Albion Press Release
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Albion College never gave up after being touched out in eight of the first nine events Saturday.
Instead, Albion took first place in six of the final seven events to edge Calvin College, 158-142, in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association dual meet.
“The meet may have seemed out of reach after the 100 free,” Head Coach Jake Taber said of Calvin’s Max DeYoung beating Sebastian Tostado to the wall by six hundredths of a second. “But we kept coming back and that’s what we’ll do at the MIAA Championship in February.”
Taber noted how everyone contributed to the victory. Gerardo Huidobro was the only multiple individual event winner for Albion, taking first place in the 500 freestyle and 400 individual medley. Other first place performances came from Tostado in the 200 freestyle, Jake Burris in 1-meter diving, Parker Belmore in the 200 backstroke, and Tyler Kimbrell in the 200 breaststroke.
Albion piled up points with three men scoring in the 200 backstroke and 200 breaststroke events. Ian Moran was second and Kyle Harvey took fourth in the backstroke. Matt Hooper and A.J. Mattson were third and fourth, respectively, in the breaststroke.
Belmore saved the best for the final event of the day, achieving a 46.35 split as Albion set a winning time of 3:06.84 in the 400 free relay. Taber believes it’s the fastest in-season relay (without benefit of a taper) in MIAA history.
“Parker dove in slightly ahead of Calvin and he beat DeYoung, the 100 free winner, by half a second,” Taber said. “We also learned a lot about (first-year anchor) Len Ciemniecki. He swam for his team today.”
Albion will get a preview of the venue for the MIAA Championship next Saturday when it visits the Holland Aquatic Center for a dual meet against Hope College.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Kylene Slocum added another chapter to her outstanding senior season Saturday. She won three individual events and swam on the winning 200 medley relay as Albion College sent a message that it is ready to climb in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association standings.
“The women have stated a goal to move up in the MIAA,” Head Coach Jake Taber said. “The team is sick of finishing fourth. I’m proud of how the team was not intimidated today.”
Swimming in a dual meet against Calvin College, Slocum was the first to reach the wall in the breaststroke events and 400 individual medley.
“Kylene was the only person – for either team – to win four events,” Taber said. “She put this team on her shoulders and we were awfully good.”
First-year swimmer Alexandra Horman swept first place in the butterfly events and sophomore Anna Moore did likewise in the backstroke events.
While she did not take first place individually, Sarah Kilbride produced important points by swimming on the medley relay and finishing second in the 400 IM and third in the breaststroke events.
Katie Ferrero was the runner-up in the distance freestyle events and Camila Manrique finished second in the 200 freestyle.
