Oakland vs Calvin
- January 17, 2025
- Rochester, Mich.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: Oakland Athletics
ROCHESTER, Mich. – In their first dual-meet since the 1965 season, the Golden Grizzlies demonstrated their history of excellence with a dominant win.
To kick off the meet, both the women’s and men’s 200 yard medley relay secured first place, earning critical points early. On the women’s side, Grace Albrecht, Maya Dobry, Sophia Davis, and Ronja Riihinen, finished with a time of 1:42.72. For the men, Harry Nicholson, Christopher Palvadre, Micah Scheffer, and Charlie Brown, put up a time of 1:26.43. The Golden Grizzlies then left the Calvin Knights no room, sweeping the next five events. Kelley Hassett secured first in the 1000 yard freestyle with a blazing time of 10:11.63. Reagan Reetz posted an impressive time of 10:26.36 to take second in the event. Jonas Cantrell takes the top spot in the men’s 1000 yard freestyle with a time of 9:30.38.
Mia Englender found the top spot in the women’s 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:50.92. Erika Pietras was right behind her, taking second place with 1:51.88. Joey Countryman had an impressive showing in the men’s 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:37.91. Karel Subagyo was right behind him (1:38.65) to take second place. The women’s 50 yard freestyle showcased one of the many podium sweeps of the night, with Sam Thiessen, Rhianna Hensler, and Grace Albrecht showcasing their skills.
The Golden Grizzlies kept running away with it. In multiple events on both the men’s and women’s sides, the Golden Grizzlies showed their dominance.In the women’s 100 yard freestyle, Jordyn Shipps took first (50.20) and Ronja Riihinen was right on her tail to secure second place (50.83). In the men’s 100 yard freestyle, the Golden Grizzlies stood alone on the podium. Sofus Balladone took first (44.43), Christopher Palvadre earned second (44.51), and Micah Scheffer rounded out the podium with a time of 44.63.
In the last event of the night, Micah Scheffer, Charlie Brown, Jack Wike, and Harry Nicholson, broke a 21 year-old pool record in the 200 yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:18.50. This beat the previous pool record of 1:18.77.
On the boards, the Golden Grizzlies showed their excellence on the one-meter board. The women swept the podium with Ellie Chalifoux coming in first (283.57), Victoria Sanders secured second (267.60), and Liz Woollcott rounded out the group (218.17). On the men’s side, Liam James came in first with a score of 288.52 and Edin DeHooghe came in third with a score of 261.38. For the three-meter dive, Ellie Chalifoux was at the top once again with a score of 301.57. Liz Woollcott secured second (255.82) and Victoria Sanders took third (241.95). Edin DeHooghe and Liam James were the one-two punch, scoring 333.07 and 259.57, respectively.
The Golden Grizzlies will be back in action tomorrow against the Wayne State Warriors. They will head down the road to Matthaei Natatorium to round out the weekend.
Courtesy: Calvin Athletics
ROCHESTER, Mich. – Today the Calvin women’s swimming and diving team traveled across the state to take on Division I competition at Oakland University. Despite top finishers in several events the Knights finished behind the Golden Grizzlies 124.5-105.5.
The Knights got out to hot start as Emma Merkel (Wyoming, Mich./Grandville), Elise Bajwa (Bethesda, Md./Brookewood School), Maggie Farrell (Portage, Mich./Portage Central), and Sydney Sonday (Portage, Mich./Portage Central) continued to be a dynamic team and took the top spot in the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:43.89.
In the 1000 freestyle Megan Pankratz (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) was the top Calvin finisher with a time of 11:17.66 while Zoe Poe (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette Twp.) recorded a time of 1:56.60. Later, in the 50 freestyle Sonday finished in third with a time of 23.98 while Madi McNearney (Riverside, Mo./Park Hill South) finished at 2:14.71 in the 200 IM.
On the diving board, Veronica Skipper (Chicago, Ill./Northside College Prep) competed in the one-meter dive where she recorded a score of 202.65 and in the three-meter dive where she posted at 213.15.
