The Oakland Golden Grizzlies picked apart visiting Cleveland State and Xavier for wins on the men’s and women’s sides Saturday.
Powering Oakland was Jorden Merrilees, who put up the fastest 1000 free time in the Summit League conference this season in his first swim in that event, going 9:21.56.
For the Grizzly women, Takara Martin put up a lifetime-best 1:03.90 to win the 100 breaststroke. Merrilees also won the 500 free and Martin the 200 breast for Oakland.
Cleveland State’s Viking men were led by diver Stephen Schillero, who won both men’s diving events easily, scoring 320.85 on 3-meter and 304.73 on 1-meter. Alex Lewis was also able to win a tight race in the 50 free.
The Viking women got a big performance from Rowan Elbadry, who won the 200 and 50 frees while finishing second in the 100.
Xavier’s Molly Kroeger came home with a hard-fought 500 free win, going 5:08.93 to beat Cleveland State’s Jodi Turk by just .15. Turk won the 1000 free for CSU.
Chad Thompson of Xavier won the 200 IM easily, going 1:55.89, and came back one event later to anchor Xavier’s winning 400 free relay.
But no one could overcome Oakland’s strength and depth at home, as the Golden Grizzlies topped all comers.
Final scores:
Men:
Oakland 184, CSU 109
Oakland 213, Xavier 69
CSU 177.5, Xavier 109.5
Women:
Oakland 166, CSU 127
Oakland 192, Xavier 83
CSU 201, Xavier 93
The Horizon league conference is going to be interesting to watch as Oakland make their debut. Cleveland as championship hosts and defending men’s champions will be tough contenders. The top times of the league demonstrate the range of contenders with Merrilees the fastest for 1000 free this season of the Horizon league.