Men's Swimming and Diving Headlines

Swim teams remain undefeated with wins at Olivet
The men's and women's swimming and diving teams remained perfect with wins at Olivet on Saturday, Nov. 14. The men's team defeated Olivet 172-106 while the women's team won 185.5-97.5. Winning results for the men were: 400 Medley Relay (Ellis, Espinosa, Mueller, Fleming), Kenny Heidel (1000 freestyle), Brian Bazzell (200 freestyle, 50 freestyle), Alfonso Espinosa (100 breaststroke), Colin Mervak (1M, 3M), Steve Brower (200 backstroke), Chris Manning (200 breaststroke, 200 IM), 200 Free Relay (Bazzell, Ellis, Smith, Fleming). Winning for the women were: 400 Medley Relay (Weeks, Edsall, Knoechel, Grue), Katy Knoechel (200 freestyle, 100 butterfly), Kaitlin Weeks (100 backstroke), Katie Grue (200 butterfly, 200 backstroke), Taryn Edsall (50 freestyle), Christine Lewis (100 freestyle), Kate Chamberlain (200 breaststroke), Erin Campbell (3M), Kelly Bresnahan (200 IM), and the 200 Free Relay (Edsall, Knoechel, Weeks, Baumann). Men's Results - Women's Results

Men's and Women's Swimming/Diving teams defeat Albion
The men's and women's swimming and diving teams defeated Albion at home on Saturday, Nov. 7. The men's team won 166.5-114.5 while the women's team won 160-135. Winning events for the women's team were: 200 Medley Relay (Weeks, Chamberlain, Knoechel, Edsall), Katie Grue (200 freestyle), Kaitlin Weeks (100 backstroke, 200 backstroke), Taryn Edsall (100 breaststroke), Katy Knoechel (200 butterfly, 100 freestyle, 200 IM), Loren Weber (100 butterfly), and the 400 Freestyle Relay (Edsall, Chamberlain, Baumann, Grue). Winning events for the men were: 200 Medley Relay (Armstrong, Espinosa, Mueller, Smith), Kenny Heidel (1000 freestyle), Chris Manning (200 freestyle, 200 IM), Steve Brower (100 backstroke, 200 backstroke), Alfonso Espinosa (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke), David Scasny (200 butterfly), Paul Ellis (50 freestyle, 100 butterfly), Nick Smith (100 freestyle), Jay Daniels (500 freestyle), and the 400 Freestyle Relay (Hennigar, Janes, benmark, Fleming). Kalamazoo's next meet is Saturday, Nov. 14 at Olivet. Results

Swim teams win season's first dual meets
The Kalamazoo College swimming and diving teams got off to a good start as the women's team defeated Saint Mary's 180-107 and the men's team defeated Wabash 170-126 at Notre Dame on Friday, Oct. 30. Winning events for the women's team were: 200 Medley Relay (Weeks, Chamberlain, Knoechel, Edsall), Katie Grue (200 freestyle, 200 butterfly), Kate Chamberlain (100 breaststroke), Taryn Edsall (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle), Erin Campbell (1m diving, 3m diving), Kaitlin Weeks (200 backstroke) and the 200 Freestyle Relay (Edsall, Baumann, Chamberlain, Grue). Winning events for the men were: 400 Medley Relay (Ellis, Espinosa, Mueller, Bazzell), Paul Ellis (100 backstroke), Alfonso Espinosa (100 breaststroke), Brian Bazzell (50 freestyle), Craig Fleming (100 freestyle), Steve Brower (200 backstroke), Chris Manning (200 breaststroke), Barret Mueller (100 butterfly), Colin Mervak (3m diving) and the 400 Freestyle Relay (Bazzell, Ellis, Espinosa, Fleming). The swimming and diving teams have their first home meet of the season next Saturday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. against Albion. Complete Results

2009-10 Swimming/Diving Season Preview
Despite losing 12 seniors to graduation, the men and women’s swimming and diving teams have gained 19 freshmen and aren’t looking to go anywhere but up.