In the 100 freestyle Farrell (52.26), Ella Andrews (Carmel, Ind./Heritage Christian School) (55.84), and Katie Phippen (Macomb, Ill./Calvary Baptist) (56.69) took the top three spots while Merkel (2:01.84), McNearney (2:08.83), and Abigail Merz (Flint, Mich./Powers Catholic) (2:22.22) were the top finishers in the 200 backstroke.
Poe finished her night in the pool when she finished in first with a time of 5:03.19 in the 500 freestyle while Kristen Winkle (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) was close behind in second at 5:35.15. In the 200 breaststroke Bajwa was the top finisher when she touched at 2:27.82.
Calvin rounded out their night when Farrell, Bengelink, Merkel, and Sonday took first in the 200-freestyle relay at 1:34.15.
COACHES COMMENTS: “We are in the third leg of the most competitive four meets we have ever had in a row,” said head coach Dan Gelderloos. “We are holding our own and it is holding us accountable and putting us in uncomfortable spots we could not replicate at home. Gave a good Oakland team some races and we’re looking forward to returning home against another formidable foe in Chicago.”
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in the pool tomorrow January 18th when they return home to take on the University of Chicago at 1PM.
ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Calvin University men’s swimming and diving team returned to action on Friday for a dual meet against NCAA I competition at Oakland University.
The Knights did well in a number of events, starting the 200 Medley Relay where the ‘A’ relay of Charles Platt (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North), Timothy Hays (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect), Logan Campbell (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) and David Bajwa (Bethesda, Md./The Heights School) finished third in a time of 1:28.08.
The individual events started with the 1000 Freestyle, where Ryan Halberg (Novi, Mich./Northville) swam in 9:53.91, followed by John Reeder (Colorado Springs, Colo./The Classical Academy) who finished in 10:36.24.
In the 200 Freestyle, Josh Seidelman (Northville, Mich./Northville) finished in 1:41.71, followed by Jack Kulaga (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) in 1:45.34.
Bajwa was the top Calvin finisher in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 20.25 to take third place. Vlad Molin (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Rolling Meadows) finished in 20.94.
Hays finished the 200 Individual Medley in 1:53.02 to take third place, followed by Jacob Ziegler (Toledo, Ohio/St. John’s Jesuit) in 1:58.5.
Ben Wichart (Lockport, N.Y./Starpoint) was the top Calvin swimmer in the 200 Butterfly in 2:02.2. Reeder was the next Knights to touch in 2:09.61.
Platt (45.49) led three Calvin swimmers in the 100 Freestyle, followed by Zach Logan (Byron Center, Mich./Byron Center) in 47.79 and Dominic Rose (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt) in 49.42.
Campbell was the first Knight to finish in the 200 Backstroke in 1:56.28, with Ziegler .03 behind him in 1:56.31.
Halberg (4:43.1) bested Andrew Stimpert (Normal, Ill./Normal West) (4:47.99) in the 500 Freestyle for the Knights, while Caleb Gemmen (Mentor, Ohio/Homeschool) finished the 200 Backstroke in 2:10.4 to touch before Andrew Taulbee (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) in 2:11.32.
In the second and last relay of the meet, the Calvin ‘A’ 200 Freestyle relay of Bajwa, Platt, Seidelman and Molin finished in 1:20.98 to take second place.
In the two diving competitions, Wil Goodpaster (Hamilton, Mich./Hamilton) took second off the one-meter board with 266.85 points and third off the three-meter board with 229.57 points. Zander Hartsuff (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) took fifth in both competitions.
COACH’S COMMENT: “We are in the third leg of the most competitive four meets we have ever had in a row, and we are holding our own and it is holding us accountable and putting us in uncomfortable spots that we could not replicate at home,” Calvin head swimming and diving coach Dan Gelderloos said. “Gave a good Oakland team some races and looking forward to returning home for another formidable foe in Chicago.”
NEXT UP: Calvin swimming and diving will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, January 18) when it hosts University of Chicago in a dual meet scheduled to start at 1:00 PM in Venema Aquatic Center. The meet will also serve as Senior Day for the Knights, with festivities starting at 12:45 PM.
