RESULTS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin women's swimming and diving team had a final record-setting day at the Calvin Winter Invitational.

In the morning prelims, sophomore Emma Merkel (Wyoming, Mich./Grandville HS) clocked in with a school-record time of 2:00.68 in the 200 backstroke, breaking the previous record of 2:01.05 set by Isabella Gable in 2023. Merkel made a push to rebreak the record in the evening finals before finishing second in 2:00.70. Merkel's morning time ranks fifth in Division III women's swimming this season. She helped Calvin score a basket-full of points in the 200 backstroke as junior Madi McNearney (Riverside, Mo./Park Hill South HS) was 14^th (2:10.81), sophomore Katie Phippen (Macomb, Ill. Calvary Baptist) 19^th (2:16.76), senior Abigal Merz (Flint, Mich./Powers Catholic HS) 21^st (2:18.78) and junior Tori Beigle (Petoskey, Mich./Petoskey HS) 22^nd (2:21.28).

Calvin's 400 free relay of senior Sydney Sonday (Portage, Mich./Portage Central HS), junior Meghan Bengelink (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS), senior Maggie Farrell (Portage, Mich./Portage Central HS) and Merkel took third with a season-best time of 3:26.57 that ranks fifth nationally. Sonday led off the relay with a season-best time of 51.49 Calvin's B' relay of junior Elyse Radawski (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS), freshman Zoe Poe (Bridgeville, Pa. South Fayette Twp.), freshman Ella Andrews (Carmel, Ind./Heritage Christian HS) and freshman Maria Heeres (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) was 10^th (3:36.77).

Calvin also produced points in the 1650 freestyle led by Poe who took third with a time of 17:19.30. Senior Megan Pankratz (Palatine, Ill. William Fremd) was 13^th (18:49.59), junior Kristin Winkle (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) 15^th (19:12.64), senior Rebecca Streelman (Palatine, Ill. William Fremd) 17^th (19:21.68), junior Kailee Turner (Monroe, Mich./Monroe HS) 18^th (19:26.04), freshman Piper Sadowski (East Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) 19^th (19:32.99) and sophomore Eden Maring (Grandville, Mich./Calvin Christian HS) 20^th (19:43.40).

In the 100 freestyle, Sonday took sixth (51.65) and Farrell seventh (51.70). Farrell clocked a season-best time of 51.52 in the morning prelims. Bengelink was 21^st (53.66) with Andrews 27^th (53.62).

Freshman Gracie Ganger (Tipp City, Ohio Tippercanoe) was Calvin's top finisher in the 200 breaststroke, placing eighth (2:25.34). Freshman Eloise Harrison was 11^th (2:26.90), Radawski 13^th (2:28.83), junior Maya Bedford (Howell, Mich./Howell HS) 19^th (2:39.40) and freshman Isabelle Tribfelner (Bay City, Mich. Bay City Central) 22^nd (2:40.46).

In the 200 butterfly, junior Elizabeth Dylewski (Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Bloomfield Hills) was seventh (2:15.83), freshman Vivian Rizer (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. Grosse Pointe Farms) 11^th (2:16.40), freshman Alea Casipit (Midland, Mich. Herbert Henry Dow) 12^th (2:21.22), freshman Grace Schutter (Shelby Township, Mich. Dwight D. Eisenhower) 14^th (2:23.81), sophomore Kaelin Kelley (Athens, Ill. Sacred Heart-Griffin) 17^th (2:22.32) and sophomore Jorie Cho (Ann Arbor, Mich./Skyline HS) 18^th (2:22.48).

Senior Kiah Heminghous (Midland, Mich. Midland) was Calvin's top scorer in the three-meter diving competition with a score of 362.05. Sophomore Leah Schouten (St. Davids, Ontario Eden) was 12^th (331.65), freshman Ellie Berg (Lockport, Il./Lockport HS) 14^th (294.45) and freshman Kylie Grieser (Ida, Mich. Ida) 15^th (226.30).

COACHES COMMENT: "I thought our team spirit at the end of the meet was tremendous and it really showed up in the 400 free relay where we had all of our relay teams swim best times," said Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "We had several strong performances at this meet. Emma (Merkel) had a great series today in the 200 back and our 400 (A) free relay had a huge time but all of our relays swam great. This was a meet where we worked on building our depth. This is a meet we can use a building block for the rest of the season. Now it's time to focus on exams, recharge and get ready for the second half of the season."