On the men’s side, seventh-year head coach Kathy Milliken wants an MIAA conference title and at least a top ten, if not top five, finish in the country.

“The returners have done a really good job of training in the off-season, and have addressed some of the weaknesses they had,” she said.

With the addition of 13 freshmen, the largest men’s class Milliken has brought in to date, she isn’t worried about having graduated two of her national qualifiers.

Seniors Alfonso Espinosa and David Greiner, both of whom qualified for nationals in their freshmen and sophomore seasons, return after a year abroad, and Milliken added that senior captains Colin Dueweke, Paul Ellis, and Barret Mueller have “stepped up and done a wonderful job.”

The Hornets also return junior MIAA champions and record-holders Brian Bazzell and Craig Fleming, both of whom competed at nationals last spring, as well as sophomore MIAA champion and national competitor Chris Manning. Ellis also competed at nationals last spring.

Milliken cited the strength of the team as being its all-around sprinting dominance, and said that the team’s biggest MIAA competition will be Hope, who finished first in the conference last season.

The women’s team, though, has both Hope and Calvin to look out for.

Led by senior captain Katy Knoechel and junior captains Kandice Keen and Kaitlin Weeks, and with the addition of six freshmen, Milliken hopes to close the gap between her team and the top two MIAA powerhouses.

“It would be great to finally get Kalamazoo some relays at nationals, and continue to gain on those two teams,” she said.

Knoechel and sophomore Katie Grue return after receiving All-MIAA honors and competing at Nationals last spring. Sophomore diver Erin Campbell was close to qualifying as well, and is expected to make contributions this year, as is Weeks.

“We had some holes last year,” said Milliken, “but this year I don’t think we have any big weaknesses, and that’s our strength.”

Both teams competed at the MIAA Relays hosted by Calvin on Saturday, Oct. 24, and Milliken is excited after seeing her team in action.

“We saw some speed out of people that we hadn’t seen yet, which was great,” she said.

The teams open dual meet competition at Notre Dame on Friday, Oct. 30. The women will compete against MIAA foe Saint Mary’s, while the men take on Wabash. Kalamazoo will host its first home meet on Saturday, Nov. 7 in a conference match-up with Albion.

Swim teams compete at MIAA Relays
The men's and women's swim teams competed at the MIAA Relays hosted by Calvin on Saturday, Oct. 24. The Kalamazoo men won five relays, including the 200 medley, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 500 freestyle and 200 butterfly. The Kalamazoo women took second place in three relays, the 200 medley, 200 backstroke and 200 breaststroke. The teams open dual meet competition next Friday, Oct. 30 at Notre Dame. The women's team goes against Saint Mary's while the men compete against Wabash. MIAA Relays

Tim Kearney selected as assistant coach of men's and women's swimming
Kalamazoo College announced the hiring of Tim Kearney as assistant men’s and women’s swimming coach on Thursday, Sept. 10. 

Kathy Milliken, Head Coach of the Hornets, commented, “The team and athletic department are very excited that Tim will be joining our staff.  It became very apparent during the interview process that Tim is a highly intelligent and organized individual who has a great passion for swimming and an effective communication style.  He truly cares about helping his athletes excel in every aspect of their lives.” 

Kearney is a 2007 graduate of Hamilton College where he was a four-year letter winner and a team captain while majoring in philosophy.

Kearney remained at Hamilton as an assistant coach for the 2007-08 season and worked with all areas of the program, including the management of recruiting efforts. 

Most recently, Kearney served as head coach of the Bellevue (Wash.) High School  boys’ swimming and diving teams, as well as aquatics director and head coach for Overlake Golf & Country Club. At Bellevue, Kearney led the squad to a 7-2 dual meet record, a sixth-place finish at the conference championships, a third-place finish at districts and a seventh-place finish at the state championships. His team more than doubled the number of individual state qualifiers from the previous season.  At Overlake, Kearney compiled a 4-1 record and led the Otters to their first Division III A-Dual Meet Championship in eight years.

