The GRCHS Eagles stepped up to the blocks one last time for the incredible season that was fall 2020. The state roster consisted of Becca Burrows, Maria Nelson, Claudia Brinks, Mara Konyndyk, Krisitn Winkle, Grace Carpenter, Greta Vance, and Janie Mills. The 8 girls were given 11 days to train for a state championship that was postponed by two months from the original date. Not suprisingly this was an enormous challenge mentally and physically, but the Eagles stepped up to the challenge.  The major highlights of the weekend included runner up finishes for Becca Burrows in both the 100 and 200 freestyle! Phenomenal races where she took advantage of her natural ability to race in the face of a disrupted training cycle. In the 200 freestyle in particular she went out smooth and strong in about 4th or 3rd place at the halfway mark, then closed with a fantastic last 100 to out touch 3rd place by less than one tenth of a second. A fantastic end to her high school career.  Winkle Mills and Carpenter all raced in the 50 freestyle with Mills taking 29th, Winkle taking 19th, and Carpenter taking 13th.  Winkle and Carpenter both took 13th in their 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly respectively which exceeded their seed placements on the psych sheet.  The 200 freestyle relay took 3rd place in an extremely competitive field of sprinters this year. The relay consisted of Burrows, Winkle, Mills, and Carpenter. The exact same four girls followed up that performance with a 5th place finish in their 400 freestyle relay to close out the meet. With a final score of 106 points the team took 7th place overall and put a capstone on a wild season!

The Eagles had an exciting night on the boards at their first 11 dive meet of the season last night. Megan Hermen, Naomi Grix, and Lily McGowan nailed 11 dives each at the OK White diving Conference meet. Our three divers that competed made it past the cut to diving finals and were able to compete all 11 dives. Megan Hermen placed 18th, Lily McGowan placed 16 and Naomi Grix placed 11th.  We are proud of the work they put in and excited to see the rest of their season. Lily and Naomi will advance to the regional diving meet next Thursday. 

The Eagles lost a close dual meet last night at the Forest Hills Aquatic Center 101-85 against Forest Hills Northern and Eastern Combine Team.  A couple highlights: Naomi Grix almost broke 200 with a score of 199 on the boards. The 200 freestyle relays took 1st and 2nd with Maria Nelson clinching the double win on an anchor split of 26.3. Annika Entingh and Janie Mills swam best 500 times with Annika almost getting under 6 min. Burrows won her 1Free with a 54 in her hundred (in season best) and also took a win in the 100 backstroke of all races! Winkle took a win in the 200 and 500 frees a piece. Carpenter took a win in the 100 Butterfly. The Eagles swam and dove well and all signs are looking good for end of season. Conference Championships scheduled for Nov 6-7!

The GRCH Eagles celebrated SENIOR NIGHT in dramatic fashion last night at the Venema Aquatic Center for their last home meet of the season against EGR. A boat load of best times and state cuts came across the pool last night for the Eagles!  Senior Maria Nelson and Clara Bremer both touched best times in the 200IM. Nelson also swam an in season best in her 100 free at the end of the 4Free relay. Kristin Winkle punched TWO state cut times in her 200 freestyle and 100 freestyles securing both cuts by a wide margin for the first time this season. Senior Becca Burrows swam an in season best time in her 200 by almost 2 seconds touching in the 1:58 department Grace Carpenter busted out TWO state cut times as well in the 50 Freestyle followed by the 100 Butterfly, punching her ticket for the big dance for the FIRST TIME individually! Both cuts were achieved by a full second.  Seniors Annika Entingh and Claudia Brinks touched in season best times in the 500 freestyles and Both posting first (and technically best) 50 times of the season. Annika was also able to shave two seconds off her individual 200 time while Claudia put a best time down in her 100 free on the relay at the end. Janie Mills put down best times in her 50 and 100 freestyles individually and anchored the medley relay with much speed - unfortunately the board did not record an accurate time... so we will never know how fast exactly :) Naomi Grix recorded an in season best on the boards at 179.25 points! Great signs for her end of season. Overall it was a fantastic night for the Eagles as we round the final corner heading down the stretch towards conference. With taper only a few short days away, the team is excited to see some exciting results for all their hard work.

