Women’s swimming team places sixth at 2011 MIAA Championships

JENISON, Mich. -- The Olivet College women's swimming team placed sixth at the 2011 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships at the Jenison High School Aquatics Center. Calvin successfully defended its league title with 850 points, followed by Hope (679), Kalamazoo (604), Albion (341), Saint Mary's (314) and Olivet (297). Olivet co-hosted the three-day meet.

In Thursday's events, junior Caitlin Lohr (Holland/Hamilton), junior Emily LaPorta (Hamilton), sophomore Jana Blodgett (Sturgis) and freshman Ally Ramer (Holt) placed fourth in the 200 freestyle relay, stopping the clock at 1:38.93.

Individually, Lohr was the highest finisher, as she placed fourth in the 50 freestyle at 24.05 seconds. Also scoring points in the 50 free were LaPorta and Ramer in 13th (:25.63) and 14th (:25.76), respectively.

In the 200 individual medley, sophomore Crystal Jager (Dorr/Hamilton) finished in seventh-place. During the morning preliminaries, she broke the school record by more than three seconds with a time of 2:13.72. Freshman Kristin Long (Pemberville, Ohio/ Notre Dame Academy) won the consolation heat of the 200 IM to place ninth overall and was only .08 seconds slower than Jager's preliminary and school record time.

The 400 medley relay team of freshman Alivia Hammond (Byron Center), junior Jessica Howard (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead), Long and Lohr placed sixth, clocking-in at 4:04.82.

On Friday, Jager placed second in the 100 breaststroke. She lowered her own school record and posted an NCAA Championships consideration cut time of 1:05.60. During the prelims, Jager first broke the record at 1:06.29. In the 400 individual medley, Long swam to a fifth-place finish. She broke the school record during the prelims at 4:50.22, and then went almost five seconds faster in the finals with a time of 4:46.58. Also placing in the 400 IM was sophomore Jennie Plamondon (Flushing) in 16th-place, 5:15.37.

In the 100 backstroke, freshman Jacalyn Cordero (Holland) placed fourth in 1:01.00 and Hammond was 14th in 1:02.79. Lohr finished in fifth-place in the 100 butterfly (1:01.52).

The 200 medley relay team of Cordero, Jager, Lohr and LaPorta was third in 1:50.21. Long, junior Jessica Howard (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead), Jager and Ramer placed fifth in the 800 freestyle relay in 8:094.43.

On Saturday, Lohr was the runner-up finisher in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.46 seconds. One day after breaking the school record in the 100 breaststroke, Jager did the same in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:26.28.

Kristin Long was the Comets' top finisher in the 200 backstroke, as she was sixth with a time of 2:13.74. Cordero placed 14th in the same event (2:14.46).

Placing in the top 16 in the 1,650 freestyle were Howard in 12th (19:06.74) and sophomore Chelsea Mullins (Macomb/L'Anse Creuse North) in 16th (19:34.54).

Plamondon was the only Olivet swimmer to place in the 200 butterfly, finishing in 14th (2:32.55). The 400 freestyle relay quartet of Lohr, Jager, Long and Ramer finished in fifth-place with a time of 3:40.45.