BUFFALO, NY -- Calvin came up with its first-ever top-20 national finish as a team as the Knights finished 18th with 52 points at the NCAA III Championships March 15-17 in Buffalo, New York. Highlights included a seventh place finish by Calvin's 800 freestyle relay team and school record performances by freshman Brad White in the 50 and 100 freestyle. The seventh place finish by the Calvin 800 freestyle relay was the first All-America performance by a Calvin men's relay team.

MARCH 15 REPORT

Men's Swimming and Diving

Calvin opened the first day of competition at the NCAA III Championships by posting two All-American honorable mention finishes. Freshman Brad White (Dayton, OH) established a new school record with a clocking of 21.15 in the 50 freestyle. The new school record was good enough to send White into 11th place overall in that event. Calvin also garnered an honorable mention All-America finish in the 200 freestyle relay with a 16th place time of 1:26.08. The 200 freestyle relay consisted of White, sophomore AJ Penninga (Grand Rapids Christian) and juniors Kevin Hawkins (Oakdale, CA) and Jordan Zacharia (Annondale, VA). After Thursday's events Kenyon leads all teams with 214 points as Denison has 88.5 points. Fellow MIAA foes Hope and Kalamazoo have tallied 83 and 53 points, respectively. As a team Calvin has scored 8 points, placing them in 28th place.

MARCH 17 REPORT

Men's Swimming and Diving

For the first time in school history, the Calvin men's swim team has an All-American relay. The Knights accomplished the feat Friday evening on the second day of competition at the NCAA III Championships as the Knights took seventh in the 800 freestyle relay team with a time of 6:53.93. Calvin's 800 freestyle relay team was composed of sophomores A.J. Penninga (Grand Rapids Christian) and Dan Hekman (Calimesa, CA), junior Chris Veltman (Duarte, CA) and freshman Brad White (Dayton, OH).

"I'm very pleased with our performance," said Calvin swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "Our guys were swimming in uncharted waters this evening and they came through by writing a new piece of school history."

Earlier in the day, Veltman and Penninga competed in the 200 freestyle prelims but did not advance to the finals. Veltman ended up 26th with a time of 1:44.13 while Penninga was 30th in 1:44.50. In addition, Calvin's 200 medley relay team of White, Veltman, Penninga and junior Kevin Hawkins (Oakdale, CA) competed in the preliminaries but did not advance to the finals, finishing 21st with a time of 1:38.66. Calvin's All-America performance in the 800 freestyle relay allowed the Knights to move up from 28th place to 21st place with a team score of 32 points.

Saturday's action will see White and Penninga compete in the 100 freestyle preliminaries while White, Penninga, Veltman and Hekman will compete in the 400 freestyle relay where the Knights are seeded 13th.

MARCH 18 REPORT

Men's Swimming and Diving

The Calvin men's swim concluded competition at the NCAA III Championships in strong fashion, posting a pair of honorable mention All-America performances to garner its first-ever top-20 national finish as the Knights finished 18th with 52 points.

The performance by the Calvin men came on the heels of the Calvin women's swim team finishing 19th the weekend before at the NCAA III Championships which also marked the first-ever top-20 national finish for the Calvin women.

On Saturday, Calvin freshman Brad White shattered his own school record in the 100 freestyle as he earned honorable mention All-America honors with a 11th place time of 46.34. White then joined sophomore A.J. Penninga (Grand Rapids Christian) and juniors Chris Veltman (Duarte, CA) and Jordan Zacharia (Annondale, VA) in the 400 freestyle relay to record a 10th place finish in a time of 3:07.59. The finish was an honorable mention All-America performance and allowed the Knights to move up three spots from their seed time where they were seeded 13th.

"We're real happy with our performances this weekend,' said Calvin swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "We wanted to finish the meet out strong and we did that. To be in the top-20 for the first time is another noteworthy accomplishment for our guys. I'm very proud of them."