2018 HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- February 21-24th
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Short course yards
- Championship Central
- Day 1 results
- Day 2 results
On the 2nd day of the Horizon League Championships, defending men’s and women’s champions Oakland took the lead in both the men’s and women’s standings. The Golden Grizzlies won 2 women’s and 3 men’s events, and 21 top 8 finishes.
UIC senior Brie Hines started out the night by completing her sweep of the 500 free at the Horizon League Championships. Hines won her 4th title in a row, posting a 4:52.44 to outpace runner up Olivia Treski. Hines broke the Horizon League record multiple times in her collegiate career, starting in 2015 when she brought it down to 4:50.67, then took more off by going 4:50.36 in 2016, and finally went 4:49.22 to win the 500 at last year’s championships.
Oakland freshman Rudy Aguilar blasted a lifetime best 4:24.40 to win the men’s 500 free. Aguilar went 50.62 and 50.94 on the first and last 100s respectively, which is at about 4:13 pace. His middle 100s were 53.62, 54.63, and 54.59 respectively. He ran down UIC senior Tanner Alms on the final 100 of the race, outsplitting him by nearly 2 seconds. The Golden Grizzlies were also helped by 5th place finisher Micah DeJonge, and 8th place finisher Seth Timmons.
Sara Bentley and Grace Shinske battled it out the whole way through the women’s 200 IM, with Bentley coming into the wall forst with a 2:01.33 to Shinske’s 2:01.36. Bentley led Shinske 56.20 to 56.87 at the 100 mark, and Shinske worked that deficit down over the final 100, but ultimately was touched out by .03 seconds. Bentley was fueled by a fast 29.98 on the backstroke 50.
There was a similar race in the men’s 200 IM between Mitchell Stover and Jared Stergar. Stover led the way with a 49.66 at the 100, while Stergar turned at 51.91. Stergar then put in a lot of work to run down Stover but fell short by .06 seconds, touching in 1:47.82 to Stover’s 1:47.76.
Oakland’s sprint duo of senior Holly Morren and sophomore Katie Colwell went at it in the 50, with Colwell getting the better of Morren, 22.61 to 22.81. Wright State sophomore Dominic Poletta took the men’s 50 with a 19.73, getting his hand on the wall before Paul Huch (19.99).
Oakland took the 200 free relays in pretty decisive fashion. The women’s 200 free relay team of Katie Colwell, Karlee Marsh, Arynn De Leeuw, and Holly Morren combined to post a 1:31.74 to beat runner-up Milwaukee by over a second. Paul Huch, Andrew Binder, Tony Eriksson, and Brant Cassidy posted a 1:19.58 in the men’s 200 free relay to beat Wright State by 7-tenths of a second.