Men’s and women’s swimming teams stand fifth and sixth at 2023 MIAA Championships

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Day three of the 2023 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championships at the Venema Aquatic Center is in the books for the Olivet College men's and women's swimming teams. The Comet men are fifth with 191 points, 30 points ahead of sixth-place Alma College. The Olivet women are sixth with 216 points, one point behind fifth-place Alma. Highlighting Friday's events was junior Jennifer Mann's first-place swim in the 400-yard individual medley.

• Mann used a strong breaststroke leg to overcome a deficit to win the 400-yard individual medley in a school-record time of 4:30.11. She previously held the record at 4:40.20.
• freshman Bridgette Shroll swam to an eighth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:09.33). Her preliminary time, 1:08.53, was a personal best and the second-fastest time in school history.
• Sophomore Mya Kinnunen was 13th in the 100-yard backstroke (1:07.45). Also, in the 100-yard backstroke, sophomore Jordan Kruskie finished 15th (1:12.10). Both had personal-best times at 1:06.70 and 1:11.34, respectively, in the prelims.
• Two swimmers competed in the consolation final of the 100-yard butterfly. Freshman Sarah Steffens and freshman Kelsee Lawson finished 10th and 13th, respectively. Both had personal-best times of 1:00.28 and 1:06.54. Steffens' time ranks seventh all-time at Olivet.
• The 200-yard medley relay team of Kinnunen, Shroll, Steffens and Mann was fifth with a time of 1:55.04.

• Senior Takato Timmerman won the consolation heat of the 100-yard breaststroke (:58.19). Also, in the 100 breast, sophomore Landon Morgan was 11th (1:00.12). His prelim time, 59.70, was a personal best and 10th-fastest all-time at Olivet.
• Sophomore Seth Kading and senior Carter Moore were 10th (1:45.19) and 14th (1:45.52), respectively in the 200-yard freestyle. Kading's time is the ninth-fastest in school history. Moore posted a personal-best time of 1:45.38 in the prelims.
• Kading and junior Dylan Lyons went 1-2 in the 100-yard backstroke consolation finals. Kading's time, 53.91, was a personal best and ranks seventh all-time at Olivet. Sophomore Declan Nowakowski scored 15th-place points with a personal-best time of 1:02.54. Lyons' prelim time, :54.68, was a personal best.
• Senior Chris Smith placed 16th in the 100-yard butterfly, with a lifetime-best performance of 56.89 seconds.
• The 200-yard medley relay team of Lyons, Timmerman, sophomore Treyton Gabrielson and Kading finished fifth with a time of 1:36.85.
• Other personal-best times in the morning preliminaries were:
  • Freshman Matthew Brown in the 200-yard freestyle (1:55.20)
  • Freshman Jack Pendell in the 100-yard butterfly (1:18.42)

• The final day of the 2023 MIAA Championship takes place tomorrow. The events include the 1,650-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly and 400-yard freestyle relay. Prelims start at 10 a.m., followed by the finals at 5 p.m.