MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING PREVIEW

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING PREVIEW

2009-10 Season Preview

The Olivet College men’s swimming and diving team returns10 letterwinners from last year’s team in 2009-10. In addition, the roster features six newcomers to the program.

Leading the way for Olivet will be junior Kellen Beckwith (Farmington Hills/North Farmington). A two-time All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) selection, his specialty is the backstroke events. A year ago, Beckwith finished second in the 100 backstroke at the MIAA championships and advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championships.

At nationals, Beckwith became the first male in school history to earn All-American honors, as he was eighth in the 100 backstroke. He also competed in the 200 backstroke, but failed to make it to the finals. Beckwith holds the school record in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke.Sophomore Mike Mette (Rockford) is also expected to compete in the backstroke events.

In the freestyle events, look for junior Mike Harden (St. Johns) to lead the sprinters. He is the school-record holder in the 50 and also has the second-best time in school history in the 100. Sophomores Jon Bachman (Battle Creek/Lakeview) and Austin Munn (Pinckney) are other sprint freestylers. Look for senior Sam Jaffee (Bowling Green, Ohio) and junior Rick Kinsey (Chelsea) in the distance freestyle events.

Junior Rafe Maxwell (Bay City/Western) holds the school record in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly. At the MIAA Championships, he was fifth in the 200 and seventh in the 100. Harden and sophomore Zach Burgess (Holt) are also going to swim in the butterfly events.

Burgess, Jaffee and Maxwell are individual medley (IM) swimmers. Maxwell has the fourth-best time in school history in the 200 IM, while Burgess has the fifth-best in the 400 IM.

Newcomers who are expected to have an impact are Brock Jackson (Sturgis), Joel Knight (Battle Creek/Lakeview) and Josh Mauk (Battle Creek/Lakeview). Jackson was the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Division III champion in the 50-yard freestyle with a MHSAA record time of 21.15 seconds. He also placed second in the 100-yard freestyle.

Knight and Mauk were members of the MHSAA Division II championship team at Lakeview. Individually, each had two Top 8 finishes at the MHSAA Division II Championships. Mauk also swam the second leg of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay.

The other freshmen include Nick Edgar (Lansing/Everett), Payton Violassi (Bloomfield Hills/Andover) and Chris Wojcik (Bay City/Central).