Albion put on a show against Kalamazoo while most swimmers competed in off events.
Albion Press Release
ALBION, Mich. – Albion College produced an exhibit of how dominant it can be inside the Dean Aquatic Center Saturday. With swimmers Parker Belmore, Nate Kozycki, Troy Trombley and Sebastian Tostado working on secondary events and Jake Burris achieving scores of 8 and 8 ½ on twisting dives, Albion splashed its way past Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association rival Kalamazoo College, 153-75.
Burris, a sophomore All-American from Chelsea, Mich., broke his own school record with a 315.05 score in the 1-meter competition. He also took first place in the 3-meter competition with a 302.05 total.
"It's good to see the work we've been putting in practice paying off," Diving Coach Eric Burris said. "It was good to see it coming around full circle into competition."
Swimming the 1,000-yard freestyle, Kozycki edged teammate Chris Breen by 17 hundredths of a second as Albion outscored Kalamazoo, 15-4, in the event. Kozycki finished in 10:47.04. Hunter Jackman also scored for the Britons, coming in fourth.
Belmore, an honorable mention All-American on Briton freestyle relay teams, produced an exhibition swim in the 100 breaststroke. He completed the race in 1:08.35.
In scoring events, Belmore finished second to teammate Derek Bosko in the 50 freestyle. At 21.84, Bosko was just a hundredth of a second off his season-best time. Belmore's time was 22.58, and first-year swimmer Mac Robertson came in third in 23.19.
Tostado did his usual work, taking first place in the 200 freestyle (1:46.92). He departed from his usual program by swimming exhibition in the 500 freestyle, posting a time of 5:05.33.
Trombley is more comfortable in the sprinting events, but he took a turn swimming the 200 freestyle, and finished third in 1:51.93. He also scored first place in the 100 freestyle, reaching the wall in 50.01.
"The result was more dominating than I expected," Head Coach Jake Taber said. "Coming off the last two weeks where we have seen some of the nation's elite and several ranked programs, it was really nice to swim some of our secondary events as well as learn about what some people can do in events that are not necessarily their primary event.
"The guys won every event despite the lineup changes," Taber added.
Albion started the day by taking the top two places in the 200 medley relay. Ian Moran, Tyler Kimbrell, Nick Deppner and Bosko were first (1:38.88), with Belmore, Matt Hooper, Alec Nyboer and Matt Anderson in second (1:40.23).
Gerardo Huidobro scored first place in three events – the 200 individual medley (2:02.96), 100 breaststroke (1:00.19) and 500 freestyle (4:56.11) – and Nyboer (100 butterfly, 53.01) and Nick Deppner (100 backstroke, 58.71) also won individual events.
Albion finished the day as Trombley, Nyboer, Anderson and Bosko swam past the field in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:29.52.
Taber said the Britons will work on fine tuning before its Dec. 2-3 meet at Carthage (Wis.) College to complete the first half of the season.
ALBION, Mich. – The expectations for the Albion College women’s swimming and diving team suddenly increased after a 153-75 victory over Kalamazoo College inside the Dean Aquatic Center.
“The demeanor and expectation in the program has changed,” Coach Jake Taber said. “The women have stepped up and are doing a fantastic job of elevating the status of the program.”
When asked to name specific student-athletes who paved the way Saturday, Taber immediately listed sophomore Katie Ferrero. She completed the 1,000-yard freestyle in 11:22.85 to finish nearly two seconds ahead of teammate Mary Noble.
Ferrero didn’t have much time to rest before finishing third behind teammates Anna Moore and Camila Manrique in the 200 free.
“We asked a lot of Katie today,” Taber said. “She had only half an event to rest – the men’s 100 free – and she turned around and raced a fantastic 200 freestyle in 2:04.19. Later on in the session she won the 500. She has a tremendous amount of heart and she set the tone.”
Taber went on to list others who contributed to the win, starting with divers Lauren Young and Marisa DeCamp, who finished second and third, respectively, in the 1- and 3-meter events.
“Lauren was consistent and Marisa continues to improve,” Taber said.\
Next up were swimmers Noble and Alexandra Horman.
Noble’s challenging lineup included a fourth-place finish in the 100 butterfly and a swim with Molly Blank, Manrique and Abigail Slager on the first place 200 freestyle relay.
Horman edged Colleen Orwin, the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s Most Valuable Swimmer from a year ago, by 41 hundreths of a second in the 100 butterfly. Horman touched the wall in 59.68.
Moore added a first place finish in the 100 backstroke and Kylene Slocum won the 100 freestyle by nearly three seconds.
Taber said the Britons will work on fine tuning before its Dec. 2-3 meet at Carthage (Wis.) College to complete the first half of the season.
