Patricia Aschan was a three-time individual winner for the women Saturday while the men’s 400 freestyle relay teams outscored Kenyon College as both the Oakland women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams won their four-team winter invitational at the Oakland Aquatics Center.
The Oakland women, aided by five individual wins and a relay victory on Saturday, cruised to a 146-point win over Cincinnati, 971-825. The men’s squad was also bolstered by five individual victories and culminated the meet with its win in the 400 free relay to edge Kenyon College, 830-822.5.
Aschan started the day with victory in the 200 IM, touching first in 2:07.54. She then returned for a victory in the 200 backstroke (2:06.35) and won just two events later in the 200 butterfly (2:07.66).
Also earning victories were Tricia Grant on the 1-meter board (281.40) and Rachel Waite, who led a 1-2 Oakland finish with Takara Martin in the 200 breaststroke in 2:21.74. Martin touched second in 2:21.97.
The relay team of Kyra Rietveld, Martin, Stella Pasalidou and Nikki Flynn got the Golden Grizzlies off on Saturday with a time of 3:50.86 in the 400 medley relay to win. Flynn added second-place finishes in the 200 free (1:55.38) and 50 free (24.24).
For the men, Oakland swapped leads with Kenyon College six times over Saturday’s 10 events. Kenyon College, the No. 1-ranked team at the NCAA Division III level, forced Oakland to dig deep for points throughout the meet.
Jorden Merrilees was a two-time winner for the second straight day, capturing victories in the 200 free (1:40.92) and the 200 back (1:49.50), leading a 1-3-4 Oakland finish with Aleksander Danielewski (1:52.63) and John Ferrara (1:53.41).
Merrilees then anchored Oakland’s “A” relay team in the 400 free relay team of Tuomas Kiviluoma, Jeremiah Morren and Jacob Pearson to touch first in 3:02.33. The “B” relay team of Andrew Binder, Brant Cassidy, Mitch Alters and Seth Timmons then took fifth with a time of 3:10.66, as both relay teams finished ahead of Kenyon College to secure the win for Oakland.
Also earning individual wins were Kiviluoma (200 IM, 1:52.11), Stirling Fordham (3-meter, 327.25) and Hrafn Traustason, who went 1-2 in the 200 breast with John Schihl with times of 2:06.11 and 2:07.01, respectively.
The Golden Grizzlies will host its final home meet of the 2014-15 season Saturday, Jan, 24 when Oakland takes on Michigan State at 1 p.m. The meet will also be senior day for Oakland’s senior class.
Women’s Scores
Oakland 971
Cincinnati 825
Kenyon College 821
Olivet Nazarene 455
Men’s Scores
Oakland 830
Kenyon College 822.5
Cincinnati 769
Olivet Nazarene 716.5
College Swimming News is courtesy of Oakland Swimming and Diving.