by Odille Parker
The Hope College men's swimming and dive team powered past Albion,161-108, and Olivet, 180-68, in the first Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association dual meet of the season on Friday evening.
Sophomore Bailey Smith of Battle Creek (Lakeview HS), pictured right, recorded three first-place finishes: the 1000-yard freestyle at 9:49.78, the 200-yard freestyle at 1:46.01, and the 500-yard freestyle at 4:45.71.
Freshman Conor East of North Farmington (North Farmington HS) also clocked in two first-place finishes in the 200-yard butterfly at 1:54.00, and the 100-yard butterfly at 51.67 seconds.
The Flying Dutchmen took first place in 10 events, and second place in six events.
The 400-yard medley of freshman Braeden Pfeil of Hold (Hold HS), sophomore Jack Muller of Queensland, Australia (Meridan State), East and freshman Ben Catton of Holland (Holland Christian HS) took the team's first-place finish of the night with a time of 3:33.86.
Muller also finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a swim of 59.79 seconds, and freshman Reilly LaGrand of Grand Rapids (Catholic Central HS) touched in at 1:00.63 for a second-place finish.
Catton earned a first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.70 seconds and claimed a third-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:00.90.
Freshman Jake Peterson of San Antonio, Texas (Churchill HS) came in for a first-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 48.68 seconds, and freshman Ben DuBay of Omaha, Nebraska (Millard West) touched in at 49.67 seconds for a third-place finish.
Hope's next meet is Saturday, February 6 at the Holland Community Aquatic Center versus Calvin at 1 p.m.
