Men’s and women’s swimming teams finish second and fourth DePauw Invitational

The Olivet College men's and women's swimming teams finished in second and fourth-place, respectively, at the 21st Annual DePauw University Invitational. The men had 623 points to finish behind the host Tigers, who had 920 points. The women collected 405 points, only 10 points behind third-place Rhodes (Tenn.) College.

The men's team had 12 top eight finishers and another six finished among the top 16. Senior Yury Bylina (Minsk, Belarus) led a 2-4-5 Olivet finish in the 100 butterfly. He completed the race in :53.98. Senior Koji Takahashi (Etobicoke, Ontario/Silverthorn CI) out-touched freshman Rafe Maxwell (Bay City/Western) by .04 seconds, :55.05 to :55.09.

Senior Ryan Key (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Prep) placed third in the 200 breaststroke, clocking-in at 2:14.98. Senior Dustin Meisner (Temperance/Erie Mason) was behind him fifth-place, 2:18.20; and freshman Zach McMunigal (Grand Blanc/Flint Powers Catholic) won the consolation final to finish in ninth, 2:21.43.

In the 200 freestyle, sophomore Nathan Busscher (Hamilton/Holland Christian) and senior Jason Wheatley (Portage/Central) were fourth (1:50.04) and seventh (1:51.88), respectively. Freshman Rick Kinsey (Chelsea) took the top spot in the B final, 1:51.25.

Freshman Kellen Beckwith (Farmington Hills/North Farmington) touched the wall fourth in the 100 backstroke, :55.32. Junior Brian Johnson (Lansing/Eastern) was 11th (:58.14) and Maxwell was 12th (:59.42).

Busscher placed fifth in the 400 individual medley (IM), 4:28.49. Sophomore Sam Jaffee (Bowling Green, Ohio) was 12th, 4:48.06. In the 50 free, junior Brad Voss (Lansing/Holt) finished in eighth-place, :22.66; and senior Mitch Powers (Kalamazoo/Central) was 15th, :23.29.

Three swimmers finished in the top 16 of the 1,650 freestyle. Wheatley was third, 17:51.20; followed by Kinsey in sixth, 18:01.58; and Jaffee in ninth, 18:09.12.

The 200 medley relay team of Beckwith, Key, Maxwell and Voss clocked-in at 1:39.01 to place second. The 400 freestyle relay team of Busscher, Key, Powers and Voss finished in 3:17.86, which placed them third.

Individually, the women's team had two second-place, two fourth-place, one seventh-place, one eighth-place, two ninth-place and two 12th-place finishes. Junior Amy Johnson (Gaylord) was second in the 50 freestyle, :24.76; and ninth in the 200 freestyle, 2:01.88.

Also finishing in second-place was freshman Jami Lingbeek (Plainwell) in the 100 backstroke, 1:02.93. Sophomore Jackie Taylor (Plainwell) was fourth in the 100 back, 1:03.41. Juniors Lauren Siedlik (Livonia/Churchill) and Erin Tramper (Jenison) placed fourth and seventh, respectively, in the 200 breaststroke. Siedlik clocked-in at 2:34.86; while Tramper clocked-in at 2:37.66.

Junior Heather Michalsen (Plymouth/Salem) was eighth in the 400 IM, 5:07.43; and 12th in the 100 butterfly, 1:05.57. Lingbeek touched the wall in the 100 butterfly in 1:02.47 to win the consolation final. The other 12th-place finish was by senior Sarah Boyd (Napoleon, Ohio) in the 1,650 freestyle, 19:41.56.

The Comets' two relays – 400 freestyle and 200 medley – each placed third. Swimming on the 200 medley were Lingbeek, Taylor, Tramper and junior Kalee Redder (Grandville/Jenison) and their time was 1:57.33. The 400 freestyle relay team consisted of Johnson, Lingbeek, Redder and Taylor, and they finished 3:46.47.

Olivet is now idle until Jan. 12, 2008, when it participates in a double dual meet at Northwestern (Ill.) University. Carthage (Wisc.) College is the third school. Action gets started at 2 p.m. CT.

NOTE: The Olivet College divers participated in an invitational today at Grand Valley State University. Results were not available at this time.