Results
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The 17th-ranked Calvin University men's swimming and diving team had a big first day at the Calvin Quad Meet at Venema Aquatic Center on Friday night.
Calvin finished the session with 507 points to lead the standings with two sessions remaining on Saturday. Ohio Northern University (244 points) are in second place, followed by Carthage College (190) and Albion College (92).
The Knights recorded two times that currently rank first in NCAA III.
The first came in the 500 Freestyle, where
Ryan Halberg (Novi, Mich./Northville) won the event with a time of 4:38.46 that ranks atop NCAA III in that race this season.
Andrew Stimpert (Normal, Ill./Normal West),
Evan Haney (Goshen, Ind./Northridge) and
Alex Bergsma (Carmel, Ind./Carmel/Wheaton College) finished behind Halberg in the top four.
The second top time came in the 400 Medley Relay to close the session, where the Calvin 'A' relay of
Jackson Merkel (Grandville, Mich./Grandville),
Caleb Gemmen (Mentor, Ohio/Homeschool),
David Gabrielle (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) and
Charles Platt (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) recorded a time of 3:17.53 that leads the nation. The 'B' relay of
Logan McKinney (Jackson, Mich./Jackson),
Cardin Nguyen (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain),
Andrew Taulbee (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) and
Will Bales (Lansing, Mich./Lansing Everett) took second.
Platt won the 50 Freestyle with a winning time of 20.49 that ranks fourth in NCAA III. Gabrielle (21.27) took second, followed by Merkel (21.35) in third and Bales (21.43) in fifth.
The 200 Freestyle Relay led off the event, with the 'A' relay of Platt, Bales, Merkel and
Zachary Logan (Byron Center, Mich./Byron Center) winning in 1:23.01, which ranks third in NCAA III. The 'B' relay of
Kellen Morford (Medina, Ohio/Medina),
Daniel Miller (Arlington, Texas/Arlington), Taulbee and Bales took second in 3:29.22.
Jacob Ziegler (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) won the 200 IM in time of 1:54.76. Nguyen (1:56.87) finished third, followed by
Logan Yakubowski (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton Area) in fourth and Taulbee in fifth.
In the diving competition off the one-meter board,
Miles Lee (Chicago, Ill./Homeschool) took second place with 290.35 points.
Joshua Ring (Lansing, Mich./Lansing Christian) finished seventh with 176.85 and
Manuel Lopez-Zamudio (Byron Center, Mich./Byron Center) took eighth place with 140.95 points.
COACH'S COMMENT: "We had a great week leading up to the meet with some really good practices and prep for a couple days beforehand and I think the team is embracing the skills that they are learning," Calvin head swimming and diving coach
Dan Gelderloos said. "More importantly, we're kind of swimming in waves. Lots of kids swimming together who are fighting for the same cause and it's showing up on the scoreboard."
NEXT UP: Calvin swimming and diving will finish the Calvin Quad Meet tomorrow (Saturday, November 1) when it hosts two sessions at Venema Aquatic Center. The first session is scheduled to start at 10:00 AM. The second session will start at 4:30 PM.
