ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Oakland Men's and Women's Swim Team brought it back home to kick off a two-meet weekend for the Golden Grizzlies. In a head-to-head matchup with GVSU this evening, Oakland was powered behind the strong performances completed by both teams as the men cashed in with a total score of 190.5 and the women with 185, respectively. 

The team topped off their fifth competition of the season as they racked up 21 event wins over 32 total events in the water this afternoon. 

The Golden Grizzlies opened up the evening with a dominating finish from the women's relay team consisting of Susan LaGrand, Taylor Bailey, Sophia Davis, and closing out the last leg, Jordyn Shipps at a time of 1:42.66. The men got a taste of the action as they continued this momentum clocking in at 1:29.41 from the speedy relay team consisting of Marko Khotvnetskyi, Christian Bart, Sofus Balladone, and capped off by Sam McKenzie. 

Angelina Baker blew it out of the water with her performance in the 1000-yard freestyle with a solid lead during her time in the pool with a rewarding 10:32.62 finish for the freshman. Notably, Jonas Cantrell jumped in for the men's 1000-yard freestyle finishing third with a time of 9:39.66.

Sam McKenzie touched first with tremendous energy to close out the rest of the competition for the men's 200-yard freestyle at 1:38.65. 

LaGrand tallied up yet another first-place finish in the women's 100-yard backstroke with 55.69. Completing the 100-yard backstroke series, Marko Khotynetskyi slammed in an Oakland win with a time of 48.75. 

Taylor Bailey lead the women's 100-yard breaststroke with an impressive time of 1:03.75. On the flip side, Bart secured the first-place finish in the men's 100-yard breaststroke swimming in at 55.35. 

Shipps went on to nail the women's 200-yard butterfly with her time of 2:05.14. And for the men's 200-yard butterfly, James Hart claimed a nail-biting second-place finish with a time of 1:52.58 in just under .1 seconds of a difference from the first-place contender from GVSU. 

Mia Keranen completed the 50-yard freestyle with a notable time of 24.27 just .15 seconds away from the lead competitor in the event. Micah Scheffer then came in to complete the second half of the 50-yard freestyle with a dominating time of 20.92, with his teammate Charlie Brown right behind him tied for second with a time of 21.13.

Oakland resumed after the halfway mark as they opened it out with two heats of the 100-yard freestyle for the women. Keranen touched in at 52.46 for the second-place title to close out the event between the Lakers and the Golden Grizzlies. 

Similarly, in the two-heat men's 100-yard freestyle event, McKenzie claimed his well-deserved first-place spot swimming in at a time of 44.83. 

Alongside her first-place win in the 100-yard backstroke, LaGrand continued to dominate the women's 200-yard backstroke event taking another title in her respective event with a time of 2:00.62. Harry Nicholson then took the title for the men's 200-yard backstroke and swam in at a time of 1:50.09. 

Bailey then took her second individual win of the night in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:17.72 after claiming her energetic victory for the 100-yard event earlier this evening. Notably, her teammate, Bella Gary swam in not too far behind with a time of 2:22.87 to take second place. To continue this energy was Chrispother Palvadre with a 2:02.54 first-place finish that put him ahead of his competition in the men's 200-yard breaststroke. 

Baker put up a notable second-place finish in the women's 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:05.75 only six seconds behind the Laker contender across the lane. Cantrell put up a tough fight taking second, as well, in the men's 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:34.48.

In another two-heat event for the women's 100-yard fly, Shipps was dialed in to take home the first-place finish with a time of 55.57 in the second heat with both Oakland and GVSU competitors. On that note, Khotynetskyi racked up yet another impressive win in the men's 100-yard fly with a swift time of 49.21. 

In the midst of the spurring energy rising in the pool, the diving team claimed a first-place finish from Scott Scrivano in the men's three-meter event with a final score of 255.08. Alongside him, Elleana Chalifoux punched her first-place ticket in the women's one-meter diving event with a final score of 283.43. 

During the 200 and 400-yard IM for both the men and the women, Oakland recorded notable finishes from Gary at third with a time of 4:36.74 in the women's event, and Khotynetskyi strung together another victory with a time of 1:53.27 in the men's event. 

Oakland closed out the evening with the men's and women's 400-yard freestyle relay which resulted in a second-place finish from the women's B relay team consisting of Nora Molnar, Emily Aycock, Reagan Reetz, and Kiera Brough as they swam in at a time of 3:37.29, and last but not least the men's A relay team to send off the Golden Grizzlies with one last win at a time of 3:01.30 for a combined 21 event wins for the evening alongside a friendly exhibition matchup. 

The Golden Grizzlies dive back in tomorrow, November 12th as the women's team lands in Eastern Michigan excited for more competition.