Men's swimming and diving team loses to Hope, 150-144

The defending Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) champion Olivet College men's swimming and diving team fell to Hope College, 150-144, this afternoon at the Upton Center Pool in Olivet. The Comets had six first-place and 11 runner-up finishes.

Shawn Bergman (Chelsea) and Ryan Key (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Prep) each won two individual events. Bergman led a 1-2-3 Olivet finish on both diving boards, scoring 253.55 points on the one-meter and 303.65 on the three-meter. Andrew Wasson (Grand Ledge) was second on the diving boards, scoring 242.40 points on the one-meter and 239.10 on the three-meter.

Key swept both breaststroke events. He clocked-in at 1:00.13 in the 100, and 2:14.13 in the 200. The other two first-place finishers were Kellen Beckwith (Farmington Hills/North Farmington) and Steven Davis (Davidsville, Md./DeMatha). Beckwith broke his own school record and the pool record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of :52.99. Davis swam to the top spot in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 10:01.41.

Beckwith also placed second in the 200-yard backstroke, touching the wall in 2:00.24. Davis finished in second-place in the 500-yard freestyle, 4:51.41. Nathan Busscher (Hamilton/Holland Christian) had a pair of runner-up finishes, posting times of 1:48.27 in the 200-yard freestyle and 2:02.99 in the 200-yard individual medley.

The rest of the second-place finishers were Rafe Maxwell (Bay City/Western), 200-yard butterfly (2:00.04); Dustin Meisner (Temperance/Erie Mason), 200-yard breaststroke (2:16.49); and Koji Takahashi (Etobicoke, Ontario/Silverthorn), 100-yard butterfly (:54.00).

In addition, both relays placed second. The 200-yard medley team of Beckwith, Key, Meisner and Brad Voss (Lansing/Holt) clocked-in at 1:37.44. The 200-yard freestyle team of Mitch Powers (Kalamazoo/ Central), Voss, Jason Wheatley (Portage/Central) and Beckwith had a time of 1:28.57.

Olivet is now idle until Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 14-16, when it looks to defend its league title at the 2008 MIAA Championships at the Holland Community Aquatic Center. Action gets under way each morning with preliminaries at 10 a.m., followed by finals each night at 6 p.m.