RESULTS 

ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Oakland men's and women's swimming and diving teams claimed respectively their 42nd and 26th consecutive league titles Saturday evening at the Horizon League Championships in front of a home crowd at the Oakland Aquatic Center.

For the sixth time in his career, Head Coach Pete Hovland was named Horizon League Women's Coach of the Year, and for the fourth time, received the same honor on the men's side. Hovland has now earned a combined 10 Coach of the Year awards since joining the league in 2014.

Sophomore Susan LaGrand and Freshman Marko Khotynetskyi both earned Swimmer of the Meet, and Athlete of the Year Honors. Khotynetskyi was also named Freshman of the Year.

On the women's side Emily Aycock earned Freshman of the Year accolades after a dominating performance in her first Horizon League Championships debut.
 
In the 200 backstroke, both LaGrand and Khotynetskyi set Horizon League records. LaGrand, out-swimming her record from a season ago, touched the wall in 1:56.58. Khotynetskyi set a league record in 1:43.12, the previous record was set in 2015 by Oakland's Jordan Merrilees (1:43.86).
 
The Golden Grizzlies also swept the 100 free, starting with senior Katie Colwell on the women's side. Colwell finished just under 50 seconds, touching the wall in 49.99. Christian Bart took the top spot on the men's side, finishing in 43.76.
 
Aycock took home another individual title of the championships after finishing first in the 1650 freestyle in 16:53.37. On the men's side, Ben Davis had an outstanding performance taking home second place in the time of 15:27.19.
 
The Oakland women dominated in the 200 breaststroke, taking home the top four spots. Sydney McDowell finished first in 2:12.77, teammates Taylor Bailey (2:13.59), Kiera Brough (2:16.12) and Erin Donagan (2:17.88) followed closely behind. In the men's final, Ryan Geheb led the Golden Grizzlies with a second place finish (1:58.77).
 
Oakland finished in the top three in the 200 butterfly as Sohvi Nenonen placed second (2:02.37) and for the men, Danylo Hrebelnyi finished in third (1:48.12).
 
Jordan Smith was the lone Golden Grizzly in the men's finals, placed sixth in the 3-meter diving competition. 
 
To close out the night, the 400 free relay team of LaGrand, Shinske, Nenonen, and Colwell placed first in a time of 3:20.42. On the men's side, Khotynetskyi, Flowers, Aguilar and Bart took home the top spot in the time of 2:56.29.

Women's Specialty Awards
Athlete of the Year: Susan LaGrand, Oakland
Freshman of the Year: Emily Aycock, Oakland
Swimmer of the Meet: Susan LaGrand, Oakland
Diver of the Meet: Cydney Liebenberg, UIC
Swimming Coach of the Year: Pete Hovland, Oakland
Diving Coach of the Year: Susan Bromberg, UIC

Men's Specialty Awards
Athlete of the Year: Marko Khotynetskyi, Oakland
Freshman of the Year: Marko Khotynetskyi, Oakland
Swimmer of the Meet: Marko Khotynetskyi, Oakland
Diver of the Meet: Felix LaFortune, UIC
Swimming Coach of the Year: Pete Hovland, Oakland
Diving Coach of the Year: Susan Bromberg, UIC

FINAL TEAM SCORES
WOMEN
1) Oakland 927.5
2) Cleveland State 594
3) IUPUI 531
4) UIC 388
5) Milwaukee 336.5
6) Green Bay 288
7) Youngstown State 282
 
MEN
1) Oakland 858
2) Cleveland State 633
3) UIC 544
4) IUPUI 479.5
5) Green Bay 408
6) Milwaukee 351.5
7) Youngstown State 97