Jon Kantzenbach finished first in the 1,000-yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 9:17.28 and tallying nine points.

In the 200-yard freestyle, three Lakers topped the leaderboard with sophomore Matt Bosch (1:39.63) and juniors Eric Hieber (1:42.97) and Zach Lowe (1:44.61) all finishing first through third respectively. 

Bosch also won the 100-yard freestyle with nine points (45:43) while Heiber won the 500-yard freestyle (4:38.60).

In the 200-yard butterfly, senior Markus Kruse, freshman Kyle Raskay and Kantzenbach also finished in the top-three spots with times of 1:53.46, 1:55.35 and 1:55.37 respectively.

Sophomore Aaron Dies placed first in the 100-yard backstroke (nine points) with sophomore Thomas Zoldowski finishing first in the 200-yard backstroke. Junior Matthew Lane won the 100-yard breaststroke (58:41) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:05.72).

In the diving events, sophomore Zay Swilley won both the one meter and three meter dives with scores of 302.47 and 284.17 respectively, as senior Wrigley Fields followed his teammate for second place in the one meter dive with a score of 295.05.

“(Freshman) Lucy Hedley and Matt Bosch have been racking up the Student-Athlete of the Week awards,” Boyce said. “(Senior) Gracyn Segard is a national champion on the boards; Wrigley Fields is one of the top divers in the conference too. I think those four will be good to watch come the conference championships.”

The women’s team also saw an array of swimmers claim victories in their events. 

The 200-yard medley relay saw the GVSU A team of freshman Angelica Angilleta, senior Delaney Wihebrink, junior Alysa Wager and senior Rebecca Farber win with a time of 1:47.35. 

Angilletta and Farber also joined senior Bianca Licari and Hedley on the GVSU A team for the 400-yard freestyle relay that finished first with a time of 3:32.91.

The GVSU B team, consisting of Licari, graduate student Melina De Cort, junior Tina Winter and senior Dayna Borregard, finished third in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:50.74.

“As a senior, (my goal) is to make memories with my teammates and enjoy my last season at Grand Valley,” Borregard said. “Personally, I want to end my career on a high note at conference; get (personal records) and zone in on the memories and opportunities I’ve been able to have (with this team).”

Hedley was a huge producer as she won the 100, 200 and 500 yard freestyles with times of 53.30, 1:52.18 and 5:05.42 respectively. 

Angilleta won the 100-yard backstroke (59.08), Wihebrink placed first for the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.42), Farber took the 50-yard freestyle (24.26) while Wager, Licari and junior Sarah Puscas finished first through third in the 100-yard butterfly. 

For the diving events, sophomore Maddie Kooistra won the one meter dive with a score of 272.91 and finished second in the three meter dive.

With the victory, both the men’s and women’s teams have yet to lose at home as they prepare to host their final meet of the regular season.

“This was our last tough week of practicing,” Borregard said. “We do more race pace practice to prepare for the conference championship. This team has pulled together leading into our championship season.”

While the GLIAC Championship meet doesn’t begin until Feb. 15, Boyce says the teams will be prepared to hoist two more championship trophies.

“We’ve worked hard to this point, it’s time for everyone to take a little bit of rest, get their bodies feeling better, and going into conference championships we should be really good,” Boyce said. “I think both us and Wayne State are a little beat up today, but we have two and a half weeks to recover and perform well again.”

The GVSU Dive Invite will be held Feb. 4 at the GVSU Fieldhouse pool with an undetermined start time.