WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- The Grand Valley State men and Wayne State women lead the way through nine events on the first day of the 2016 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Swimming & Diving Championships at Waterford Mott High School.
All nine of the events on day one were conquered by two programs: the Grand Valley State Lakers and Wayne State Warriors. The Lakers set the pace in the men's competition with 178 points, while the Warriors follow close behind in second (164) followed by Northern Michigan (90) a distant third. On the women's side, host institution Wayne State amassed 214 points on the first day of action, while GVSU sits in the No. 2 position with 182 points ahead of the NMU Wildcat men also in third (118).
The Warrior women garnered two titles on day one thanks to a 23.56 performance by Lezlie Bueno Estrada in the 50 freestyle to take top honors along with the WSU 200 meter relay squad consisting of Brenna Gabrielson, Hannah Loesch, Abi Johns, and Emily Heitchue who collectively stopped the clock in 1:43.25 to edge out GVSU.
GVSU junior Leonie Van Noort started the first medal event of the day by setting a new GLIAC meet record in the 1000 meter freestyle touching the wall in 9:58.44. Laker junior Lara Deibel picked up a victory in the 200 individual medley after a time of 2:04.62, while her teammate senior Taylor Wiercinski collected a gold medal in the 3-meter dive with a 467.50 total.
In men's action, Wayne State freshman Ahmed Ahmed earned the first title of the day with a time of 9:18.05 in the 1000 meter freestyle before his teammate senior Ben Winn recorded a first-place finish in the 50 meter freestyle after finishing in 20.70. GVSU set the pace after a pair of victories in the 200 meter individual medley thanks to Gianni Ferrero's mark of 1:46.08, while Ferrero and his 200 meter medley relay squad of Tim Harris, Gabriel Souza, Ben Walling recorded a top finish after a 1:28.31 time.
Be sure to follow all of the action on the 2016 GLIAC Swimming & Diving Championships homepage.
