ELKHART, Ind. – A week to remember for the University of Indianapolis swimming & diving programs came to a close Saturday night with the men's program winning the 2022 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship while the women capture second place. The men dominated with a team score of 1,643, while the women just five and a half points short of a title after notching 1,873 points.
With the team victory, the men's program has now won the conference in four of the last five seasons. The women have earned the runner-up spot for a fifth straight year.
Â
"This was such a great team meet from top to bottom," interim head coach
Brent Noble said. "Our men out-swam and out-dove the field while our women fought so hard and came up just short. This is a special team and I'm proud of them all."
Â
The men's squad made a strong presence in the post-meet award ceremony.
Cedric Buessing, who had a stellar week in Elkhart, was named both the men's Swimmer of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the conference.
Julio Osuna grabbed men's Diver of the Year honors while Noble was the men's Co-Coach of the Year. For the women,Â
Kamila Podsiadlo was named the women's Co-Diver of the Year. Adding to the honors, both programs also earned the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Team Award. The award is also given on an individual basis to a member of each competing team which saw
Liki Prema earn it for the men while
Julia Simioni was the selection for the women.
Â
Buessing capped off a powerful week of competition with his fourth individual championship on Saturday evening. The freshman from Germany swam the 1650 free in a winning time of 15:19.03 to edge out his teammate
Sebastian Wenk, who finished second at 15:39.48.
Â
All season long, Prema has continued to break the program record in the 200 breast. Saturday evening, not only did he crush his previous program record, but he became the GLVC meet record holder as well. Swimming a winning mark of 1:55.63, Prema took down a meet record that had been standing for five years.
Â
Ending a fantastic week of swimming, the 400 free relay team broke the program record in a third-place finish.
Joao Silva,
Diego Mas,
Jeron Thompson, and
Victor Antonon swam a new program best of 2:55.34 in the event.
Â
Other top eight men's finishes
4th-
Jan Zuchowicz, 200 breast (1:58.41)
5th- Silva, 100 free (43.89)
5th-
Bartek Swiderski, 200 back (1:45.95)
6th- Mas, 100 free (44.21)
7th- Thompson, 100 free (44.30)
8th-
Matt Bond, 200 breast (2:00.38)
Â
The women's team battled tough on the final day of competition by taking the top two spots in both the 100 free and 200 back. This played a key role in helping the Greyhounds stay close behind eventual-champion Drury in the overall team standings.
Â
Beginning in the 100 free,
Krystal Caylor held off her teammate
Johanna Buys to win a highly competitive race. Caylor was crowned the conference champion with her 49.96 while Buys fell just on her heels at 50.15.
Â
Moving unto the 200 back, it was
Kaitlyn McCoy dominating the field with her 1:57.85 which out-swam
Andrea Gomez in second place. Gomez touched the wall in a time of 1:59.46 to fend off the third-place competitor from Lindenwood.
Â
The relay teams from UIndy continued to impress, as the 400 free relay was crowned conference champions on the final day of competition. Buys,
Leticia Vaselli,
Marizel van Jaarsveld, and Caylor teamed up and won the race with a time of 3:20.92 to earn a provisional standard.
Â
Â
Finally, Podsiadlo was tabbed as the women's 1-meter diving champion with a score of 449 points. Podsiadlo joins former Greyhound
Cassie Kury as the only UIndy divers to win the event at the GLVC meet.
Â
Other top eight women's finishes
2nd-
Emilia Colti-Dumitrescu, 1650 free (17:04.04)
5th-
Isabella Revstedt, 200 back (2:02.07)
6th- Vaselli, 100 free (50.94)
6th- Simioni, 200 breast (2:20.15)
7th-
Brynhildur Traustadottir, 1650 free (17:29.35)
8th-
Andrea Paaske, 100 free (51.25)
8th-
Karolina Dubcakova, 200 breast (2:23.00)
FRIDAY
Julio Osuna (men's 3-meter dive),
Jeron Thompson (men's 100 back), and
Marizel van Jaarsveld (women's 100 breast) all set new program-bests this evening while
Liki Prema (men's 100 breast) and Osuna broke GLVC meet top marks.
Â
Sitting as only a freshman, Osuna produced a 579.10 on the board today in the 3-meter dive which not only crushes the previous school record but also moves past the GLVC meet record. With this and his 1-meter win on day one, Osuna continues a dominating streak under diving head coach
Dave McKown of nine-straight years that UIndy has crowned both the 1-meter and 3-meter champion at the GLVC Championships on the men's side.
