FEBRUARY 8, 2007

JENISON -- The Calvin women's swimming and diving team made it a clean sweep on the first day of competition at the MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships, winning all six events at the Jenison Aquatics Center. The impressive first-day haul vaulted Calvin into first place with a commanding total of 240.5 points, 110.5 points ahead of second place Hope. Of the six first place performances by the Knights, three were MIAA records.

Calvin's 200 freestyle relay team of senior Becky Weima (Grand Rapids Christian HS), freshman Katie White (Grand Rapids Christian HS), junior Kat Vinson (Kaneohe, HI) and sophomore Cara VanWoerkom (Calvin Christian HS) started the meet off with a bang, winning with a MIAA record, Calvin record and NCAA III automatic qualifying time of 1:34.39. The time is the fastest in Division III women's swimming this year. Weima led off the relay with an NCAA III B' cut qualifying time (50 freestyle) of 23.67.

Weima then captured her third consecutive MIAA title in the 500 freestyle, winning with an NCAA III automatic qualifying time of 5:01.21. Calvin senior Alex Wilson (Ellsworth, OH) followed by winning the 200 IM with an MIAA record, Calvin record and NCAA III B' cut qualifying time of 2:08.93. White then captured the 50 freestyle with an NCAA III B' cut qualifying time of 23.86. Weima was part of a 1-2-6 Calvin finish in the 50 freestyle with Vinson taking second with an NCAA III B' cut qualifying time of 24.05. VanWoerkom also took sixth with a time of 24.82. Sophomore Julie Wolfe (Westerville, OH) added an eighth place finish while senior Liz Ingebrigtsen (Bensenville, IL) was ninth.

Sophomore Erica Deur (Holland Christian HS) then repeated as MIAA champion on the three-meter board, winning with an MIAA and Calvin record score of 489.25 points, breaking her own record by more than 21 points. Deur was part of a 1-3-4 Calvin finish on the three-meter board as freshman Casey Herman (Libertyville, IL) was third (385.20) and junior Lis Beal (Grand Rapids Christian HS) fourth (377.65).

The Knights then capped off the evening by winning the 400 medley relay with an NCAA II B' cut qualifying time of 3:56.58. Calvin's 400 medley relay team consisted of sophomore Jordan Scott (Oakville, ON), freshman Emily Roberts (Dekalb, IL), Wolfe and Weima. Weima had a blistering final leg split of 50.97 to help seal the win.

Calvin's biggest point production of the evening came in the 200 IM. In addition to Wilson's first place performance, the Knights also took spots 3-5-6-7-10-and-11. Finishing in the top six were Roberts with a third place time of 2:12.28, freshman Laura Price (Warren, PA) with a fifth place time of 2:14.28 and freshman Maggie Vail (Portage Northern HS) with a sixth place time of 2:15.75.

"It was a great first-day performance," said Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "I'm thrilled to see all of the records but I'm also thrilled by the way our entire team stepped up. We received contributions from individuals all-the-way-around."

Gelderloos did have specific words of praise for Deur's diving performance. "Erica has been sick with the flu this week and didn't even practice until yesterday and that was just for an hour," said Gelderloos. "Today was probably the first day she has felt relatively healthy in quite awhile and she showed no signs of rust. Her mental focus was incredible tonight."

On the men's side, Calvin moved into third place after day one, sitting just two points ahead of Kalamazoo. Defending champion Olivet sits in first place with 166 points, just 2.5 points ahead of Hope. "As expected, Hope and Olivet are battling it out for the top spot but we're in a fight ourselves for third place," said Gelderloos. "We knew it would be close between us and Kalamazoo and I expect that it will continue to remain close throughout the next two days."

Calvin senior Andrew Resseguie (Holland Christian HS) played a key role in helping the Knights move into third place, winning the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.04. Resseguie is just the second individual in Calvin men's swimming history to win the event and the first since Dave Otten did so in 1976. Resseguie opened the meet with a Calvin record and NCAA III B' cut qualifying time of 20.96 in the lead-off leg of Calvin's 200 freestyle relay. Resseguie's time shattered the previous Calvin record of 21.13 set by Brad White in 2003. Resseguie's lightning-quick start helped Calvin's relay take second with an NCAA III B' cut qualifying and Calvin record time of 1:23.77. Resseguie was joined on the relay by junior John Boumgarden (Naperville, IL), freshman Kurt VanAllsburg (Grand Rapids Christian HS) and senior Peter Tuuk (Grand Rapids Christian HS).

"Andrew was on top of his game tonight and I'm not surprised," said Gelderloos. "He's been showing signs of a break-out performance in practice over the past few weeks. I could see it coming and I'm thrilled to him excel the way he did tonight as well as the rest of relay team."

Boumgarden also had a big swim in the 50 freestyle, tying for third with a time of 21.39. Meanwhile, Tuuk added a fifth place swim in the 500 freestyle (4:46.92). Calvin's 400 medley relay team of junior Joe Gluvers (Rocklin, CA), sophomore Keith Conrad (Wheaton, IL), Boumgarden and Tuuk then took fourth place with a time of 3:34.51.

Day Two Recap
Day Three Recap
Final Results
Photo Galleries of MIAA Championships