The Hope Flying Dutchmen repeated as men's champion while the Calvin Knights won the women's title for the fifth straight year with Hope finishing second.

Final Men's Scores: 1. Hope 876.5. 2. Kalamazoo 848. 3. Olivet 542. 4. Calvin 334. 5. Albion 292.5. 6. Alma 284.

Final Women's Scores: 1. Calvin 849.5. 2. Hope 759.5. 3. Kalamazoo 504. 4. Olivet 377. 5. Saint Mary's 375. 6. Albion 301. 7. Alma 223.

The men's championship is the 11th under coach John Patnott who since 1980 has guided his teams to 30 conference titles (19 in women's swimming and 11 in men's swimming).  He ranks second among the winningest MIAA coaches behind only Kalamazoo College tennis coach George Acker who guided the Hornets to 35 championships.

Hope's teams combined for five gold medal performances on Saturday night and finished the meet with a total of 11.

During the meet Hope swimmers broke 14 school and six MIAA records.

Saturday Highlights 

° Freshman Sarah Sohn (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect HS) established an MIAA record and qualified for nationals by winning the marathon 1,650-yard freestyle in 17:26.54.  She topped the previous mark of 17:26.62 by Hope's Kristen Hoving from 1996.

° Freshman Jeff Shade (Davison/Davison) followed to win the men's 1,650-yard freestyle in a Hope record time of 16:02.57.  The previous mark was 16:03.95 by Kirk Assink in 1995.  His time was a conditional national qualifying mark.

° Senior Brittaney Reest Delo (Holland/West Ottawa HS) successfully defended her championship in the 200-yard backstroke with an MIAA record time of 2:06.25.  She established the old mark of 2:06.39 in 2008. Her time was a conditional qualifying mark for nationals.

° Senior Laura Ansilio (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township HS) also successfully defended her championship in the 100-yard freestyle with an automatic national qualifying time of :51.90.

° Hope had two automatic qualifying times in the men's 100-yard freestyle as senior Ryan Vogelzang (Holland/Holland Christian HS) and junior Aaron Welsch (St. Peters, Mo./Hickman HS) finished third (:45.40) and fourth (:45.56) respectively.

° Hope claimed its fifth gold medal of the night as junior Ryan Nelis (Holland/West Ottawa HS) successfully defended his championship in the 200-yard butterfly with an MIAA record time of 1:50.32.  It was also an automatic qualifying time for nationals. The previous record was 1:50.32 in 1993.

° The Flying Dutch concluded the meet by winning the 400-yard freestyle relay with the quartet of senior Laura Ansilio (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township HS), senior Meghan DeWees (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay HS), senior Brittaney Reest Delo (Holland/West Ottawa HS), and junior Christina Vogelzang (Holland/Holland Christian HS) finishing in MIAA-record time (3:29.09).  The previous mark was 3:29.12 by Calvin in 2007.  The time was a conditional national qualifying performance.

° The Flying Dutchmen concluded their MIAA championship run by setting a Hope record in the 400-yard freestyle relay behind a second place finish.  The quartet of senior Ryan Vogelzang (Holland/Holland Christian HS), junior Aaron Welsch (St. Peters, Mo./Hickman HS), junior Ryan Nelis (Holland/West Ottawa HS), and junior Matt Rose (Grandville/Grandville) was timed in 3:01.48.  The previous record was 3:02.84.

Friday, February 20 Finals

The MIAA swimming and diving championships have become two-team races for both the men's and women's titles.

In the men's standings, defending champion Hope is leading Kalamazoo by just 31.5 points with the rest of the field far behind while in the women's race Calvin is on top with only Hope in a position to catch the defending champion Knights.

The men's standings after Friday: 1. Hope 605.5, 2. Kalamazoo 574, 3. Olivet 366, 4. Calvin 246, 5. Alma 215, 6. Albion 207.5.

The women's standings after Friday: 1. Calvin 569.5, 2. Hope 493.5, 3. Kalamazoo 319, 4. Saint Mary's 252, 5. Olivet 248, 6. Albion 212, 7. Alma 151.

