Results
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The 10th-ranked Calvin University men's swimming and diving team celebrated Senior Day before the start of Saturday's MIAA Invite and then went on to win the event by 328 points at Venema Aquatic Center.
The Knights won every individual swimming event and one of the two relays on the way to 934 total points, topping second-place Hope College's total of 606. Kalamazoo College (218 points) rounded out the top three.
The competition started with the 400 Medley Relay, where Calvin placed teams in first and second and also finished with teams in fourth and fifth place. The 'A' relay of
Charles Platt (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North),
Caleb Gemmen (Mentor, Ohio/Homeschool),
Andrew Taulbee (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) and
Carter Detweiler (Farmington Hill, Mich./Council Rock North/Ohio Northern University) won the relay in a time of 3:21.5. The Calvin 'B' relay of
Logan McKinney (Jackson, Mich./Jackson),
Cardin Nguyen (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyanne Mountain),
Jacob Ziegler (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) and
Will Bales (Lansing, Mich./Lansing Everett) took second in 3:27.49.
The individual events opened with the 1650 Freestyle, where
Alex Bergsma (Carmel, Ind./Carmel/Wheaton College) won in a time of 16:38.13.
Ryan Halberg (Novi, Mich./Northville) finished second in 16:44.17.
Platt won the 200 Freestyle next in a time of 1:39.96, while Detweiler (1:44.35) took third and
Luca Zdravkov (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) finished fourth in 1:44.38.
Jackson Merkel (Grandville, Mich./Grandville) won the 50 Freestyle in a time of 21.0, while
Zachary Logan (Byron Center, Mich./Byron Center) took third in 21.44.
Evan Haney (Goshen, Ind./Northridge) and
Evan Nelson (Ada, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) finished in first and second, respectively, in the 400 IM, with Haney touching in 4:12.6 and Nelson finishing in 4:18.53.
The 200 Butterfly was next, with Ziegler (1:53.97) taking first place while
John Reeder (Colorado Springs, Colo./The Classical Academy) took third in 2:06.16.
Merkel earned his second first-place finish of the day in the 100 Freestyle, finishing in a time of 45.51. Bales (46.91) and Detweiler (47.02) finished third and fourth, respectively.
Platt also won a second individual event, taking the 200 Backstroke in 1:51.57.
Antoine Douguet (Paris, France/Ecole Diagonale) finished second in 1:56.18, followed by McKinney (1:57.8) in third place.
The Knights also finished with each of the top three in the 500 Freestyle, led by Halberg (4:46.71) in first place.
Andrew Stimpert (Normal, Ill./Normal West) finished second (4:47.79) and Haney finished third (4:49.46).
The final individual swimming event was the 200 Backstroke, where Calvin took home each of the top four places.
Josh Krampe (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern) won in a time of 2:05.8. Gemmen took second (2:08.16), followed by Taulbee in third (2:08.93) and Nguyen in fourth (2:09.92).
The final event was the 200 Freestyle Relay, where the Calvin 'A' relay suffered a disqualification and the 'B' relay of
Daniel Miller (Arlington, Texas/Arlington),
Henry Phippen (Macomb, Ill./Phippen Academy), Halberg and Ziegler took second in a time of 1:26.81.
COACH'S COMMENT: "Today's meet was a great barometer to see where we are four weeks out from MIAA," Calvin head coach
Dan Gelderloos said. "It really showed that we are on track for some great performances down the road, which is exciting! And to get the wins on both sides was the icing on the cake."
NEXT UP: Calvin swimming and diving will return to action on Friday, January 30, when it competes at Grove City College in a dual meet scheduled to start at 5:00 PM. The Knights will follow that with a triangular meet at Carnegie Mellon University against Carnegie Mellon and Denison University on Saturday, January 31.
