By JARED PURCELL

Sports Editor

 

Entering the final day of the Summit League Championships on Saturday night, everyone in the Oakland University aquatic center knew what to expect. With already monstrous leads, it was just a matter of time before the men’s and women’s teams of Oakland University clinched a tenth straight league title.

 

After blowing through the competition during the first two days, OU finished with the largest margin of victory in the school’s Division 1 history. The men compiled 1,077 points while the women getting 1,011 points.

 

“To finish like this, what great a way to go out,” said men’s and women’s head coach Pete Hovland. “You couldn’t write a scenario better than what [the team] is experiencing right now.”

 

The most electrifying performance from the final day of competition came from freshman Andres Jensen in the 200 backstroke. His time of 1:41.49 not only took first, but it also set a new school and Summit League record along with accomplishing a NCAA “A” standard time. Jensen’s time currently sits as the fourth best time in the nation for the event.

 

“He’s one of the fastest kids in the country,” Hovland said. “He’s one of the faster collegiate swimmers in the world. He just put on a performance that I’ve never experienced in my life.”

 

Jensen also set hit the NCAA “A” standard the night before in the 100 backstroke.

 

“It’s amazing,” Jensen said. “Freshman year, ‘A’ standard in two races, that’s more than I could imagine…The team just lifted me up, so I have to give credit to my team and definitely my coaches.”

 

Jensen was one of ten OU competitors to be named first team all-league out of the 12 spots. He also was named newcomer of the year and swimmer of the year for the Summit League.

 

For the women, senior Sophia Gustafsson took home swimmer of the year for the second year in a row. Over the course of the tournament, Gustafsson racked up victories in the 400 IM, 800 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle and the 1650 freestyle. She set Summit League records in each event except the 1650 freestyle.

 

“It’s a great finish to my swimming career,” Gustafsson said. “I swam better than I ever have before and dropped time in every single race and got a couple records.”

 

Along with her individual accomplishments, Gustafsson couldn’t be more proud of her teammates.

 

“We were so prepared,” Gustafsson said. “All the races we had this year, all the training, we were so prepared. We were hoping to win but winning by this much and setting this many records was more than we could have ever dreamt of.”

 

Freshman Alyssa Vela took the newcomer of the year award for the women and Hovland took coach of the year for the men. Her 100 freestyle time of 50.35 was a Summit League record.

 

“Alyssa Vela has put her stamp on this program in a very short time,” Hovland said. “I think she’s going to be the guiding light for our team in the future.”

 

With many seniors leaving, the win held more to the team as well.

 

“A lot of seniors are leaving so it’s even more emotional,” said junior swimmer Marcin Unold. “Fourteen of us are leaving, so it’s more emotional.”

 

After such a competitive season for both the men and women, Hovland believes that this season wound up being one of the best that he has been a part of.

 

“I don’t think in your wildest imagination you could think that you’d be as close to perfect as this,” Hovland said.

 

SUMMIT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP DAY 3 NOTES

 

Freshman Tim Montague set a Summit League record in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 15:37.86.

 

Junior Agnes Solan broke her old Summit League record in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:57.33.

 

Men and women combined, OU took first or second in every individual event on Saturday except for the men’s three meter diving. They took first and second in six events.

 

After the OU men went one-two-three in two straight events (100 freestyle — all seniors, 200 breaststroke — all freshman), they took the top four spots in the 200 butterfly.

 

The women had a 412 point margin of victory over second place Western Illinois (599). The 412 point margin is more points than Eastern Illinois (399) and IUPUI (240) could attain.

 

The men had a 526 point margin of victory over second place Centenary (551). That is more points than Eastern Illinois (466), Western Illinois (427), South Dakota State (320) and IUPUI (279) could attain.