Men's Swim/Dive Breaks 200 Medley Relay School Record at Day 1 of MIAA Championships

The Hope College men's swimming and diving team is off to a fast start at the MIAA Championships.

The Flying Dutchmen finished runner-up in one relay and set a school record in another relay on Wednesday at Calvin University.

Hope is in second place after Day 1 with 52 points. Calvin leads with 62.

In the 800-yard freestyle relay, junior Ben Catton (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian HS), sophomore Conner Halberg (Novi, Michigan / Northville), sophomore Dallas Fisher (Highland, Michigan / Detroit Catholic Central) and senior Bailey Smith (Battle Creek, Michigan / Lakeview) posted a second-place swim of 6 minutes, 43.18 seconds.

The relay touched the wall 1.36 seconds after Calvin.

In the 'B' final, Hope's Bishop Carl (Cincinnati, Ohio / Sycamore), sophomore Joel Cummins (Osceola, Indiana / Penn), sophomore Alex Boersema (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) and sophomore Joey Grasman (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian) scored and placed runner-up in their race with a time of 6:52.74.

The Flying Dutchmen also set a school record in the 200 medley relay during a time trial.

Sophomore Colin Kalkman (Zeeland, Michigan / Holland Christian), sophomore Christian Dunaitis (Commerce Township, Michigan / Detroit Catholic Central), Catton and senior Jackson Uyl (DeWitt, Michigan / DeWitt) clocked a time of 1:29.68.

The relay eclipsed the 2009 mark of 1:32.17 set by Mitch Ruch, Brandon King, Ryan Nelis and Ryan Vogelzang.

The four-day MIAA Championships continue on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 10 a.m. with prelims and 5 p.m. for finals.

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