ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Blue team took a 303.5-252.5 victory over the Black team at the annual Grand Valley State Intrasquad Meet Saturday at the GVSU Fieldhouse Pool.

Grand Valley State head coach Andy Boyce said it was nice to compete again.

"Overall, good to see everyone racing again," Boyce said. "They've been training hard for a bit. I thought they competed really well today."
Senior Matthew Bosch led the way for the Blue team, winning three individual events. Bosch came from behind to win the 100 IM with a strong freestyle lap. He touched 52.55. He also scored first place finishes in the 100 free with a time of 1:39.82 and the 200 free with a time of 45.56.

Sophomore Lucy Hedley continued her winning ways, scoring three first place individual finishes. Hedley was the leader for the Black team. The native of White Bay, England won the 200 free by more than five seconds with a time of 1:51.32. She also took first place in the 50 free, tapping the wall in 24.06 seconds. Hedley touched the wall with a time of 52.27 in the 100 free.

Senior Jess McEachern and freshman Cory Shade swept the diving categories. McEachern scored 218.85 points in the 1-meter dive and 230.45 in the 3-meter dive. Shade notched a score of 232.30 in the 1-meter dive and 214.40 in the 3-meter dive. Both divers scored their points for the Black team.

Many swimmers also scored multiple victories. Senior Alyssa Wager won the 50 fly in 26.07, more than a second to her closest opponent. Wager also took first in the 100 fly, finishing in 57.01.

Freshman Natalia Hermanowska won the 50 breast in 30.19. The Warsaw, Poland native also won the 100 breast with a time of 1:05.66. Hermanowska took the 100 IM with a time of 1:00.85 as well.

Sarah Puscas won the 1,000 free with a time of 10:39.24, Angelica Angilletta took first place in the 50 back with a 27.92 finish. Vittoria Proietti won the 100 back touching in 59.28. The 500 free went to Katie O'Connell, who won the race in over 12 seconds with a time of 5:10.83.

Raul Briceno made his presence known with multiple victories. Briceno scored first place in the 1,000 free with a victory of more than 14 seconds. The El Cafetal, Venezuela native also won the 500 free by more than 11 seconds with a time of 4:31.38.

Thomas Zoldowski swept the backstroke events with a time of 24.35 in the 50 back and a 51.77 finish in the 100 back. Andrew Goh swept the breastroke events with a time of 25.91 in the 50 breast and 55.85 in the 100 breast. Jona Finn Sue won the 100 fly in 51.46 while 50 fly went to Brennan Neitzel, who touchded in 23.25.

Now that the initial meet is over, Boyce has his team turning their heads to the dual meet season and the quest for another GLIAC Championship.

"Back to work," Boyce said. "We don't really start to rest a bit until December. We've been working hard every day. We'll chalk it up as some good swims and some good dives and try to build on it."

Grand Valley State will start the 2023-24 season Oct. 14 when they head just down the road to Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich. Saginaw Valley State will also be on hand at the Venema Aquatic Center. The first race is scheduled to start 1 p.m.