CHICAGO – The Albion College swimmers are diving in against the best competition Head Coach Jake Taber could find at the midpoint of the season, and based on the results from the first session, the Britons are not intimidated.
In fact, Taber said the Britons are rising to the occasion in the Phoenix Fall Classic.
"We are recognizing we belong at this level," Taber said. "I'm pleased with the way we raced and there is genuine excitement as we get into individual events, our primary events, starting tomorrow."
The 200-yard freestyle relay, the 400 medley relay and the 1,650 freestyle were the only events contested Friday night.
In women's action, Alexandra Horman achieved the fastest split in her life (24.74) in anchoring the free relay to a fifth-place finish. Nicole McCann (24.58) and Amanda Quitos (25.33) added season-best swims and Rileigh Eding started the relay with a 24.59 split as the Britons finished in 1:39.24.
Not to be outdone, Katie Ferrero achieved the best splits of her life as the anchor of the free relay (25.23) and 400 medley relay (54.87).
Hanna Paoletti and Megan Harvey scored for Albion in the mile. Paoletti finished ninth (18:44.43) and Harvey's time (19:01.92) was 11th.
Jake Huttenlocher, a first-year swimmer from Shelby Township, Mich., achieved a lifetime best 21.88 split in leading off the men's free relay. Nate Kozycki (21.02), Evan Wonner (21.21) and Parker Belmore (21.33) followed as the Britons set a time of 1:25.44 that would have been good for fourth place had the Britons not been entered as an exhibition.
Albion's official entry in the race – Lucas Harder (22.69), Mac Robertson (21.41), Matt Anderson (22.04) and Len Ciemniecki (20.91) – finished seventh in 1:27.05.
The Britons finished fourth in the medley relay as Ian Moran (52.51), Huttenlocher (57.54), Kozycki (48.97) and Ciemniecki (46.76) reached the finish in 3:25.78.
Ethan Henninges, a first-year swimmer from Holland, Mich., edged teammate Kyle Harvey in the mile. Henninges completed his race in 17:33.12, while Harvey came in at 17:34.49. Hunter Jackman set a lifetime best effort of 18:12.56.
Follow the Britons on Twitter: @AlbionSwimming