In addition to his collegiate and high school coaching experience, Kearney has served as a club coach, masters’ coach, summer aquatics director and as a coach at various swim camps.

Kalamazoo swimmers earn Scholar All-American honors
Several members of the Kalamazoo College men's and women's swimming and diving teams have been recognized by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. Katie Stefl, Katy Knoechel, Ryan Booms, Bobby Dekker, Brian Bazzell and Craig Fleming have been named CSCAA Scholar All-Americans. Erin Campbell, Kaitlin Weeks and Danielle Williams have been recognized as CSCAA Honorable Mention Scholar All-Americans. In addition, the men's and women's teams have been recognized as CSCAA Scholar All-American teams as the men's team had a 3.24 cumulative GPA and the women's team had a 3.33 cumulative GPA.

Bobby Dekker, Ryan Booms earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors
Kalamazoo College swimmers Bobby Dekker and Ryan Booms have been selected to the 2008-09 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Men's At-Large First Team. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution. Academic All-District honorees are selected by sports information directors at colleges and universities within the district. Academic All-District First Team selections automatically advance to the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration. The At-Large program features candidates from 12 different sports. Bobby Dekker, a senior from Rochester Hills, Mich. (Rochester HS), earned All-MIAA honors all four years as a Hornet. He won MIAA championships in 12 individual and relay events during his career. Dekker set MIAA records in the 200 IM and as a member of four relay teams. He earned All-American honors as a member of two relay teams as well as Honorable Mention All-American honors six other times. The biology major was also recently awarded a prestigous NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. Ryan Booms, a senior English major from Commerce Township (Walled Lake Central HS), earned All-MIAA honors the past three seasons. He won MIAA championships in the 200 breaststroke the past two seasons, and was MIAA champion in the 100 breaststroke this season. In addition, Booms was a member of the MIAA champion and record-setting 400 Medley Relay team. That same 400 Medley Relay team earned All-American honors by finishing sixth at this year's NCAA Division III Championships. Booms earned Honorable Mention All-American honors as a member of the 200 medley relay team that finished ninth.

Bobby Dekker receives NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
Bobby Dekker, a senior on the Kalamazoo College Men's Swimming and Diving Team, was awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship on Monday. A total of 58 winter sport student-athletes at all levels (29 men and 29 women) will each receive a one-time, nonrenewable grant of $7,500 to be used toward postgraduate studies. The program was created in 1964 to promote and encourage postgraduate education by rewarding the NCAA's most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in championship and/or emerging sports. Dekker earned All-MIAA honors all four years and captured 12 league championships in individual and relay events. He earned All-American honors as a part of two relay teams and Honorable Mention All-American honors six other times. Dekker is the 70th MIAA student-athlete and the 20th from Kalamazoo College to earn an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. List of NCAA Winter Postgraduate Scholars

Men's Swimming finishes 12th in the nation; Women finish 33rd
The Kalamazoo College men's swimming and diving team finished 12th at the NCAA III Championships March 18-21 in Minneapolis, Minn. The Hornets' finish was the best of any MIAA team, and the best Kalamazoo finish since 2004. On Saturday, the Men's 400 Free Relay (Bazzell, Ellis, Dekker, Fleming) earned honorable mention All-America honors with a ninth place finish (3:01.36). Craig Fleming also earned honorable mention All-America honors by finishing 14th in the 100 Freestyle (:45.25). Brian Bazzell finished 22nd (:45.56). Ryan Booms broke a school record and finished 18th in the 200 Breaststroke (2:04.06). Paul Ellis finished 35th in the 200 Backstroke (1:54.78). The Kalamazoo women's team finished 33rd overall. On Saturday, Katie Grue broke a school record while finishing 36th in the 200 Backstroke (2:09.88). Championships Web Site - Complete Results