Beckwith earns honorable mention All-American honors in 100 backstroke, swims personal best in 200 backstroke

Olivet College freshman Kellen Beckwith (Farmington Hills/North Farmington) competed at the 2008 NCAA Division III National Swimming/Diving Championships March 21-23. Miami (Ohio) University hosted the meet at the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center in Oxford, Ohio. With an 11th-place in the 100-yard backstroke, Beckwith earned honorable mention All-American honors.

Beckwith clocked-in with a time of 52.03 seconds, just 0.01 seconds ahead of the 12th-place finisher and 0.02 seconds ahead of the 13th-place finisher. Despite missing the evening finals of the 200-yard backstroke, he swam a personal best, lowering his own school record to 1:55.43 in the preliminaries.

In addition, the 11th-place finish for Beckwith was Olivet's highest men's individual finisher at a national championship meet. The best-ever finish for an Olivet swimmer was seventh-place by Jill Lingbeek in the 100 back at the 2006 National Championships.

Beckwith qualified for the national meet by virtue of a provisional qualifying time in the 100 backstroke at the 2008 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championships Feb. 14-16. His qualifying time was a school-record time of 50.91 seconds. Beckwith earned 2008 All-MIAA honors after winning the 100 backstroke and placing third in the 200 backstroke at the league championships.