Men’s swimming and diving team finishes in third-place at Calvin Winter Invitational
The men’s swimming and diving team finished in third-place at the 2010 Calvin College Winter Invitational, held at the Venema Aquatic Center in Grand Rapids. The three-day invitational featured a mix of NCAA Division II and III schools.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Olivet College men's swimming and diving team finished in third-place (out of nine schools) at the 2010 Calvin College Winter Invitational, held at the Venema Aquatic Center in Grand Rapids. Grand Valley State University won the team championship with 1,331 points, followed by Kalamazoo (597) and the Comets (450).
In Thursday's first day of action, freshman Greg Kohler (Okemos) placed 12th in the 1,650 free, clocking in at 17:29.99 for Olivet's highest finisher in the event. Fellow freshman Korey Mervenne (Jenison) was 16th (17:44.34). The 800 freestyle relay team of Kellen Beckwith (Farmington Hills/North Farmington), Ben Aldrich (DeWitt/St. Johns), Austin Munn (Pinckney) and Kohler finished in sixth-place, stopping the clock at 7:13.71.
Freshman Cody Sanders (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) scored 433.65 points on the one-meter diving to beat the runner-up finisher by 22.05 points and his score meets the qualifying standard for the NCAA D3 National Championships. Despite the third-place overall finish in the 100 backstroke, Beckwith was first among Division III swimmers, with a time of 50.81 seconds. In the preliminaries, he posted the fastest time and had a NCAA "B" cut time of 50.74 seconds. Sophomore Nick Edgar (Lansing/Everett) placed sixth in 53.07 seconds, while junior Mike Mette (Rockford) was 14th in 56.44 seconds.
The 200 freestyle relay team of senior Mike Harden (St. Johns), freshman Brian Fiorillo (Southgate/Anderson), sophomore Brock Jackson (Sturgis) and Beckwith placed fourth with a time of 1:25.04. The "B" relay team of sophomore Josh Mauk (Battle Creek/Lakeview), freshman Ben Aldrich (DeWitt/Johns), Edgar and Austin Munn was fourth in 1:27.50.
In the 200 butterfly, senior Rafe Maxwell (Bay City/Western) was sixth overall and second among NCAA D3 swimmers at 1:55.80. Sophomore Joel Knight (Battle Creek/Lakeview) finished in 14th-place (2:00.51) overall. Jackson finished sixth in the 200 freestyle at 1:44.32. Munn and Fiorillo swam in the consolation finals to finish in 14th (1:48.78) and 15th (1:49.85), respectively.
In the 100 breaststroke, Mauk won the consolation heat to finish in ninth-place (1:00.39) and junior Matt Marquette (Kalamazoo/Loy Norrix) placed 12th (1:01.79). In the 400 individual medley, freshman Tyler Russell (Bay City/Central) was the Comets' highest finisher, as he placed 11th (4:31.79).
In the 50 freestyle, Harden finished in fourth-place in 21.34 seconds. Three Kalamazoo swimmers were ahead of him, while three swimmers from Grand Valley finished behind him in the championship final. Fiorillo and Jackson were 11th (:21.83) and 14th (:22.02), respectively.
The 400 medley relay team of Beckwith, Mauk, Knight and Munn placed fourth in 3:31.65.
Individually, Beckwith finished in fifth-place in the 200 backstroke (1:57.45). In the prelims, he had the fastest time with an NCAA championships provisional qualifying time of 1:53.30. In the 100 freestyle, Fiorillo and Jackson finished 5-6 with times of 47.53 and 47.58 seconds, respectively.
Also in the 200 backstroke, Mette finished in ninth-place (1:59.98) and Edgar was 13th (2:05.21). Junior Matt Marquette (Kalamazoo/Loy Norrix) took first-place in the consolation finals for a ninth-place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:18.36).
In the 100 butterfly, Maxwell placed 11th (:52.28) and Knight was 13th (:52.82). In the 200 individual medley, Mauk finished 15th (2:03.05) and Knight was right behind him in 16th (2:03.82).
In the three-meter diving, Sanders scored 393.15 points, which placed him third.
Olivet is now idle until Jan. 21, 2011, when it competes at Albion College in a non-conference meet at 6 p.m.