Oct. 26, 2013

Results | Photo Gallery

Final Results

ROCHESTER, Mich. - A total team effort that included a backstroke sweep by Karin Tomeckova and two wins in the butterfly by Julia Vela lifted the Oakland women's swimming and diving team to a 153.5-144.5 victory over visiting Illinois Saturday afternoon at the OU Aquatics Center.

"I think it was a great team effort today," head coach Pete Hovland said. "I'm really pleased with the way the team accepted this challenge. This is the kind of meet we need to have, and these are the kind of results we need to post if we're going to continue to grow as a team and as a program."

Tomeckova, who did not compete last weekend, first won the 100 back with a time of 56.94, winning by over one second. She then added the 200 back victory with a time of 2:03.86. In both backstroke events, Oakland finished 1-2: Kyra Rietveld captured second in the 100 back, finishing in 58.18, while Patricia Aschan took second in the 200 with a time of 2:05.33.

In the butterfly, Vela turned in times of 57.44 in the 100 and 2:07.90 in the 200. In the 100, Vela out-touched Illinois' Sarah Sykstus by two hundredths of a second to capture nine critical points late in the meet. The 200 butterfly marked the third of three consecutive 1-2 finishes for Oakland early in the meet that helped the Golden Grizzlies stay ahead of Illinois. Emily Ludema was second for OU with a 2:08.37 time in the 200 fly to finish the 1-2 punch.

Diver Tricia Grant was also a two-time winner for Oakland with stellar performances on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. In the 1-meter, her back 1 1/2 with a 1 1/2 twist scored two 8.0s from the judges on the way to a 303.98. Grant was victorious on the 3-meter with a score of 291.75.

Oakland was victorious in nine individual events and the meet-opening 200 yard medley relay. The Golden Grizzlies quartet of Tomeckova, Melissa VanderMeulen, Vela and Nikki Flynn hammered out a time of 1:45.83 to start the meet.

"We talk a lot about how that first relay is so important," Hovland said. "They raced extremely well and that kind of set the stage."

From there, all four of the winning medley swimmers would add at least one individual victory. Along with Tomeckova and Vela's two wins, VanderMeulen claimed her first breaststroke win of her young career with a time of 1:04.57 in the 100 breast, leading four Oakland swimmers among the top five finishes in the event. Takara Martin was second with a time of 1:05.04, while Rachel Waite also earned points with her fourth-place finish in a time of 1:08.09.

Flynn led the way with a 52.15 in the 100 freestyle, her third win in the event this season. Aschan was Oakland's final individual winner on the day with her first-place effort in the 400 IM, where she posted a time of 4:27.82.

Oakland returns to the OU Aquatic Center Saturday, Nov. 2 when both the men and the women will take on Wright State at 1 p.m.

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