Albion Coach Jake Taber loaded one of his 200 medley relay teams to celebrate the seniors who were competing at home for the final time.Laura Steavenson swam the freestyle leg in 22.59 seconds to power classmatesKara Bowers, Tess Haadsma and MacKenzie Chesley to a first-place time of 2:09.36.
Albion finished the evening with a 124-77 victory over Olivet in its final dual meet of the season. The Britons now look forward to the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships which begin Feb. 11 in Holland.
"It was exciting right out of the gate to get those seniors a win," Taber said. "This meet was fun for a lot of reasons. Julia Russell won first-place points in both diving events on her birthday and Julia DiFiore achieved lifetime best times in both butterfly events."
DiFiore's winning time in the 100 breaststroke was 1:02.82. She finished second to Chesley in the 200 (2:30.79).
Russell produced 18 points toward Albion's team score by totaling 169.8 in 1-meter diving and 168.75 in 3-meter. Meghan Meader, who was entered as exhibition in both events, achieved scores of 179.30 in 1-meter and 181.30 in 3-meter.
Anna Hargrove (200 freestyle and 200 backstroke) and Nicole Manthei (100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke) took first place in two events and Jourden Burke(100 backstroke) and Abigail Slager (200 individual medley) also swam past the competition.
Albion College knew it was diving in the pool against an overmatched Olivet College squad Friday night, but the Britons focused on the goal of preparing for the upcoming Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships.
Sebastian Tostado achieved a Dean Aquatic Center record in the 200 freestyle (1:44.32) and he completed the 100 freestyle in an impressive 48.03 seconds, andLandon Lefler, the only senior on the roster, swam the 200 breaststroke as well as he's had all season (2:18.99) as the Britons finished the night with a 123-58 victory in the dual meet.
"This was an opportunity for us to swim in a meet environment," Albion Coach Jake Taber said after his team's final competition before the MIAA Championships begin Feb. 11. "It wasn't about the opponent or the final score. For some people there was an awful lot at stake because we are still trying to figure out our roster and this was our last chance to look at them. For others, this was an opportunity for fine tuning and learning how to split our races so we can be as fast as possible."
Lefler was part of the first-place 200 medley (1:42.20) and freestyle (1:35.59) relay teams.
Jacob Maurer defeated Bryce Prudden by less than a point in 1-meter diving and his 206.5 total on the 3-meter was good for a 14-point margin of victory.
David Alday (200 individual medley), Nick Burris (100 backstroke and 100 butterfly), Kyle Harvey (200 butterfly), Andrew Mattson (500 freestyle), and Charlie Shinske (2:06.60) all placed first in individual swimming events.
