RESULTS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Today the Calvin women's swimming and diving team competed in day two of the MIAA Championships where they recorded several record-breaking performances.
 
The Knights started the evening strong as sophomore Emma Merkel (Wyoming, Mich./Grandville), senior Sydney Sonday (Portage, Mich./Portage Central), graduate student Maggie Farrell (Portage, Mich./Portage Central), and junior Meghan Bengelink (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) set a new school record in the 200-freestyle relay. The team placed second in the event with a time of 1:32.06. The time was also an NCAA B' cut qualifying time and ranks third nationally. 

Up next, Zoe Poe (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette Twp.) and Merkel nabbed the top two spots in the 500 freestyle. Poe touched first with a time of 5:00.78 with Merkel close behind at 5:01.86.
 
Farrell continued her record-breaking evening when she placed third in the 200 IM at 2:05.88, a new Calvin record.
 
In the diving portion of the meet, sophomore Veronica Skipper (Chicago, Ill./Northside College Prep) came up big as she took first place in the one-meter dive with a score of 426.10. The victory marked her first career MIAA individual crown. 
 
Calvin rounded out the day strong with another solid relay performance. Merkel, Elise Bajwa (Bethesda, Md./Brookewood School), Farrell, and Sonday teamed up for the 400-medley relay where they placed second with an NCAA B' cut qualifying time of 3:46.33 that ranks 11th nationally
 
By the end of the day, the Knights held at second in the standings with 330 points while Hope remained on top with 436.

In addition, freshman Piper Sadowski (East Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) had another record-breaking night as she reset her own United States Paralympic record in the 100 backstroke. Sadowski broke her own national record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:05.95, breaking her old record of 1:06.00. Sadowski set the record leading off Calvin's 400 medley C' relay team team.  Sadowski is a para swimmer in the S14 category which includes swimmers with an intellectual or cognitive impairment disability. On Wednesday night, she set a new United States record in a 100 IM time trial race. 
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "I think we're starting to get on a roll," said head coach Dan Gelderloos. "This is a different kind of meet. It's not all about best time all the time, it's about getting your hand on the wall first, prelims and finals, and setting yourself up for well for the night and I think we're starting to settle in and get use to that. Good to get the school record in the 200-freestyle and with Maggie in the 200 IM. Nice to see Zoe and Emma get those top two spots in the --, they've been battling it out in practice all season so glad that it has paid off. Then in diving, Veronica has done all of this on about four weeks of work after coming back for injury. Cool to watch her go through that journey and come back strong."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action tomorrow for the third day of the MIAA Championships with the morning session beginning at 10 a.m.and evening sessions at 5 p.m.