Â
Â
The other program record was dropped when Thompson took the pool in the 100 back. Despite the second-place finish, Thompson swam a 46.67 which earned him an A-cut and more team points for the Greyhounds.
Â
Proven to be a top swimmer for the Hounds this season,
Liki Prema shined bright in the men's 100 breast and in the process tabbed a new GLVC meet record. With his winning time of 52.80, Prema takes down the old top mark of 53.54 that was standing before today.
Â
Â
Another UIndy freshman on the men's side that has continued to thrive this week is
Cedric Buessing. Today, he added his third individual conference championship in his first-ever postseason meet for the Greyhounds after outlasting the competition in the 500 free with a time of 4:23.96 which stands as his new personal best.
Â
Â
Other top eight men's finishes:
2nd-
Sebastian Wenk, 500 free (4:24.69)
2nd-
Jan Zuchowicz, 100 breast (52.99)
4th-
Christian Hedeen, 500 free (4:29.20)
4th-
Bartek Swiderski, 100 back (47.54)
5th- Buessing,
Anthony Williamson, Hedeen, Wenk, 800 free relay (6:38.06)
Â
Over on the women's side,
Marizel van Jaarsveld joined the record-breaking day and took down a school record herself. She managed a 1:01.58 in the 100 breast to be crowned a conference champion while sliding past the old top program mark.
Â
Â
Competing against some of the top swimmers in DII, the Hounds landed a plethora of swimmers in the top eight on the women's side to earn more points for the team. A full list can be seen below.
Â
Other top eight women's finishes:
2nd-
Kaitlyn McCoy, 100 back (54.49)
3rd- McCoy, van Jaarsveld,
Brynhildur Traustadottir,
Krystal Caylor, 800 free relay (7:26.54)
3rd-
Andrea Gomez, 200 fly (2:01.48)
4th- van Jaarsveld, 200 fly (2:01.96)
5th-
Isabella Revstedt, 100 back (55.72)
6th-
Anahi Schreuders, 100 breast (1:03.02)
7th-
Julia Magierowska, 100 back (56.80)
8th- Caylor, 100 back (57.65)
8th-
Paola Yolanda C Wu, 200 fly (2:06.70)
THURSDAY
In total, the women's team claimed three top finishes while the men earned one alongside a handful Hounds landing in the top-eight in their respective event. In the team standings, the men hold the top position with 772.50 points to sit in front of McKendree while the women are in second (926 points) just behind Drury.
Headlining competition today for the women's program was the 400 medley relay team ofÂ
Julia Magierowska,
Marizel van Jaarsveld,
Andrea Paaske, and
Johanna Buys. The quartet teamed up to swim a winning time of 3:39.49, which is now the fastest time in program history. With this, the Greyhounds are now back-to-back GLVC champions in the race.
Â
Van Jaarsveld earned her first individual conference championship in 2022 after outpacing the competition in the 400 IM. Touching the wall in a winning time of 4:16.33, she also earned an A-cut which was the only one in the finals. The last Greyhound to win a conference title in the event came in 2006 when UIndy was competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
Â
Another conference champion was crowned for UIndy in the 200 free when
Krystal Caylor beat the field with a time of 1:49.21. This win marks the first time in program history a Hound has won the GLVC championship in the event.
Â
Today's diving event of the day was the women's 3-meter which saw a trio of Greyhounds land in the top eight.
Kamila Podsiadlo was the leading UIndy competitor with her second-place score of 429.30. Right behind,
Mikaela Starr collected third at 421.60 while
Sarah Kerbrat ended in seventh at 356.70.
Other top eight women's finishes:
2nd- Buys, 100 fly (54:77)
3rd- Paaske, 100 fly (54:98)
3rd-
Andrea Gomez, 400 IM (4:18.58)
3rd-
Brynhildur Traustadottir, 200 free (1:51.15)
4th-
Kaitlyn McCoy, 400 IM (4:22.06)
4th- Magierowska, 100 fly (55.46)
Over on the men's side,
Cedric Buessing continued his stellar performance so far in Elkhart with another conference title to his name. Buessing swam an A-cut time of 3:48.25 in the 400 IM which just came up short of the school record set by
Landon Driggers in 2021 (3:47.73). Nonetheless, Buessing is the first Greyhound ever to win the GLVC crown in the competition.
