GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College men's swimming and diving team finished the final day of the MIAA Championships at Calvin on Saturday (Feb. 18). The Hornets finished in fourth place with 477 points.
Calvin won the MIAA Championships with 1,117 points and was followed by Hope (936 points), Albion (531 points), Kalamazoo, Olivet (254 points), and Alma (236 points).
Wednesday, Feb. 15
There was only one final on the first day of action as the 800 Free Relay team competed. Zach Butters, Ben Pickrel, Jackson Rysavy, and Noah Eckenroth swam a 7:00.51, which was good for fourth. Kalamazoo's second team of Daniel Koselka, Fuzail Ahmed, Jon Jiang, and Alden Ehrardt touched the wall at 7:23.16 in the second heat.
Thursday, Feb. 16
Sam Ankley kicked off day two of the MIAA Championships with a bang by winning the 3-meter dive. Ankley ended up with a score of 496.55, which is 10 points better than his previous 11-dive career-best. He also won the event handly by nearly 30 points over the second-place finisher. Also finishing in sixth in the 3-meter for the Hornets was Luke Middlebrook, who finished with 383.00 points.
Kalamazoo had two relay events finish fourth at the MIAA Championships on the second day. First, Oliver Tye, Tim Karubas, Butters, and Koselka were on the 200 Free Relay team and had a time of 1:26.02. Then, in the 400 Medley Relay, the team of Erik Danielson, Pickrel, Tye, and Karubas finished the race with a time of 3:27.06.
Friday, Feb. 17
Pickrel picked up two top-eight finishes in the 100 Back and 400 IM on day three. He swam 50.85 in the 100 and then 4:08.66 in the 400. Ahmed also was in the 100 Back and finished seventh with a time of 53.05. In the lone relay race of the day, the team of Pickrel, Danielson, Tye, and Karubas finished the 200 Medley in 1:34.79.
Saturday, Feb. 18
Ankley solidified his position as the best diver in the MIAA by bringing home the MIAA Most Valuable Diver award. He finished second in the 1-meter dive with a score of 489.30, setting another new career-best in an 11-dive event by 28 points. Ankley was the leading point-getter among male divers at the MIAA Championships.
Pickrel continued his successful meet, picking up a fifth-place finish in the 200 Back at 1:51.46. The Hornets had two top-eight finishers in the 1650 Free as Butters came in seventh at 16:58.22 and Rysavy finished in eighth with a time of 17:04.76. In the last event of the competition, Kalamazoo 400 Free Relay team swam a 3:10.35 for fourth place.
The Hornet divers will next compete at the NCAA DIII Central Diving Regionals at Chicago on Feb. 24-25.