NCAA Championship Day 2 Results

The Grand Valley State men's and women's swimming & diving teams continued competition at the 2017 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships in Birmingham, Alabama Thursday. The GVSU men finished day two in third place with 149 points, while the women moved up to 11th with 77 points. Queens (N.C.) leads the mens race with 296 points, followed by Drury in second with 187 points. Competition will run through Saturday (March 11). 

The Laker women made a nice move towards the top 10 with a solid second day of swimming & diving. Senior Leonie VanNoort earned all-america honors and finished fourth in the 200 free with a time of 1:48.54, while Melina Goebel finished 17th (1:51.12). Junior Sam Postmus earned all-america honors in the 400 IM with a 14th-place finish in a time of 4:27.37. 

GVSU scored well in diving, placing two among the top six. Freshman Mikayla Karasek earned all-america honors with a fifth-place finish (408.85), followed by Kayla Marquardt who also earned all-america plaudits with a sixth-place finish (407.70). Erica Allor finished 20th with a score of 343.50. The 400 medley relay team of Megan Falconer, Emily Gallagher, Mercedes Martinez and VanNoort hit the wall 14th in a time of 3:49.56. The Lakers' 200 free relay team of Gallagher, Kathryn Culver, Martinez and Jenn Priebe hit the wall 20th in a time of 1:34.96.

The GVSU men tallied three top 10 finishes in three events Thursday evening. Gabriel Souza earned all-america honors after his third-place finish in the 100 fly, touching the wall in 46.66. The 400 medley relay team of harry Shalamon, Marius Mikalauskas, Souza and Ben Walling set a school-record and finished fifth with a time of 3:12.81. The 200 free relay team of Souza, Walling, Danny Abbott and JD Ham also finished fifth in a time of 1:20.33.