Â
Despite a second-place finish, the 400 medley relay team of
Jeron Thompson,
Jan Zuchowicz,
Kael Yorke,
Joao Silva teamed up and set a new program record at 3:10.10.
Other top eight men's finishes:
4th-
Bartek Swiderski, 100 fly (47.83)
6th- Yorke, 100 fly (48.02)
8th- Silva, 100 fly (48.31)
"We are performing the way we need to be and the results are showing," Interim head coach
Brent Noble said. "We are eager to see what we can accomplish over the next two days."
WEDNESDAY
The Greyhounds ended the first day well positioned in the team standings. The UIndy men topped the field with 534.5 points, while the women's total of 490 was second only to Drury (548.5). Overall, the women earned four top finishes while the men added three
Â
The men's 1-meter was the lone diving event of the day and it was a UIndy dominated field. Most notably,
Julio Osuna corralled the conference championship after rolling out a winning 532.00 score in the finals. This extends a staggering eight year streak of UIndy crowning the 1-meter conference champion.
Â
In the runner-up spot was
Cade Hammond who fell just on the heels of Osuna at 518.10. Third place went to
Jason Lenzo who compiled a final score of 470.95, while
Benjamin Rader rounded out a top-heavy UIndy event with a fourth-place finish at 460.85.
Â
For the first time since the GLVC's inaugural Championships in 2014, UIndy brought home a conference title in the women's 200 medley relay. The quartet of
Julia Magierowska,
Anahi Schreuders,
Johanna Buys, and
Leticia Vaselli collected a winning time of 1:40.94 to barely fend off the second-place squad from Drury.
Â
The women' 200 IM saw two Greyhounds rise above the rest of the conference in a highly competitive race.
Kaitlyn McCoy, who won the event after touching the wall in 2:00.35, is the first conference champion in the event since Megan Grunert in 2004. Right behind McCoy was
Marizel van Jaarsveld in second place with a finishing time of 2:00.74.
Â
Continuing her season dominance in the 50 free, Buys is now a conference champion in the event after her speedy 22.84 in the finals. The last time UIndy produced the event champion was 2007.
Â
Finally, to cap off a stellar night in the pool, the Greyhound women ended with the fastest time in the 200 free relay. Teaming up was Buys, Vaselli, Magierowska, and
Krystal Caylor to produce a winning 1:32.11 finals time to add more awards to an already spectacular night. This was the first 200 free relay conference title since 2012.
Â
Other top eight women's finishes:
4th-
Karolina Dubcakova, 1000 free (10:17.00)
5th-
Emilia Colti-Dumitrescu, 1000 free (10:18.14)
6th- Caylor, 50 free (23.31)
7th-: Vaselli, 50 free (23.32)
8th-
Brynhildur Traustadottir, 1000 free (10:21.41)
Â
On the men's side,
Cedric Buessing became the fourth Greyhound since 2013 to win a conference title in the 1000 free. The freshman touched the wall in a solid 9:09.62 mark to beat the competition by more than eight seconds.
Â
In the final event of the night, four Greyhound swimmers teamed up and secured a GLVC championship in the 200 free relay alongside a new meet record.
Jeron Thompson,
Diego Mas,
Joao Silva, and
Victor Antonon broke the record set at last year's meet by Drury with their 1:18.10 finishing time. The last time UIndy won a conference title in the event was 2007.
Â
Other top eight men's finishes:
2nd- 200 medley relay of Thompson,
Jan Zuchowicz,Â
Kael Yorke, Antonon (1:25.92)
2nd- Mas, 50 free (19.82)
4th- Silva, 50 free (19.92)
6th- Antonon, 50 free (19.93)
7th- 200 free relay of
Aqeel Joseph, Yorke,
Andras Tiszai, Zuchowicz (1:21.63)
8th-
Bartek Swiderski, 200 IM (1:50.47)
HOUND BYTES
Interim head coach Brent Noble's thoughts on day one of competition...
"Day one went about the way we needed it to and with that we're in a good spot going into day two. We earned a ton of points from our divers who are the best group in Division II and they showed that today. In the swimming, we were dominate in the sprints especially with winning both heats of the 200 free relay. A lot of momentum was generated over the course of the evening session and we're looking forward to carrying it over into day two".
Â
Â
