No. 11 Men's Swim/Dive Starts Fast at Kenyon's Total Performance Invitational

The No. 11 Hope College men's swimming and diving team made the first entry on its NCAA resume on Thursday during the first of three days of competition at the Total Performance Invite at Kenyon College.

Flirting with the school record from 2009, freshman Nolan Smith (Buffalo Grove, Illinois / Buffalo Grove), junior Graham Eisenmann (Ozark, Missouri / Ozark), senior Henry Booker (Hudsonville, Michigan / Hudsonville), and junior Christian Hoeksema (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian) combined for a time of 1:21.06 to place fourth overall in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

The mark is 0.11 seconds off the school record (1:20.95) and established an NCAA B qualifying time – Hope's first of the season. During the race, three of the four swimmers recorded a split under the current school record for the 50 freestyle (20.16).

This is the fifth consecutive year that the Flying Dutchmen have traveled to Gambier, Ohio, for the mid-season meet, where all the teams suit up and typically see the fastest times of the first half of the season.

Seven teams are in the field, including No. 4 Carnegie Mellon, No. 5 Kenyon, No. 7 Case Western Reserve, and No. 18 SUNY Geneseo. West Chester (Mass.) and Lindsey Wilson (Kentucky) are also competing.

Later in the finals session, Eisenmann used an outside lane in the 50 freestyle to post a personal-best time of 20.39, finishing sixth in the A final. Smith added a second-place finish in the B final, touching the wall in 20.82 to post the 10th-fastest 50 in Hope history.

In the 500 freestyle, sophomore Everett Cox (Sugar Land, Texas / Logos Prep) finished eighth with a personal-best time of 4:34.31. Cox, who went 4:34.80 in the morning session to qualify for the A final, remains the sixth-fastest 500 swimmer in Hope history.

The 200 individual medley saw a trio of Flying Dutchmen record season-best times while improving upon their morning swims. Junior Josh Bordovsky (Herndon, Virginia / South Lakes) led the pack with a seventh-place finish in the A final, posting a time of 1:50.88. In the C final, sophomore Luke Wyrick (Glen Ellyn, Illinois / Glenbard West) came in second, touching the wall in 1:54.07, while sophomore Luke Newcomb (Brighton, Michigan / Brighton) placed seventh, clocking a 1:54.46.

Hope capped off the evening with a fourth-place showing in the 400 medley relay. The team of Bordovsky, Newcomb, Eisenmann and Booker combined for a season-best time of 3:18.45. Bordovsky led off the event with a 50.90 in the backstroke leg, becoming the sixth swimmer in school history to post a sub-51 time in the 100 back.

After the opening day of competition, Hope is tied for fourth place with 263 points, joining SUNY Geneseo. Kenyon leads the field with 521 points. During the competition, swimmers participate in preliminaries in the morning, then the top 30 swimmers from each event compete in one of three finals during the evening session.

The Total Performance Invite continues Friday, Nov. 21, with preliminary sessions beginning at 10 a.m., followed by finals at 5:30 p.m. Five individual events will be held, in addition to a pair of relays. The diving competition also begins on Friday with the men's one-meter event.

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Players Mentioned

Henry Booker: Senior; Psychology

Josh Bordovsky: Junior; Mathematics

Everett Cox: Sophomore

Graham Eisenmann: Junior; Mathematics

Christian Hoeksema: Junior

Luke Newcomb: Sophomore

Luke Wyrick: Sophomore; Engineering

Nolan Smith: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Henry Booker
: Senior; Psychology

Josh Bordovsky
: Junior; Mathematics

Everett Cox
: Sophomore

Graham Eisenmann
: Junior; Mathematics

Christian Hoeksema
: Junior

Luke Newcomb
: Sophomore

Luke Wyrick
: Sophomore; Engineering

Nolan Smith
: Freshman