Jean Luc Miralda turned inspiration from watching the victorious Hope College men's basketball into his own championship effort at Calvin College.
The junior from Tegucigalpa, Honduras (Honduras American) became the Flying Dutchmen's third 3-meter diving MIAA champion Saturday by posting a score of 495.55 points.
"It feels so great," Miralda said. "It's a great opportunity. It's great to put Hope up there."
Miralda, pictured, joined Jacob Hoekstra (2006) and Jim Mitchell (1988) as Hope MIAA champions in the event.
Diving coach Zach Golin was happy to see Miralda break through as a league champ.
"He's been so close the past couple of years. We've had an amazing group of men's divers, amazing competition, come through the past couple of years," Golin said. "For him to really dive with heart tonight and come through is awesome.
"He had all of the dives. He just hit them tonight. He had one mindset. He was going to settle for nothing but first place. His mental toughness and competitive spirit came through."
Miralda said he was inspired to excel by watching the men's basketball clinch an outright MIAA championship after he earned the top seed in preliminaries for Saturday's finals.
"I tried to watch a little of the basketball games. That was pretty motivating," Miralda said. "Just trying to keep myself out of the game until the time came. And when the time came, focus on your diving."
Senior Duncan MacLean of Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids HS) finished MIAA runner-up in the 1,650 freestyle. He clocked a time of 16 minutes, 21.58 seconds.
Freshman Seth DeWitt of Hudsonville, Michigan (Hudsonville HS) placed fourth in the event at 16.48.52. Freshman John Hackley of Wilmette, Illinois (New Trier HS) was seventh at 17:21.05.
Sophomore Charlie Emmert of Grand Blanc, Michigan (Flint Powers Catholic HS) posted a third-place performance in the 200 butterfly with a swim of 1:53.50.
The Flying Dutchmen recorded a third-place effort in the 400 freestyle relay. Junior Ryan Johnson of Milford, Michigan (International Academy), senior Samuel Gallmeyer of Grand Rapids, Michigan (Eat Grand Rapids HS), senior Trevor Billinghurst of Spring Lake, Michigan (Spring Lake HS) and MacLean had a time of 3:06.32.
Junior Christian Otteman of Zeeland, Michigan (Zeeland East HS) came in fourth in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:54.79. Junior Danny Sullivan of Columbus, Ohio (Upper Arlington HS) took fifth at 1:57.33, while freshman Trevor Gras of Zeeland, Michigan (Zeeland East HS) was 11th at 2:04.58.
Johnson clocked an eighth-place time in the 100 freestyle of 46.78.
In the 200 breaststroke, junior Trevor Wagoner of Hixson, Tennessee (McCalle HS) won the consolation race for a ninth-place effort of 2:11.96.
