RESULTS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin men's swimming and diving team bumped up its first place lead on day two of the MIAA Championships. Calvin entered Thursday with a narrow two-point lead over rival Hope but bumped its lead up to a 33-point margin heading into Friday's competition.

Heading into Friday, the Knights have an overall team score of 396 points with Hope second with 363 points.

Thursday's meet provided typical back-and-forth action between the two rivals but relay strength, sprints power and clutch performances on the three-meter diving board allowed the Calvin lead to grow.

Calvin opened the meet by winning the championship and consolation finals of the 200 freestyle relay. In the consolation final, the Calvin relay team of senior Jack Kulaga (Downers Grove, Il./Downers Grove South HS), junior Zachary Logan (Byron Center, Mich./Byron Center HS), freshman Andrew Taulbee (Reynoldsburg, Ohio Reynoldsburg) and junior Timothy Hays (Arlington Heights, Il./Prospect HS) clocked in with a time of 1:24.20. In the championship final, the Calvin relay of senior David Bajwa (Bethesda, Md./The Heights School), graduate student Vlad Molin (Rolling Meadows, Il./Rolling Meadows HS), senior Josh Seidelman (Northville, Mich./Northville HS) and graduate student Corey Campbell (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) outdueled Hope's A' relay, winning with a season-best and NCAA III B' cut time of 1:19.18. The Calvin time is the top time in Division III this season.

The relay wins gave Calvin a 30-point lead in the team standings. Hope came roaring back in the 500 freestyle, taking the top three spots in the championship final including five of the top eight to take a four-point lead in the overall team standings. Calvin received key swims in the 500 freestyle from sophomore Ryan Halberg (Novi, Mich./Northville HS) who placed fourth (4:36.16), sophomore Andrew Stimpert (Normal, Il./Normal West HS) who was fifth (4:38.12) and freshman Diego Herrera Mora (Liberty Hill, Tx. CTP de Belen) who was sixth (4:39.58). Kulaga gained valuable points for the Knights in the consolation final, placing 11^th with a time of 4:52.97.

Hays stepped up to win the 200 IM in a time of 1:49.49. In the morning prelims, Hays recorded a career-best and NCAA III B' cut qualifying time of 1:48.96. Junior Jacob Ziegler (Toledo, Ohio St. John's Jesuit) delivered a clutch third place swim in the race, finishing third in 1:52.25. Sophomore Logan Yakubowski (Hazleton, Pa. Hazleton Area) was also clutch, finishing fifth in 1:54.66. Junior Caleb Gemmen (Mentor, Oh./Home School) won the consolation final in a tie of 1:56.47. The clutch swims were needed as Hope went 2-4-6-7-8 in the championship final and took second in the consolation final to outscore the Knights 75-59 in the event to lead by 20 points heading into the 50 freestyle.

The Knights then flexed their muscle in the sprint race, taking the top three spots including four of the top eight to retake the lead. Bajwa led the way, winning the race in a career-best and NCAA III B' cut qualifying time of 19.69 that currently ranks third nationally. The league title marked a repeat win for Bajwa in the 50 freestyle. A Calvin swimmer has now won the race eight consecutive years. Seidelman took second in a career-best and NCAA III B' cut qualifying time of 20.18. Molin was third in 20.46 while Campbell was eighth (21.04). Zach Logan added a 10^th place swim, producing the second-best time of the consolation final in 21.46.

In the three-meter diving competition, Calvin senior Wil Goodpaster (Hamilton, Mich./Hamilton HS) captured his first MIAA three-meter title, winning with a season-best (11-dive) score of 489.05. He was part of a 1-3 Calvin finish on the three-meter board as freshman Zander Hartsuff (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea HS) took third with a career-best score of 309.20.

Calvin closed out the night by taking first place in both the championship and consolation finals of the 400 medley relay. In the consolation final, the Calvin relay of Hays, senior Anthony Crudele (Aurora, Il./Home School), Taulbee and Seidelman roared to a win in a time of 3:20.08. Calvin then took the championship final with the quartet of junior Charles Platt (Downers Grove, Ill. Downers Grove North), Gemmen, Bajwa and Molin cruising with a winning time of 3:14.70.

COACHES COMMENT: "We started rolling a bit this morning," said Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "This is a different type of meet with all kinds of sub-plots but I thought we settled in pretty as the day went along. I thought our 500 freestyle guys really showed a lot of heart and fight this evening. Our relays swam strong, did what they had to do and got us the points we needed. We had some nice individual victories in the 200 IM and 50 free and I thought our two divers were outstanding and gave us a huge boost."

NEXT UP: Action continues on Friday with prelims set for 10 a.m. and championship finals slated to start at 5 p.m.