Men's Swim/Dive Excels at Loaded D3 Shootout

The Flying Dutchmen place fourth in an eight-team field with six nationally ranked teams.

Ben Catton, pictured

Junior swimmer Ben Catton delivered a trio of third-place performances for the 16th-ranked Hope College men's swimming and diving team during a fourth-place effort at the D3 Shootout hosted by the University of Chicago this weekend.

In an eight-team field featuring six ranked teams, the Flying Dutchmen finished fourth with 405 points.

Sixth-ranked Chicago totaled a winning score of 564 points and was followed by No. 8 Washington University in St. Louis with 466 points, No. 13 Pomona Pitzer (Calif.) with 443 points, Hope, No. 23 Trinity University (Texas) with 395 points, No. 22 Swarthmore College (Pa.) with 340 points, Rhodes College (Tenn.) with 324 points, and Wabash College (Ind.) with 303 points.

Head coach Jake Taber was proud of his team's performance.

"It was nice for them to come in this year and feel like they knew what to expect. We were excited for this meet," Taber said. "We were having fun, engaged with the meet. That really helped lead to some both good and competitive performances this weekend."

Catton (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian HS) took third in the 100-yard backstroke with a swim of 50.70 seconds and the 200 backstroke with a time of 49.54.

Catton also led off the third-place medley relay, teaming with sophomore Christian Dunaitis (Commerce Township, Michigan / Detroit Catholic Central), sophomore Colin Kalkman (Zeeland, Michigan / Holland Christian) and sophomore Alex Boersema (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) for a swim of 1:32.31.

Sophomore Conner Halberg (Novi, Michigan / Northville) recorded a third-place, 200 freestyle swim of 1:41.17.

Kalkman placed third in the 200 backstroke at 1:53.28.

Catton and Dunaitis each finished fourth in the 50 free (21.21) and 100 breaststroke (58.19), respectively.

Hope posted fourth-place times in two relays:

400 medley with Kalkman, Dunaitis, Catton and Boersema at 3:25.08;
800 freestyle relay with Boersema, Halberg, sophomore Dallas Fisher (Highland, Michigan / Detroit Catholic Central) and Kalkman at 6:54.85.

Halberg clocked a fifth-place 100 free of 46.73 and a fifth-place 500 free of 4:37.87.

Freshman diver Justin Romero (Detroit, Michigan / Woodhaven) posted fifth-place scores on the 1-meter board at 172.15 points and the 3-meter board at 155.80 points.

Junior Conor East (Farmington Hills, Michigan / North Farmington) took fifth in the 400 individual medley at 4:13.16 as well as sixth in both the 200 butterfly at 1:56.54 and the 200 IM at 1:59.40.

Dunaitis finished seventh in the 200 breaststroke at 2:12.00.

The Flying Dutchmen placed eighth in the 200 freestyle relay. Boersema, Kalkman, Fisher and East touched the wall at 1:26.66.

Hope's next meet is Friday, Nov. 11, at 6 p.m. against Albion College and Alma College at Holland Community Aquatic Center.

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