Men’s swimming and diving team defeats Ohio Northern, 124-113

HILLSDALE, Mich. -- The Olivet College men's swimming and diving team took first-place in eight-of-13 events to beat Ohio Northern University, 124-113, in a non-conference dual meet tonight at Hillsdale College. The outcome of the meet was not decided until the conclusion of the final event.

Olivet got off to a fast start by taking the top two spots in the 200 medley relay. Swimming on the first-place relay was Kellen Beckwith (Farmington Hills/North Farmington), Matt Marquette (Kalamazoo/Loy Norrix), Josh Mauk (Battle Creek/Lakeview) and Ben Aldrich (DeWitt/St. Johns), and their time was 1:38.56.

Korey Mervenne (Jenison) followed with a first-place finish in the 1,000 freestyle (10:27.63). Mike Harden (St. Johns) then led the Comets to a 1-2-3 finish in the 50 freestyle. His time was 21.85 seconds, followed by Brian Fiorillo (Southgate/Anderson, :22.01; and Brock Jackson (Sturgis), :22.12.

Mauk was Olivet's top finisher in the 200 individual medley, as he placed second in 2:05.14. Rafe Maxwell (Bay City/Western) won the 200 butterfly in 1:58.34, and Joel Knight (Battle Creek/Lakeview) was right behind him in second-place, 1:59.59. Beckwith then took the top spot in the 100 freestyle in 48.20 seconds.

Another 1-2 Comet finish happened in the 200 backstroke. Nick Edgar (Lansing/Everett) was first in 2:03.62, followed by Jackson in 2:04.02. In the 500 freestyle, Greg Kohler (Okemos) touched the wall first in the 500 freestyle (5:01.18). Mauk added another runner-up finish, this time in the 200 breaststroke (2:18.09).

By virtue of grabbing the top two finishing spots and 15 team points in the 400 freestyle relay, Olivet claimed the victory over the Polar Bears. The winning team was Jackson, Harden, Fiorillo and Austin Munn (Pinckney). Their time was 3:12.79.

The Comets will return home to Olivet tonight and then host MIAA rival Albion College tomorrow at 1 p.m.