The Albion College men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both finished fourth this past weekend in the MIAA Championship meet held at Calvin College.
Brian Fiorillo, Southgate senior, won his second straight league title as the most valuable men’s swimmer in the MIAA. During the championship meet, Fiorillo helped the Britons win the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay.
Fiorillo has had a lot of success the past two seasons and his experience this past summer has helped him out tremendously.
“Last summer I had the opportunity to train with the former Olympic head coach at the University of Florida,” Fiorillo said. “I was surrounded every day by division one and Olympic athletes, and the conditioning and knowledge I was able to gain from that experience, coupled with the coaching expertise at Albion, is what led me to where I am today.”
Albion has been making some noise in the last couple years, including a ranking as high as No.20 in the nation in the EndlessPools/CollegeSwimming.com poll earlier this season.
“I think some of the early recognition in the program is something we wanted to celebrate,” said Jake Taber, head coach. “Other division three coaches around the country have taken notice of some of the things we’ve done here at Albion.”
Both Albion men’s and women’s swim and dive teams have had success recently. The women’s team jumped from fifth place last year in the championship meet to fourth this past season, and coming close to third place in the MIAA.
Adding to the latest success, Anna Hargrove, Milan sophomore became the first woman in 20 years at Albion College to repeat as conference champion in a single event, winning the 100 backstroke last weekend.
MacKenzie Chesley, Rochester junior, also had a very good weekend.
“At the MIAA championship meet I placed higher in my individual events than I ever have before,” Chesley said.
She added that the team has come a long way since her first year on campus.
“We are really like one big family. The swim team has changed a lot the past three years, and most obvious is that we have grown a lot in size,” Chesley said.
Even though both teams have a good number of seniors, the future still looks bright for the Britons if they continue to put the work in.
“We’re going to have some talent on the team next year, and we’re going to continue to grow and improve within the next few years, which is really exciting for the program,” Taber said.
Coach Taber will be entering his third season as the head coach and seems very dedicated to carrying the Britons to the top of the MIAA.
Photo courtesy of GoBrits.com
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