With the Summit League Championships looming, Oakland University’s swim team took to the pool for one last tune-up event.

The Golden Grizzlies were the only collegiate team competing at the Michigan USA Open, which was held from Feb. 11-13 at the OU Aquatics Center. The meet, which was hosted by a local club team, the Oakland Live Y’ers, attracted several clubs from across Michigan and southwestern Ontario.

For Oakland, however, the meet meant one final chance to determine the team’s lineups for The Summit League Championships in Indianapolis from Feb. 16-19. The Grizzlies’ men’s and women’s teams are each looking to win a 12th consecutive Summit League title.

The event allowed the coaches a chance to see some of the swimmers in a pressure-filled environment for the first time this season and determining which swimmers earned their spot in Indianapolis will not be easy.

“We give them the chance to swim a highly competitive swim meet in our own home pool,” Oakland associate head coach Shawn Kornoelje said. “We get to put the tech suits on and let them race to show us where they’re at.”

Kornoelje said this meet was different from regular season competitions because it gave some of the team’s less-experienced swimmers a chance to show what they could do.

“Some of these guys are younger and don’t have the opportunity to swim in these kinds of meets,” he said. “We get an idea of who we’re going to bring as exhibition swimmers to the conference meet. We have some fantastic swimmers.”

Kornoelje said the coaching staff will meet this week to go over the results and finalize the roster for the Summit League Championships. The final roster will include four men and four women.

Though both the men’s (6-2) and women’s (8-1) squads are considered to be heavy favorites to win the conference championships, Kornoelje said nobody in the Summit League can be overlooked.

“I think every team is competitive,” he said. “Every team has some kids that can swim real well. Centenary has a few really good sprinters. Western Illinois has a good (swimmer). There are some good kids on each team that we’re going to have to deal with and be competitive with.”

Kornoelje said he expects the Grizzlies to do well despite the tough competition.

“We’re fired up about it — I think our kids are ready,” Kornoelje said. “To them, it’s like their birthday, Christmas and New Year’s wrapped into one. They’re all excited and ready to go. We’ve been training six months and we’re expecting great things to happen.”