ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland University's swimming and diving team will host four schools at the OU Aquatic Center on Wednesday for the first annual Golden Grizzly Classic, presented by Jim Caulsey Buick GMC. 

The four-day Classic, beginning on December 3, features Oakland, Wayne State, Dartmouth, Grand Canyon, and the Eastern Michigan women's team. Competition begins at 5 PM on Wednesday, with events starting at 9 AM on Thursday through Saturday

WOMEN'S PREVIEW
The Oakland women's team secured a 189-111 win over Eastern Michigan in their last outing, marking their first victory over the Eagles since the 2022-23 season. The Golden Grizzlies won 11 of the 16 events, including three event sweeps.

Top-three finishes were achieved by multiple athletes, such as Lydia Soldatke and Kendra Venter, who each claimed multiple event wins. Mia Englender's victory in the 200 free earned her the OU Prairie Farms Women's Student-Athlete of the Week for Nov 24-30.

MEN'S PREVIEW
The men are returning to competition after facing Michigan and Pitt in early November, where they fell to No. 10-ranked Michigan 244-11 and Pitt 207.5-151.5. Michigan is now ranked 11th according to CSCAA Polls. Despite the losses, Oakland's men earned several top-three finishes, including a second-place finish in the 100 breast from Christopher Palvadre and a third-place finish in the 50 free from Micah Scheffer.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Wayne State, a regular Oakland competitor since 2002-03, meets the Golden Grizzlies twice this season, starting with the Classic. In their last matchup, the men's team won against No. 8 Northern Michigan 163-137, while the women fell 61-239 against the No. 10-ranked team.

Men's diver Max Wasiniak was named GLIAC Diver of the Week after his performance against Northern Michigan, bringing his total to two already this season. He won all four diving events, helping the Warriors seal the win in a tight competition.

Wayne State will be the only Division II program in attendance, but the Warriors will be ready to compete as they are ranked in the top 25 amongst D-II schools. The Wayne State men currently sit at 14th and the women at 23rd, according to CSCAA polls. 

In last year's matchup, Oakland walked away with the win. The women took control of the meet, winning 152-86, while the men snuck away with the win 130-106.

SCOUTING DARTMOUTH 
This will be the first-ever meeting between Oakland and the "Big Green" of Dartmouth. Competing in the Ivy League, Dartmouth regularly competes against schools like Yale and Princeton. In their most recent matchup, Dartmouth fell to both Cornell (142-158) and Harvard (82-217) at their home tri-meet on November 14th. The Big Green travel to Rochester, hoping to secure their first victory of the season.

SCOUTING THE THUNDER
Similarly to Dartmouth, this will be Oakland's first time competing against Grand Canyon. The Thunder, members of the Mountain West Conference, swim against schools on the West Coast, such as Fresno State and UNLV. 

Entering the Classic, both the men's and women's teams earned recent wins. The women took home the victory against New Mexico State by a single point, 103-102, with a decisive 200 free relay after being down by eight points entering the race. The Nov 7-8 home meet also saw victories against the men's and women's teams from Simon Fraser, Ottawa (AZ), and Arizona Christian.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Eastern Michigan returns to Oakland after competing in the women-only duel meet on Nov 19. The Eagles fell 189-111, but posted five event wins and two program top-10 times. Nina LaRose is now No. 5 in EMU history for the 100 breast after competing in the OU Aquatic Center, and Shayne Patrick entered the charts at No. 10 for the 200 fly.

Like Wayne State, Eastern Michigan is a frequent competitor for the Golden Grizzlies, with the Classic being the 43rd meeting between the two schools. EMU leads the all-time series 22-20-1. The Eagles will be the only competitor at the Classic with only the women competing, since the men's swimming and diving team was discontinued after the 2017-18 season.

ORDER OF EVENTS
Wednesday | 5 PM Finals
800 Free Relay 
200 Medley Relay

Thursday | 9 AM Prelims, 6 PM Finals
3-Meter Men (5:15 PM)
500 Free
200 IM
50 Free
1-Meter Women
200 Free Relay

Friday | 9 AM Prelims, 6 PM Finals
3-Meter Women (5:15 PM)
100 Fly
400 IM
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
1-Meter Men

Saturday | 9 AM Prelims, 6 PM Finals
1650 Free
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
400 Free Relay

Streaming of all sessions of the Golden Grizzly Classic can be found HERE. Tickets will be available for purchase at the doors before the start of each session.

Note: Because of repairs to the University's high-temperature hot water system, a section of Pioneer Drive from Ravine Drive to the entrance to Parking Lot 17 is currently closed to traffic. P17 and the North VIP entrance into OU Credit Union O'Rena are also closed. Parking for swim and dive is available in P16, P26, or P29 (parking garage off of Pioneer Drive). 

Spectators can only enter the Oakland Aquatic Center through the OU Credit Union O'Rena main entrance on the southwest side of the building off of Pioneer Drive. Entrance to the Aquatic Center is down the northeast staircase in the atrium.

Because of repairs to the high-temperature hot water system, the air temperature in the Oakland Aquatic Center may be adjusted differently than previous swim meets. Should any changes arise, updates will be shared promptly through GoldenGrizzlies.com and social media platforms.

How to Follow Oakland Swimming and Diving: For complete information on Oakland Swimming and Diving, follow the team on Instagram and on X at @OAK_swim_dive.