Results
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The 13th-ranked Calvin University men's swimming and diving team hosted its first meet of the season on Saturday at Venema Aquatic Center against Grand Valley State University (GVSU) and Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU).
Calvin lost the event to both nationally ranked NCAA II programs, falling to seventh-ranked GVSU 215-89 and to 16th-ranked SVSU 175-122.
Jackson Merkel (Grandville, Mich./Grandville) put together one of the top performances in the pool with first-place finishes in both the 100 backstroke (47.21) and 200 backstroke (1:48.24). His time in the 100 backstroke was just 0.01 off his time in last year's NCAA III Championships that finished fifth at the national meet.
Timothy Hays (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) took fifth in the 200 backstroke in a time of 1:52.76.
The meet started with the 200 medley relay where the 'A' Calvin relay of Merkel, Hays,
Andrew Taulbee (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) and
David Gabrielle (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) took second place with a time of 1:30.28.
Hays had several other top individual finishes, including a second place in the 200 individual medley (1:53.0) and fourth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke.
Cardin Nguyen (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyanne Mountain) took fifth in the 100 breaststroke to go with a seventh-place finish to lead the Knights in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:08.3.
Carter Nelson (Byron Center, Mich./Byron Center) finished fourth in the 500 freestyle (4:36.81) and fifth in the 1000 freestyle (9:29.79).
William Pettifer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mariemont) took sixth in the 1000 freestyle (9:57.77) and
Ryan Halberg (Novi, Mich./Northville) finished ninth in the 500 freestyle (4:44.05) to go with a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:41.29).
Kellen Morford (Medina, Ohio/Medina) finished third in the 50 freestyle in a time of 20.96.
Evan Nelson,
Kevin Noller (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine College Prep) and
John Reeder (Colorado Springs, Colo./The Classical Academy) took fifth, sixth and seventh place, respectively, in the 200 butterfly.
Brodie Brown (Hamilton, Mich./Hamilton) took fourth place off both diving boards to lead Calvin, recording 238.2 points off the three-meter board and 236.2 off the one-meter board.
The 400 freestyle relay was the final event of the day with Calvin's 'A' relay of Merkel, Halberg,
Will Bales (Lansing, Mich./Everett) and
Carter Nelson finishing third in the time of 3:04.22.
NEXT UP: Calvin swimming and diving will return to action on Saturday, October 24, when it competes in the MIAA Invite hosted by Hope College at Holland Aquatic Center at 11:00 AM.
