Men's swimming and diving captures 2006 MIAA Championship

The Olivet College men's swimming and diving team has captured the 2006 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championship, edging Hope College by 27 points, 559-532.

The championship was several firsts for both the Comets and the MIAA. It is the first-ever swimming and diving championship in Olivet history. Also, Olivet last won a conference championship in a sport other than men's golf in 1974. In the MIAA, the last time a school other than Hope or Kalamazoo won the championship was 1971 when Albion College claimed the title.

In tonight's finals, Olivet got started with Steven Davis (Davidsonville, Md./DeMatha) finishing in third-place in the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:42.11). Brian Jaffee (Bowling Green, Ohio) was fourth at 16:45.30. Also placing in the top 12 was Jason Wheatley (Portage/Central), who was eighth (17:10.35)

Brian Johnson (Lansing/Eastern) placed fourth in the 200-yard backstroke with a school record time of 2:00.06. Olivet swimmers also finished in ninth, 10th and 11th-place. The order was Juan Aguirre (Queretaro, Mexico), 2:04.32; Brad Voss (Lansing/Holt), 2:08.47; and Paul Riha (East Grand Rapids), 2:09.39.

In the 100-yard freestyle, Mitch Powers (Kalamazoo/Central) broke the school record with a fourth-place finish time of 47.23 seconds. In the consolation finals of the 100 free, Voss had the second fastest time at 47.86 seconds.

Dustin Meisner (Temperance/Erie Mason) repeated as MIAA champion in the 200-yard breaststroke. His time of 2:04.61 broke his own school record by more than one second and qualified him provisionally for the NCAA championships. Also swimming in the championship finals of the 200 breast were Ryan Key (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Prep) and Ben Guins (Lansing/Eastern), who placed fourth (2:11.20) and fifth (2:13.66), respectively. Andy Williams (Fenton) was eighth overall (2:25.39).

Koji Takahashi (Etobicoke, Ontario/Silverthorn CI) led an Olivet 1-2-4 finish in the 200-yard butterfly. His time was 1:56.84, followed by Yury Bylina (Minsk, Belarus) at 1:59.39 and Ananta Fetters (Fennville/Holland) at 2:00.46.

All six of the Comet divers scored points on the three-meter board. Steve Dastoli (Kalamazoo/ Central) was the top finisher with 358.35 points, giving him fifth-place. The remaining divers, in order of finish, were Terrance Patrick (Okemos), sixth; Andy Weiss (Fremont), seventh; Andrew Wasson (Grand Ledge), eighth; Justin Hulsebos (Wayland), 10th; and Shawn Bergman (Chelsea), 11th.

Olivet ended its championships with a third-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of Aguirre, Key, Voss and Igor Rasula (Belgrade, Serbia) set the school record by .14 seconds at 3:13.02.