Jenna Thayer named to Commissioner's Award

The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced Grand Valley State's Jenna Thayer as a recipient of the Winter 2009 GLIAC Commissioner's Awards for Academic and Athletic Excellence.

Thayer (Okemos, Mich.) was a six-time All-American at the 2009 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships, pushing her career total to 21 All-America citations. Thayer was a member of the GVSU 200-yard freestyle relay team that placed sixth, the 200-yard medley team that finished ninth, and the 11th-place 400-yard freestyle relay team. She took home a 10th place finish in the 200-yard Individual Medley, finished 13th in the 200-yard breaststroke and 14th in the 100-yard breaststroke. Thayer graduated with a 3.888 cumulative GPA studying Health Admininistration.

Academic Honors

Twelve Grand Valley Swimmers and Divers have been named by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America as Scholar All-Americans. We are very proud of the achievement of our student-athletes! To qualify for this award, a swimmer or diver must post a GPA of 3.5 or higher and achieve an NCAA Division II "A" cut. Honorable Mention goes to those athletes that meet the GPA requirement and have achieved a "B" cut. Our list is as follows:

Scholar All-Americans
Kim Baughman
Danielle Buglio
Jenna Fredrickson
Erin Kinney
Erin Lynch
Toni Musto
Allison Scholz
Jenna Thayer
Alison VanKampen
Aaron Beebe
Evan Kobes
Matt Witkowski

Honorable Mention:
Katie Lawrie
Jeff Pauza
Phil Watkins

Congratulations to these excellent student-athletes!

GLIAC Championships

Coaches hold a strategy session at the GLIAC Championships. The women won for the first time ever. The men scored a school record number of points but fell just short of Champions Wayne State.

2008-2009 The Best Season Ever

Evan Betts and Diving Coach Josh DeVries at NCAA Division II Nationals at the University of Houston.

Evan finished 3rd on 3 meters and 4th on 1 meter. Overall, the Laker men and women placed 15 individuals and all 10 relays in scoring positions. Both teams finished a school best 9th place.

Twenty-eight Lakers qualified for Division II championships, which is also a school best. The goals get more challenging for next year as the team continues to shine on the National scene.

The competition even wears out Coach Boyce.

Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub

Not really using an off campus facility! In fact, I am not sure what they are doing at all!!

Florida training trip

Laker swimmers and divers traveled to Ft. Pierce, Florida for the Holiday training trip. Some dryland training techniques were a little "unorthodox"

GLIAC Champions

The Lakers Women won Grand Valley's first ever GLIAC Championship at Jenison High School's pool. It was a see-saw battle all week with Wayne State but the Lakers edged the Warriors for the win. Coach Andy Boyce was named Women's GLIAC Coach of the Year for 2009

Swimming and Diving at Grand Valley

A team blog for Grand Valley State Lakers Swimming and Diving. Team members will be allowed to comment on posts and you are invited to send photos to Roger to post.