GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Today the Calvin women's swim and dive team competed in the first day of the MIAA Championships at the Venema Aquatic Center.
 
Although it was a light day in the pool, the Knights made it count as the 'A' team of freshman Zoe Poe (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette Twp.), Ella Andrews (Carmel, Ind./Heritage Christian), junior Kristin Winkle (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian), and freshman Maria Heeres (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton) took second in the 800 yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:50.74.
 
Calvin's 'B' team of junior Madi McNearney (Riverside, Mo./Park Hill South), freshman Gracie Ganger (Tipp City, Oh./Tippecanoe), senior Megan Pankratz (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd), and senior Rebecca Streelman (Newsberg, Ore./Homeschool) recorded a time of 8:08.85 as they took eight-place.
 
In the diving portion of the evening, Veronica Skipper (Chicago, Ill./Northside College Prep) and Leah Schouten (St. Davids, Ontario/Eden) both competed in the one-meter prelims. Skipper took second place with a score of 394.95 while Schouten finished in fifth with a score of 366.80, enough for both to advance to the finals tomorrow night.
 
The Knights finished strong as freshman Piper Sadowski (East Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) broke the U.S. Paralympic record in the 100 IM with a time of 1:09.76, breaking the previous record of 1:13.08 set by Abigail Kershaw in 2024. Piper's most-recent record had been in the 400 IM earlier this season.
 
At the end of day one Hope sits in first place with 62 points while Calvin is close behind with 52 points.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "One thing we talking about before the meet started is that this night is always full of surprises and full of nerves," said head coach Dan Gelderloos. "We wanted to make sure that we focused on the most important thing which was getting some momentum going. We wanted to use tonight to get our energy high and I think we did that. On the women's side we had some very strong relays despite having made the decision to save some of our swimmers for later in the meet."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action tomorrow for day two of the MIAA Championships with the morning session beginning at 10AM followed by the evening session at 5 PM