Men’s swimming and diving team wins 2007 MIAA Championships, women’s team finishes in fourth-place

Under the direction of fourth-year Head Coach Dave Stubbs, the Olivet College men's swimming and diving team edged Hope College to capture the 2007 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championship Feb. 8-10 at the Jenison High School Aquatic Center. The Comets scored 536.5 points, only nine points ahead of the Flying Dutchmen. A year ago, Olivet won the MIAA Championship, beating Hope by 32 points.

Leading the way for Olivet was sophomore Shawn Bergman (Chelsea), who won the one- and three-meter diving competitions. His score on the one-meter board was 440.65, while he had 439.60 points on the three-meter. For his efforts, Bergman was named the MIAA Most Valuable Diver.

Overall in diving, Olivet outscored Hope, 97-0. Sophomore Justin Hulsebos (Wayland) was third on both boards. Sophomore Andrew Wasson (Grand Ledge) was fourth on the one-meter and fifth on the three-meter, while senior Andy Weiss (Fremont) finished fourth on the three-meter and sixth on the one-meter.

Also winning an individual event for the Comets was junior Dustin Meisner (Temperance/Erie Mason). He became a three-time MIAA champion in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:05.30. Meisner was also the runner-up in the 100-yard breaststroke in :57.19. Both times are NCAA Championships conditional qualifying cuts.

Sophomore Yury Bylina (Minsk, Belarus) was the runner-up in the 400-yard individual medley with a NCAA Championships conditional time of 4:09.72. He also finished third in the 200-yard butterfly and fourth in the 200-yard individual medley. Junior Brian Jaffee (Bowling Green, Ohio) was second in the 1,650-yard freestyle and third in the 500-yard freestyle.

Sophomore Ryan Key (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Prep) finished third in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke. During the preliminaries of the 100-yard breaststroke, he had a NCAA Championships conditional time of :58.78. Freshman Nathan Busscher (Hamilton/Holland Christian) was third in the 400-yard individual medley and fourth in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle.

Senior Ananta Fetters (Fennville/Holland) placed fourth and fifth in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly, respectively. Junior Mitch Powers (Kalamazoo/Central) tied for third in the 100-yard freestyle and was fifth in the 100-yard backstroke. Junior Koji Takahashi (Etobicoke, Ontario/Silverthorn CI) placed fourth in the 200-yard butterfly and fifth in the 200-yard backstroke. Sophomore Brad Voss (Lansing/Holt) finished in fifth-place in the 100-yard freestyle. Freshman Sam Jaffee (Bowling Green, Ohio) was fifth in the 1,650-yard freestyle.

The Comets' 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays were second with NCAA Championships provisional times. Swimming on the medley relay were Fetters, Meisner, Powers and Voss with a time of 1:34.49. The freestyle team was Fetters, Powers, Voss and senior Juan Aguirre (Queretaro, Mexico) with a time of 1:24.61. Olivet's other three relays placed third.

Overall, the Comet men broke the school record in 16-of-20 events at the championships.

In addition, the Comet women's swimming and diving team finished in fourth-place at the MIAA Championships. Olivet tallied 254 points. Calvin won its third straight championship with 675.5 points, followed by Hope (493.5) and Kalamazoo (290).

The Comets' highest individual finish was by sophomore Amy Johnson (Gaylord), who tied for fourth-place in the 100-yard freestyle. She broke the school record with a time of :53.28. Freshman Jackie Taylor (Plainwell) placed fifth in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke.

Senior Laura Herzog (St. Joseph) ended her collegiate career by setting school records in the 1,650-yard freestyle (5th, 18:15.50); 200-yard freestyle (7th, 1:58.56); and 500-yard freestyle (8th, 5:16.95). Also finishing in sixth-place was sophomore Heather Michalsen (Plymouth/Salem) in the 400-yard individual medley and senior Carrie Schroeder (Marshall) in the 100-yard breaststroke. Junior Courtney Mich (Bay City/Western) placed sixth on the one- and three-meter diving boards.

Olivet's 200-, 400- and 800-yard freestyle relays finished in third-place. The 400 team of Herzog, Johnson, Schroeder and sophomore Kalee Redder (Grandville/Jenison) set a school record in 3:36.20. The 800 team of Herzog, Johnson, Redder and sophomore Kelly Schulze (Kalamazoo/Central) also broke the school record with a time of 7:59.11.