The 19th-ranked Hope College men's swimming and diving team shined bright on Saturday – both in the morning preliminaries and under the championship lights in the evening as the Flying Dutchmen secured their first MIAA Championship since 2022.

Hope scored 1,215.5 points over the four-day MIAA Championships, presented by Collegiate Credit Union, at the Holland Aquatic Center and finished 90.5 points ahead of 12th-ranked Calvin University, which recorded 1,125 points. 

The title marks the 14th in program history, a satisfying feat, sophomore Joe Engle said.

"It means everything. We wanted it so bad all season," Engle said. "We just were constantly talking about how we wanted to win this year and how we were going to win this year. It was just a positive mindset."

Head coach Jake Taber said the Flying Dutchmen set up the table for a clinching performance during the first session of the day.

"We couldn't have put a better morning together. It was incredible," head coach Jake Taber said of Saturday's Day 4 performance during prelims "There is really effective leadership on this team. They just bought in to make sure that everybody's doing the things they needed to do and recognizing the role and opportunity for everybody on this team. I'm really proud to be the coach of his team."

On the final night of competition, Engle (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) won the gold medal in the 1650 freestyle, while junior Josh Bordovsky (Herndon, Virginia / South Lakes) topped the podium in the 200 breaststroke as Hope nearly doubled its lead from Friday night. 

The Flying Dutchmen also notched a school-record performance in the 400 freestyle relay.

Hope never wavered after a tough DQ in the final event on Thursday, which cost 40 valuable relay points.

"It really seemed to galvanze them," Taber said. "They leaned into it, and the weekend was a total team effort against great competition. They were incredibly resilient all weekend long and we're celebrating their victory."

In the 1650 freestyle, Engle dueled Calvin's Alex Bergsma from across the pool, out-touching the Knight by less than three-tenths of a second to claim his second title of the weekend. Engle, who repeated as the 500 freestyle and 1650 freestyle champion, posted the fifth-fastest mile in school history. He also extended Hope's dominance in the event to seven straight years.

Freshman Ethan Esparza (Rosenberg, Texas / Thomas H Randle) earned a bronze medal to lead Hope in the 200 backstroke, touching the wall in 1:51.87 for the ninth-best time in school history. Junior Erik Keisling (DeWitt, Michigan / DeWitt) placed fourth in 1:54.28, improving his position by two spots from the morning preliminaries.

In the 100 freestyle, the Dutchmen took five of the top six positions. Junior Graham Eisenmann (Ozark, Missouri / Ozark) placed second with a time of 44.67, while sophomore Blake Hetherington (Jackson, Michigan / Lumen Christi) touched third in 45.47.

Bordovsky led a 1-2 finish for Hope in the 200 breaststroke, putting down the second-fastest time in school history with a 2:00.16. The time was just two-hundredths of a second off the MIAA record and marked an NCAA B qualifying time for next month's NCAA Division III Championships. 

Junior Christian Hoeksema (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian) took silver, posting a personal-best time of 2:03.21. 

Hope qualified five swimmers for the 200 butterfly championship final and grabbed five of the top six positions to take full control of the meet. Junior Nick Suranyi (Novi, Michigan / Novi)  earned the silver medal with a time of 1:51.53, while freshman Everett Cox (Sugar Land, Texas / Logos Prep) grabbed the bronze with a personal-best 1:51.81. All three medal winners finished within .65 seconds of each other. 

Hope capped off the meet with a school record in the 400 freestyle relay, as the team of Eisenmann, senior Henry Booker (Hudsonville, Michigan / Hudsonville), Hetherington and Hoeksema placed second with a time of 2:59.44. The old record of 2:59.71 was set last season by Colin Kalkman, Bordovsky, Eisemann and Hoeksema. 

The time also marked an NCAA B qualifying time for the Dutchmen and is under the invited time from last season's NCAA Division III Championships.

In the consolation final of the 400 freestyle relay, the team of freshman Hunter Latham (Lake Stevens, Washington / Lake Stevens), Cox, Bordovsky, and freshman Nolan Smith (Buffalo Grove, Illinois / Buffalo Grove) was victorious with a time of 3:01.05. 

After Hope and Calvin, Kalamazoo College finished in third place with 402 points, while Alma College edged out Albion College for fifth by a half-point, 364.5-364. The University of Olivet placed sixth. 

Hope's swimmers will now await invitations to the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships, which are scheduled for Wednesday-Saturday, March 18-21, at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Prior to the national meet, freshman diver Finn Sanders (Wyoming, Michigan / Grandville) will compete in the NCAA Division III Diving Regional, scheduled for Friday-Saturday, Feb. 27-28, at Kalamazoo College.