CSR (John Boumgarden Headed to NCAA III Men's Swimming & Diving Championships)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 6, 2008

John Boumgarden Qualifies for NCAA III Swimming and Diving Championships

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Calvin College senior John Boumgarden will get to end his collegiate swim career in one of the best ways possible - with a trip to the NCAA III Championships. A native of Naperville, Illinois, Boumgarden will compete in the 100 butterfly at the NCAA III Swimming and Diving Championships scheduled for March 22-24 in Oxford, Ohio. The meet will be hosted by the College of Wooster and held on the campus of the University of Miami of Ohio.

A graduate of Naperville North High Schoool, Boumgarden is seeded 17th in the 100 butterfly with a time of 50.59. He will be competing in an event that his older brother Peter Boumgarden was a four-time NCAA III All-American in from 2002-2005.

A year ago, John Boumgarden posted a conditional qualifying time for the NCAA III Championships in the 100 butterfly and was a part of Calvin's 200 and 800 freestyle relay teams that posted conditional qualifying efforts but none of the three times made the final cut.

Making the final cut as a senior is extra special according to Calvin swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "It's sweet," said Gelderloos. "We're all extremely excited for John. I called him this evening to tell him of the news and he was ecstatic."

Gelderloos also feels that Boumgarden has a chance to do well at the national meet. "Half of the challenge is just getting to the meet," said Gelderloos. "John has trained well and has the ability to do well. When you get to a national meet, you never know what can happen."

Last month, Boumgarden was named to the All-MIAA team for the third consecutive year after taking second in the 100 butterfly, third in the 100 freestyle and fourth in the 50 freestyle at the MIAA Championships.

Boumgarden will be one of 14 individuals representing the MIAA at the NCAA III Men's Swimming and Diving Championships as Kellen Beckwith of Olivet, Phil Heyboer, Brandon King, Ryan Nelis, Matthew Rose, Chas VanderBroke and Ryan Vogelzang of Hope and Brian Bazzell, Robert Dekker, Paul Ellis, Alfonso Espinosa, Craig Fleming and David Greiner of Kalamazoo will also compete at the national meet.
                                      
                                      

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Mar 6 22:47:10 2008