The Albion men’s swim and dive team is sending five members to the NCAA Division III Championships on the weekend of March 19-22 in Indianapolis, Ind. The championships will be hosted at the IUPUI Natatorium.
The five members going to Indianapolis include Brian Fiorillo, Southgate senior, Brad Melpolder, Hamilton senior, Josh Boren, Dexter sophomore, Tom Parsons, Grandville sophomore and Derek Bosko, Holland first-year.
Fiorillo and two-time most valuable men’s swimmer in the MIAA has the top seed in the 100 freestyle going into the National Championship.
“Throughout his years here, Brian has really put in the work and put time in practice to get where he is today,” said Jake Taber, head coach.
The men’s team will also participate in the 400 and 800 freestyle relays. The 400 freestyle relay includes Brian Fiorillo, Derek Bosko, Brad Melpolder and Josh Boren. That 400 relay team is ranked at 12th in the nation right now. The 800 relay team is almost the exact same, putting in Tom Parsons for Derek Bosko.
“There’s quite a bit of youth representing Albion lately, which I am really excited about,” Taber said.
He isn’t just referring to the three underclassmen being represented at the National Championship. Those same three underclassmen, Tom Parsons, Derek Bosko, and Josh Boren, were also included in All-MIAA Swim Team.
“We’re excited about the direction of the program, but right now we’re focusing on the National Championships,” Taber said.
Even with the youth, the Britons are blessed to have two senior captains in Fiorillo and Melpolder, who have experience throughout their years here.
“This is a team that has an enormous number of leaders,” Melpolder said. “Being a captain on this team is great because I know that all of the young people on the team look up to me as a captain of the team and see how much I care about this program.”
Brad has been used in many different ways in his career at Albion; swimming essentially any event the team needed him for.
“I spent my first two years concentrating on the IM, an event which I didn’t even swim this year, swam mainly distance last year, and did a little more sprinting this year in order to have the best chance to qualify relays for nationals,” Melpolder said.
The team deserves a lot of credit for their recent success and the focus to their accomplishments has been in practice where the competitiveness is present.
“What I like most about this team is that we have a group of guys that love to race,” Fiorillo said. “It really creates a great training environment when you go to practice everyday knowing that you’re going to have to race.”
Coach Taber and the team seem ready and excited for the National Championships and are looking forward to representing Albion College and continue to make a name for themselves.
Photo courtesy GoBrits.com
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