RESULTS

GREENSBORO, NC – Calvin put itself in a strong bid for a top-10 team finish with a sizzling Friday finish at the NCAA III Championships.

Seeded 12^th, Calvin's 200 medley relay team of sophomores Emma Merkel (Wyoming, Mich./Grandville HS) and Elise Bajwa (Bethesda, Md./Brookewood School) and seniors Maggie Farrell (Portage, Mich./Portage Central HS) and Sydney Sonday (Portage, Mich./Portage Central HS) took eighth in the morning prelims with a time of 1:42.46, grabbing the last spot in the evening championship finals by three-hundreths of a second. The relay then turned it up a notch in the championship finals, tying for seventh place in a time of 1:42.28 to claim NCAA III All-America honors. It marks the first top-eight finish for the Calvin women's team in the 200 medley relay since 2013 and the third in program history.

The finish also earned the Knights 23 points, giving them 97 points in the overall team standings. Heading into the final day of competition, the Knights are in 11^th place in the team standings, one point behind 10^th place Williams College.
In the 100 backstroke prelims on Friday, Farrell took 34^th (57.20) while Merkel was 41^st (57.82). Bajwa had a career-best time of 1:03.65 in the prelims of the 100 breaststroke, good for 21^st place.

COACHES COMMENT: "An outstanding day three for our women's team," said Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "Our 200 medley relay team rose to the occasion this morning and again this evening. Super proud of all four swimmers. I thought our backstroke results were very solid and Elise (Bajwa) was outstanding. We are really excited for a big final day of competition."

Scheduled to compete for the Calvin women on Saturday are Sonday in the 100 freestyle, Merkel in the 200 backstroke, freshman Zoe Poe (Bridgeville, Pa. South Fayette Twp.) in the 1,650 freestyle and Sonday, Farrell, junior Meghan Bengelink (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) Merkel in the 400 freestyle relay.