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NMU’s Kearney, Voigt honored at GLIAC swim finals

WATERFORD – Northern Michigan University diver Molly Kearney and coach Heidi Voigt earned conference awards at the four-day GLIAC Championships that concluded Saturday in Waterford.

Kearney was named the women’s Diver of the Year after she won the one-meter and placed third in the three-meter diving competitions.

And Voigt was named men’s Coach of the Year for guiding the Northern men to a third-place finish in their first year back after a more than three-decade hiatus.

The NMU men scored 593 points as Grand Valley State won with 840 and Wayne State was second with 720. Tiffin was a distant fourth in the eight-school meet with 346.

The Northern women were also third in their 10-team meet. The Wildcats had 520 points as Wayne State won with 840 1/2 and GVSU was runner-up with 763. SVSU was well back in fourth with 388 1/2.

Northern picked up a winner on Saturday when Savanna Saunders won the 200-yard backstroke in 1 minute, 59.03 seconds, an NCAA B qualifying cut time. She beat out runner-up Amanda Thielen of SVSU by nearly a second in the finals, even though she trailed Thielen after 50, 100 and 150 yards in that race.

Several of her teammates also had top-five finishes on Saturday, chief among them Crystal Bennet, who took second in the 100 freestyle in 52.01 seconds, another NCAA B cut time.

In addition, Rachel Borchardt was fifth in the 1,650 free in 17:20.84, another NCAA B cut, while the Wildcats’ 400 free relay team of Bennet, Borchardt, Katie Bourguignon and Courtney Konopitski was fourth in 3:32.77.

For the NMU men, Janne Roovers earned silver for his second-place finish in the 1,650 free in 15:49.54, while teammate Grantas Dapkus was fourth in 16:00.34. Both are NCAA B cuts.

Renars Bundzis placed second in the 200 back in 1:47.06, while Ryan Knox-Leonard was fifth in 1:49.17, both NCAA B cuts.

Marc Perello was third in the 200 breaststroke in 1:59.35, another NCAA B cut.

And Perello, Bundzis, Roovers and Knox-Leonard teamed together to finish fourth in the 400 free relay in 3:06.00.

The Wildcats, who have several certain qualifiers for the NCAA Division II Championships, are waiting to see which of their B cut times will make it to nationals that take place March 8-12 in Indianapolis.

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

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