On Friday Hope crowned four individual champions.  Through two days of competition, 10 Hope records have been broken.

° The women's 800-Yard freestyle relay set a school record in finishing second. The quartet of senior Laura Ansilio (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township HS), freshman Sarah Sohn (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect HS), junior Claire Piester (Columbia, Mo./Hickman HS), Christina Vogelzang (Holland/Holland Christian HS), 7:40.1.  The previous record was 7:43.15 in 2007. The time was a conditional qualifying performance for the NCAA Division III championships.

° Senior Brittaney Reest Delo (Holland/West Ottawa HS) set an MIAA record in the 100-yard backstroke in defending her league championship, :57.82. It tied the record established 15 years ago (1994) by Hope's Susan Looman.  The time qualified her for the NCAA Division III championships.

° Junior Ryan Nelis (Holland/West Ottawa HS) defended his championship in the 100-yard butterfly with a Hope and MIAA record time of :48.88.  The time qualified him for the NCAA Division III championships.

° Senior Laura Ansilio (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township HS) won the 200-yard freestyle with an NCAA qualifying time (1:53.12).

° Hope had a one-two finish in the men's 400-yard individual medley.  Junior Phil Heyboer (Zeeland/Holland Christian HS) won the gold for the second consecutive year (4:04.99) while freshman Jeff Shade (Davison/Davison HS) took the silver. (4:07.64).  Their times were conditional qualifying performances for the NCAA Division III championships.

° Both Hope 200-yard medley relay teams finished in second place, each with national conditional qualifying times.  The men's relay of junior Mitch Ruch (Zeeland/Zeeland West HS), sophomore Brandon King (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Twp. Central HS), junior Ryan Nelis (Holland/West Ottawa HS), and senior Ryan Vogelzang (Holland/Holland HS) set a Hope record of 1:32.17.  The women's relay of senior Brittaney Reest Delo (Holland/West Ottawa HS), junior Claire Piester (Columbia, Mo./Hickman HS), sophomore Ashley Jasperse (Grand Rapids/Forest Hills Central HS), and junior Christina Vogelzang (Holland/Holland Christian HS) was time in 1:48.32.

° Freshman Sarah Sohn (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect HS) established a Hope record and qualified for nationals with a second place finish in the 400-yard individual medley (4:31.75). Freshman teammate Chelsea Wiese (Rochester/Rochester Adams HS) finished third with a conditional qualifying time (4:39.58).

Friday, February 20 Prelims

° Junior Phil Heyboer (Zeeland/Holland Christian HS) established his second Hope record at the meet with the best preliminary time (:49.11) in the 100-yard butterfly.  The time was also an MIAA record. It also has qualified him for the NCAA Division III championships. The previous Hope record was :49.78 by Ryan Nelis in 2008. Heyboer earlier set a Hope record in the 200-yard individual medley.

Thursday, February 19 Finals

The first day of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) swimming and diving championships have concluded.

The Hope Flying Dutchmen are in first place in the men's standings with 284.5 points followed by Kalamazoo 201, Olivet 177, Calvin 104, Albion 101.5, and Alma.

Calvin tops the women's standings while the Flying Dutch are second. Calvin has 299.5 points followed by Hope 214.5, Olivet 142, Kalamazoo 134, Saint Mary's 118, Albion 79 and Alma 55.

Thursday highlights by Hope swimmers included the setting of six school records.  Several swimmers qualified for the NCAA Division III championships next month.

The meeting continues Friday at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind.

° The women's 200-yard freestyle relay had a conditional qualifying time for nationals while finishing second to Calvin in a school-record time.  The quartet of senior Laura Ansilio (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township HS), senior Rachel Bakken (Golden, Colo./D'Evelyn HS), senior Meghan DeWees (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay HS), and junior Christina Vogelzang (Holland/Holland Christian HS) was timed in 1:35.78.  The previous school record of 1:36.04 was set in 1994.

