The Calvin men's swimming and diving team had a standout opening night of competition at the MIAA Championships, taking first place in both the championship and consolation finals of the 800 freestyle relay.

The pair of wins bumped the Knights into first place in the team standings with 62 points, 10 points ahead of Hope.

In the championship final, the Calvin quartet of seniors Hudson DeBoer (Zeeland, Mich./Holland Christian HS), Forrest Peterson (Middleton, Wisc./Middleton HS), Bryce Miner (Cupertino, Ca./Homestead HS) and Jacob Heeres (Zeeland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) came up with a come-from-behind victory over Hope, clocking in with a season-best time of 6:41.72 with the Knights overtaking the Flying Dutchmen over the final 75 yards of the race.

The Knights also enjoyed an exciting win in the consolation final as the team of freshman Charles Platt (Downers Grove, Il./Downers Grove South HS), sophomore Joshua Seidelman (Northville, Mich./Northville HS), sophomore David Bajwa (Potomac, Md./The Heights School) and senior Sam Hoover (Beverly Hills, Mich./Fraser HS) took first place in a time of 6:48.07.

COACHES COMMENT: "Wednesday is always an interesting day with only one event scheduled," said Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "It's high intensity with no let-up. We dropped a ton of time with both of our relays and the two wins sets us up nicely for tomorrow. It was a great start."

NEXT UP: Calvin will open day two of the four-day meet with prelims Thursday morning at 10 a.m. with evening finals set for 5 p.m. inside the Venema Aquatic Center.