CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 23, 2002
MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING (NCAA III CHAMPIONSHIPS REPORT)
OXFORD, OH - The Calvin men's swimming and diving team capped off three days
of competition at the NCAA III Championships with its first-ever top-10 team
national finish as the Knights finished ninth with a school record total of
136.5 points.
Calvin was one of three MIAA teams to crack the top-10 in the final standings
as Hope took fifth with 262 points and Kalamazoo sixth with 229 points. Calvin
finished a half-point ahead of 10th place Whitworth and 46.5 points ahead of
11th place Amherst of Masschusetts.
Calvin entered the day with 105 points and added to its point total with three
honorable mention All-America efforts Saturday night. Calvin's 400 freestyle
relay team of sophomore Brad White (Traverse City), junior A.J. Penninga (Grand
Rapids Christian), freshmen Brian Unser and Peter Boumgarden of Naperville,
Illinois, recorded Calvin's top finish Saturday as the relay quartet captured
the consolation final with a ninth place time of 3:06.91, just a half-second off
a school record time.
White opened the meet for Calvin Saturday night by claiming honorable mention
All-America honors for the second straight year in the 100 freestyle as he took
12th with a time of 46.35. Boumgarden also added a 14th place time of 1:54.65
in the 200 butterfly to receive honorable mention honors.
Combined, Calvin finished the three-day competition with four All-America
performances and six of the honorable mention All-America variety.
"Our guys had an incredible three days of national competition," said Calvin
swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "We are absolutely ecstatic to finish in the top-10.
We knew we had a chance to make it (into the top-10) but you never know how
things can shake out at a national meet so to reach that goal feels very very
good. One of the biggest bright spots of our finish was that we did it with six
underclassmen. Our hope is to improve upon this finish next year."
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