No. 16 Men's Swim/Dive Wins Four Events and Virtual Meet with Kalamazoo and Wheaton

The 16th-ranked Hope College men's swimming and diving team clocked the fastest times in four events and took first place in a three-team virtual meet on Saturday.

The Flying Dutchmen accumulated 769 points to finish ahead of Wheaton College (Ill.) and Kalamazoo College. Wheaton totaled 673 points. Kalamazoo had 331.

Teams swam at their respective pools after a winter storm canceled the Michigan-Illinois Quad to be hosted by Wheaton. Hope swam at the Dow Center.

In the 400-yard freestyle relay, freshman Graham Eisenmann (Ozark, Montana / Ozark HS), junior Colin Kalkman (Zeeland, Michigan / Holland Christian), senior Ben Catton (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian), and freshman Connor Watkins (Buckeye, Arizona / Horizon) posted a first-place time of 3 minutes, 12.50 seconds.

In the 100 freestyle, Catton sprinted to a winning effort of 48.22 seconds.

In the 200 freestyle, the Flying Dutchmen clocked the fastest two swims: junior Conner Halberg (Novi, Michigan / Northville) in first at 1:45.38 and Catton in second at 1:47.85.

In the 200 butterfly, Hope also went 1-2. Senior Jake Peterson (San Antonio, Texas / Churchill) touched the wall at 2:03.34. Eisenmann was runner-up at 2:03.39.

The Flying Dutchmen also placed second in three more events.

In the 500 freestyle, sophomore Bishop Carl (Cincinnati, Ohio / Sycamore) recorded a swim of 4:58.02.

In the 1,000 freestyle, freshman Alex Pierce (Oswego, Illinois / Oswego) finished runner-up at 10:09.7.

In the 400 medley relay, freshman John McHugh (Brighton, Michigan / Brighton), junior Christian Dunaitis (Commerce Township, Michigan / Detroit Catholic Central), Eisenmann and Watkins took second at 3:35.58.

Hope's next scheduled meet is Friday, Jan. 19, at 5 p.m. at Oakland University against NCAA Division I Oakland and Division II Saginaw Valley State University.

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