The GLIAC title defense for the NMU Women’s Swim and Dive team began this past Saturday with the Green and Gold Meet held at the PEIF. Both the men’s and women’s teams participated in the annual event, and of course with the ban on GLIAC competition through the calendar year, the Wildcats had a meet against themselves. 

In a close meet, the Gold team swam past the Green team 217-205. In the first event, the Green team picked up the victory in the women’s 200-yard Medley Relay led by freshmen Skye Pineda, Sage Gettings, Emilia Morris and sophomore Michaela Nelson. On the men’s side, the team of freshmen Thibault Auger, Ryan Lund, sophomore Roberto Camera and senior Amir Saman Khajegi took first for the Gold team.

Both teams split the 500-yard Freestyle event, with freshman Vanessa Steigauf winning for Gold with a time of 5:25.05, and senior Ondrej Zach tied it up for Green with a time of 4:39.06. The meet stayed close as Green took the top three places in the women’s 50-yard Freestyle, and Gold took the top two spots in the men’s 50-yard Freestyle. 

The action continued in the 200-yard Individual Medley, where sophomore Meritxell Font Cantarero won for Gold in the women’s race with a time of 2:15.78. For the men’s race, Green won this time around with a time of 2:00.35 from sophomore Erikas Kapocius. In the final event, the Green team of Pineda, Gettings, Morris and sophomore Pilar Perello Ferrer took home the women’s 400-yard Freestyle Relay with a time of 3:43.16. Just like most of the meet, it was consistently even with Gold taking home the men’s race with the team of Kapocius, juniors Levi Lewis and Conor Graydon and sophomore Ivan Amillo Escobedo.

The members of last year’s Women’s GLIAC Championship team received championship rings, and the road to next year’s championship, pandemic or not, has officially begun.