The Eagles were delighted to host their first HOME MEET against conference opponent Forest Hills Central Tuesday night the 13th.  While the Rangers did take the win for the final score, the Eagles were able to rack up a few personal wins across the meet.  First highlight for the evening came from Lily McGowan who qualified for regionals on the diving boards! NOT ONLY did she have a good night in the diving well, but she also was a participant on the B 200 Freestyle relay which took 3rd place! That means she scored points as not only a diver, but also a swimmer. First time this has happened in the last few years to be sure.  Becca Burrows continued to drop time in both of her races amid the peak of the training season which was very positive! She took home wins in the 200 Free and the 100 Butterfly.  Carpenter continues to tighten the gap between her and her state cut in the 50 freestly with only .08 of a second to go! She will get it in no time. Mara Konyndyk dropped time in her 100 freestyle by a full second and is in the hunt for the 1:00 mark. Kristin Winkle surprised herself even with a convincing win in the 500 freestyle with a final time of 5:39.95. Only her second time as an Eagle swimming this race and only 3 seconds off the state cut time. Esther Kuperus swam her first 500 of the night and stayed under 7 minutes which is fantastic for a first timer in that race.  Hannah DeVries, Ella Koetje, Emily Hermen, and Jessica Larsen all swam their first 200 freestyles of the season last night as well with valiant effort. The term "Not as bad as I thought" was heard around the deck afterwards. All in all the girls were thrilled to be in their home pool pushing themselves together with sights set on big meets down the road! 

The Eagles fought a hard fight a Northview on Tuesday night with a final score of 99 NV 84 GRC.  In the middle of the training peak there was still some very well fought races and hard swims from the Eagles! Mara Konyndyk and Becca Burrows got their first 500s of freestyle in for the year with Burrows clocking in uder the 5:30 mark making it look easy. Wolters and Doyle also swam their first 200 freestyles of the year with great enthusiasm from them and the team!  The Eagles continue to push themselves every day in the weight room and in the water getting ready for an end of season rest for some big swims down the road.  The Eagles plan to have a home meet next Tuesday at Calvin University against Forest Hills Central

On Saturday the Eagles faced three separate opponents in three separate dual meets all at the same time! They faced off against Unity Christian, Holland Christian, and Muskegon Mona Shores. The Eagles went 2-1 beating Unity and Muskegon and falling to Holland Christian.  The meet was the first "big" away meet that the team was able to be a part of in 2020. The excitement was high as the Eagles boarded the bus for the Holland Aquatic Center and the energy stayed positive until the bus parked back in GR! A highlight of the day was the 400 freestyle relay absolutely SWAMPING the opposing teams to end the meet with a final time of 3:53.71. The relay consisted of Burrows, Winkle, Carpenter, and Bremer.  Almost every single girl on the team was able to lock in season best times!  Two wins overall included Burrows in the 200 free and Winkle in the 50 free! The two continue to add individual dual wins to their list of acolades this season.  The Eagles travel to Northview on Tuesday for another dual! Final scores:  GRC vs UC: 124 - 62 Win GRC vs MMSHS: 98 - 88 Win GRC vs HC: 75 - 111 Loss

Last night the GRCH girls swim team snatched a conference dual meet win against Byron Center in a very close meet. The score was never more than 9 points apart! BC and GRC both held the lead 3-4 times each as the meet went on.  Byron came out of the gate in the first half of the meet. BC won the Medley Relay to start the evening and took first place in the 200 IM as well. Fortunately with Burrows and Winkle winning the 200 and 50 freestyles respectively, and Mills, Nelson, Vance, and Carpenter taking 2,3,4,5 in the 200 IM the Eagles were able to right the ship.  Going into diving, BC was in the lead by only 4 points. However, once the boards stopped bouncing, the Eagles came out with a 1,2,3,4 finish and came out of diving with a 7 point lead! Taking first on the boards was Lily McGowan with a score of 155.15.  The back half of the meet was highlighted with a valuable 1st place in the 100 freestyle from Winkle at 57.7, a win in the 200 free relay by Winkle, Bremer, Mills, and Burrows at 1:45.78, and Bremer following that win with a win in her first 100 breast stroke of her high school career! To close the meet, a relay of Burrows, Carpenter, Konyndyk, and Winkle won by over 20 seconds in an absolute nail in the coffin for the meet. All in all the entire team was able to contribute to the win with an impressive amount of deck energy and camaraderie throughout the entire meet. Many girls swam races they had never swam before, and for that we are proud. The Eagles will join Unity Christian, Holland Christian, and Mona shores for a four way dual meet this Saturday in Holland. 

The GRCH Girls Swim and Dive team FINALLY got to compete this year!  It was an emotional night as the team was ready to race for the first time in months. Having faced every possible obstacle in terms of training, we were ready to get down to business on the blocks. For some freshmen and newcomers it was the first meet of their life, which meant learning things like order of events, how diving works, and even relays were all part of the experience for them.  There were lots of nerves about racing under the current training conditions, but the girls took the challenge head on! We were proud to see girls fighting for every stroke as the meet went on. We look forward to the continued training and beginning to take a more serious look at the clock each and every race. Unity Christian is a great team and GRCH was proud to have them as our first opponent. Christian swim teams are few and far between, so there is always an element of camaraderie on deck.  The Eagles will see Unity again at a Quad meet scheduled October 3rd. Final Score  GRCH 112   UC 71