° The Flying Dutchmen set a school record in the men's 200-yard freestyle relay twice on Thursday.  Kalamazoo won the event in 1:20.71 while Hope was recorded in 1:21.74.  Hope had set a Hope and MIAA mark (1:22.16) in the prelims. The quartet of senior J. Ryan Vogelzang (Holland/Holland Christian HS), senior Stephen Kurti (Battle Creek/Lakeview HS), junior Aaron Welsch (St. Peters. Mo./Ft. Zumwalt South HS), and junior Matt Rose (Grandville/Grandville HS) had a conditional qualifying time for the NCAA Division III national championships.

° Hope's record in the 200-yard individual medley was broken twice Thursday by different swimmers. Junior Phil Heyboer (Zeeland/Holland Christian HS) set a new record in the prelims (1:53.12) and junior Ryan Nelis (Holland/West Ottawa) followed in the finals with another school record time (1:52.85).  Nelis and Heyboer have both qualified for nationals in the event.

°Senior Laura Ansilio (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township HS) qualified for nationals in the 50-yard freestyle while finishing second to Olivet's Amy Johnson. Her time (:23.77) tied the Hope school record first set by Erika Steele in 2005.  Junior teammate Christina Vogelzang (Holland/Holland Christian HS) finished fifth with an NCAA conditional qualifying time (:24.45). 

° Senior Ryan Vogelzang (Holland/Holland Christian HS) successfully defended his MIAA championship in the 50-yard freestyle. His time in the finals was :20.59. He earlier in the prelims set a Hope and MIAA record (:20.56).  Vogelzang and junior Aaron Welsch (St. Peters, Mo./Ft. Zumwalt South HS)  are both headed to the Division III championships in the event.

° Both Hope 400-yard medley relay teams finished second with conditional national qualifying times. The Flying Dutch quartet of senior Brittaney Reest Delo (Holland/West Ottawa HS), junior Claire Piester (Columbia, Mo./Hickman HS), sophomore Ashley Jasperse (Grand Rapids/Forest Hills Central HS) and senior Laura Ansilio (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township HS) was timed in 3:54.93.  The Flying Dutchmen quartet of junior Phil Heyboer (Zeeland/Holland Christian HS), sophomore Brandon King (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Twp. Central HS), and junior Matt Rose (Grandville/Grandville HS) was timed in school-record 3:22.63.

Thursday, February 19 Prelims

° The men's 200-yard freestyle relay started the meet with a bang, setting Hope and MIAA records in the 1:22.16.  The quartet of senior J. Ryan Vogelzang (Holland/Holland Christian HS), senior Stephen Kurti (Battle Creek/Lakeview HS), junior Aaron Welsch (St. Peters. Mo./Ft. Zumwalt South HS), and junior Matt Rose (Grandville/Grandville HS) had a conditional qualifying time for the NCAA Division III national championships with a time of 1:22.16.  The previous Hope record was 1:22.47 (2006) and MIAA record 1:23.49 (2002).

° Freshman Jeff Shade (Davison/Davison HS) had a "B" cut (conditional qualifying time) in the 500-yard freestyle (4:39.03).

° Junior Phil Heyboer (Zeeland/Holland Christian HS) qualified for nationals with a Hope record time in the 200-yard individual medley (1:53.12).  The previous Hope record was 1:53.45 by Dan Knapp in 1995. Junior Ryan Nelis (Holland/West Ottawa HS) had a "B" cut time in the 200 IM (1:55.10).

° Senior Laura Ansilio (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township HS) and senior Meghan DeWees (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay HS) had "B" cut performances in the 50-yard freestyle with times of :24.34 and :24.56 respectively.

° Senior Ryan Vogelzang (Holland/Holland Christian HS) set a Hope and MIAA record in qualifying for nationals in the 50-yard freestyle (:20.56). The old record was :20.67 by Kurt Blohm in 2006.  Vogelzang and junior Aaron Welsch (St. Peters, Mo./Ft. Zumwalt South HS) each qualified for nationals with times of :20.56 and :20.62 respectively.

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