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GRAND RAPIDS — The Northern Michigan University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams had solid team finishes as a number of their athletes placed highly at the Calvin University Winter Invitational that ended Saturday in Grand Rapids.

The NMU women finished the three-day event in second place with 1,913.5 points, trailing only fellow GLIAC member Grand Valley State’s 2,149 and also finishing ahead of former conference member Findlay’s 1,577.5.

The Northern men came in third among five teams, totaling 1,620 points. Grand Valley also won this meet with 2,357, while host Calvin was runner-up with 1,765.

Northern Michigan University’s Tobie Stiles participates at the Calvin University Winter Invitational held in Grand Rapids from Thursday through Saturday. (Photo courtesy NMU)

The Wildcat men broke a pair of team records in the same event on the final day Saturday as both teams established a number of NCAA Division II national meet provisional qualifying times or points. There were also several wins and numerous podium finishes throughout the meet.

A select number of NMU swimmers will held south to Biscayne Bay in the Atlantic Ocean near Miami for the Open Water Collegiate nationals this weekend put on by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America, while the entire team is off for more than a month until hosting Wisconsin-Stevens Point for a meet on Saturday, Jan. 18.

Here are some details from each team’s meet:

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NMU women runners-up

On Thursday’s opening day, the Northern women reached the podium three times along with setting a half-dozen NCAA qualifying times.

The Wildcats really cleaned up in the 500-yard freestyle, where four swimmers all hit NCAA cuts — Annika Geyer, who finished in second place in 4 minutes, 55.86 seconds, just 0.63 of a second behind the winner; Anika Wright, third in 4:59.85; Carlotta Santi, fifth in 5:02.91; and Elena Curti, ninth in 5:02.85 as she won the “B” final.

In addition, NMU’s 400 medley relay placed third with another NCAA cut. The group finished in 3:44.54 as Camilla Carbone swam the 100 backstroke segment in 55.23 seconds, Zoe DeKievit the breaststroke in 1:02.70, Curti the butterfly in 55.73 and Becca Burrows the free in 50.88.

Northern’s other NCAA qualifier was Burrows in the 50 free in fourth place.

On Friday’s second day, the Wildcats had a trio of runners-up, with another four in third place. Plus, Northern had another eight NCAA provisional cuts.

The second-place finishers included Carbone in the 100 back in 55.45, an NCAA cut, and DeKievit in the 100 breast in 1:03.83.

And the Wildcats’ 200 medley relay team also set an NCAA cut with its runner-up finish in 1:41.53 as Carbone swam her 50 back in 25.44, DeKievit the breast in 28.42 Mia Stazny the fly in 24.84 and Burrows the free in 22.83.

Among the third-place finishers was the NMU “A” team in the 800 free relay in 7:36.94. Curti was eligible for an NCAA cut time as the leadoff swimmer as she swam her leg in 1:52.48. Joining her was Donna Hannig in 1:54.85, Santi in 1:55.17 and Geyer in 1:54.44.

And the NMU “B” team was fifth in 7:44.26 as leadoff Wright also had an NCAA cut of 1:53.08.

Other thirds were turned in by Santi in the 200 free in 1:53.11, which missed an NCAA cut by 0.03 of a second; Strazny in the 100 back in 55.51, an NCAA cut time; and Abigail Harned in the one-meter diving with 406.90 points.

In addition, other NCAA cuts were turned in by Wright in the 400 individual medley in 4:27.61, which placed her fourth, and by Lauren Plockmeyer in the one-meter diving with 393.90, which was listed by NMU Sports Information as an 11-dive NCAA cut.

On Saturday’s final day, the Northern women picked up their lone win of the meet when Geyer won the 1,650 free in 17:07.86, while Wright was runner-up just 0.02 of a second back in 17:07.88. Both were NCAA cuts.

Also coming in second was Harned in the three-meter diving with 424.15 points, while the Wildcats’ 400 free relay was runner-up in 3:26.00 as Curti clocked her 100 in 51.97, Strazny in 51.42, Hannig in 51.98 and Burrows in 50.63.

And NMU had two more third places on this day. Strazny was a bronze medalist in the 200 back in 2:01.12, while Burrows did the same in the 100 free in 51.04.

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NMU men finish 3rd

On Thursday, Northern’s Leo Nolles won the 50 free in 19.73 seconds, good for an NCAA “B” provisional cut, while teammate William LaCount was fifth in 19.97, also an NCAA cut time.

Nolles also anchored a pair of top-finishing relay teams. The 200 free relay was runner-up in 1:19.39, another NCAA cut, as LaCount as the leadoff swimmer was also eligible for his own NCAA cut in 19.86 seconds. He was followed by Gabriel Fulconi swimming his 50 leg in 19.77, Martin Wolmarans in 20.30 and Nolles in 19.46.

Nolles also swam the anchor freestyle leg of the fourth-place 400 medley relay, which finished in 3:16.04 as Ian Rocheleau swam the 100 back, Wyatt Dickman the breast and LaCount the fly.

Northern’s Daniel Lopez Aponte finished runner-up in the 200 IM after shaving off 2.51 seconds from his qualifying time that morning, according to an account from NMU Sports Inforamation. He clocked 1:48.13 in the finals for one of three NCAA cut times in the event. The others were turned in by Dickman in 1:48.33 for third place and Alessandro Rosatelli in 1:49.25 for ninth place, which won the “B” final.

On Friday, Dickman and LaCount each had a hand in setting two NMU team records for a total of three by the Wildcats that day.

Dickman won the 100 breast in 53.81 seconds for a school record, the same for LaCount in his first 50 leg of the 100 fly in 21.81 seconds. Dickman was third in his event as it was an NCAA cut, while LaCount finished his 100 fly in 48.96 to place seventh.

And the pair were members of the Wildcat record-setting 200 medley relay team that finished in 1:27.38 for third place and another NCAA cut.

Rocheleau opened with his leg of the 50 back in 22.94 seconds, followed by Dickman in the breast in 24.12, LaCount in the fly in 21.14 and Nolles in the free in 19.18.

The Wildcats also had a pair of winners on Friday.

Lopez Aponte won the 400 IM in 3:53.43, while Tobie Stiles won the three-meter diving with 503.40 points, both being NCAA cut standards.

Northern’s 800 free relay “A” team was second in an NCAA cut time of 6:39.01. Fulconi led off in 1:39.94, another NCAA cut, followed by Rosatelli in 1:40.28, Dickman in 1:37.64 and Lopez Aponte in 1:41.15.

Rosatelli also placed third in the 200 free in 1:38.57, yet another NCAA cut, while Daniel Khmara also had an NCAA cut with his opening 200 leg of 1:39.68 for the NMU “B” team in the 800 relay that finished fifth in 6:54.21. Other members of that quartet were Zachary Billotte, Javier Pena Reyes and James Werwie.

On Saturday, two more NMU men’s team records fell, both in the same event.

Stiles won the one-meter diving with 498.80 points, breaking that record, while his six-dive total of 317.95 was also a record he had previously established.

Pena Reyes won the 200 fly in 1:49.73, while Dickman was runner-up in the 200 breast in 1:57.46 and Nolles third in the 100 free in 43.94. All three were NCAA cuts.

Two more NMU swimmers also set NCAA cuts in the 100 free — Fulconi, who was sixth in 45.02, and LaCount, who was ninth in 44.73, which won the “B” final.

In addition, an NMU exhibition team set an NCAA cut in the 400 free relay of 2:56.94. LaCount swam in 45.38, Fulconi in 43.88, Dickman in 44.36 and Nolles in 43.32.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.