Men’s swimming team finishes in third-place at 2012 MIAA Championships

Fiorillo wins 100 freestyle and Comets win gold medal in 400 freestyle relay

HOLLAND, Mich. – Led by sophomore Brian Fiorillo's (Southgate/Anderson) first-place finish in the 100 freestyle and a gold medal performance in the 400 freestyle relay, the Olivet College men's swimming team has finished in third-place at the 2012 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championships, hosted by Hope College and held inside the Holland Community Aquatic Center.

The Comets finished the four-day event with 640.5 points, which was just 4.5 points ahead of fourth-place Calvin College. Kalamazoo College captured the team title with 811.5 points, followed by Hope with 707 points. Alma was fifth with 245 points, and Albion was sixth with 206 points.

Olivet had three swimmers finish in the top 5 of the 100 freestyle, and overall five swimmers score points in the event. Fiorillo took first-place with a time of 45.84 seconds. During the preliminaries, he broke the school record with an NCAA Championships conditional qualifying time of 45.54 seconds. Seniors Mike Harden (St. Johns) and Austin Munn (Pinckney) finished 4-5 with times of 46.70 and 46.77 seconds, respectively. Sophomore Ben Aldrich (DeWitt/St. Johns) won the consolation heat for an over ninth-place finish, and freshman Jimmy DeRupa (Trenton) was 13th.

Fiorillo, Harden, Aldrich and Munn then teamed for a first-place finish in the final event, 400 freestyle relay, of the championships. They clocked-in at 3:05.00 to record an NCAA Championships conditional qualifying time and break the school record.

Freshman Brandon McShane (Southgate/Anderson) placed third in the 200 backstroke, as he stopped the clock at 1:55.70. Junior Nick Edgar (Lansing/Everett) and freshman Alec Thurston (Kingsford) went 1-2 in the consolation for ninth and 10th-place finishes. Sophomore Korey Mervenne (Jenison) was 15th.

Freshmen Georges Aoun (Barquisimeto, Venezuela/Unidad Educativa Colegio) and Phil Barone, Jr. (Perrysburg, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales) were Olivet's top finisher in the 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke, respectively. Aoun finished the fly in 1:55.82, while Barone, Jr. completed the breaststroke in 2:08.26.

Also in the 200 breaststroke, senior Matt Marquette (Kalamazoo/Loy Norrix) finished in eighth-place with a time of 2:12.17 and freshman Phil Bielak (Brownstown/Woodhaven) was 16th.

Olivet also had three swimmers score points in the consolation heat of the 200 fly, led by junior Joel Knight (Battle Creek/Lakeview) winning the heat for a ninth-place finish with an NCAA Championships conditional qualifying time of 1:53.86. Senior Zach Burgess (Dimondale/Holt) and sophomore Tyler Russell (Bay City/Central) were 12th and 13th, respectively.

In the 1,650 freestyle, Mervenne turned in a fifth-place time of 16:38.40. Thurston was ninth at 17:16.94, and sophomore Adam Rhein (Leonard/Romeo) finished in 16th at 19:26.73.

The Comets will now wait until selections for the NCAA Division III Championships are announced on March 2. The championships will take place March 21-24 at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind.