With spring sports underway, several teams on campus recently ended their seasons and are ready to start training for next year. This past winter, the men’s and women’s basketball teams and the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams wrapped up their respective seasons on a high note.
Men’s basketball ended the season with a record of 14-12 and 12-8 in MIAA. A huge improvement from the year before, the squad came together and grew a lot this season because they felt that they had something to prove.
“We were predicted to finish eighth place in the pre-season, and we felt very disrespected by this,” said Zach Hurth, Lansing junior. “But we used this as motivation the whole year, and by the end of the season we proved almost everyone wrong.”
The team’s chemistry drastically improved in a matter of one year, which has transitioned to wins on the court. They more than doubled their tally from the year before. The Albion men’s team were Hope College’s (20-8, 13-1) only loss of the season and the Britons finished third in league play. They ended up losing in the semi-finals of the conference tournament to Calvin College (24-6,12-2) by a score of 64-55. The basketball squad is going to the ride the momentum into next season as they know the program has taken a huge step.
“We have a good mindset right now and truly believe that we will be the best team in the league next year,” Hurth said.
As for the women’s basketball team, they finished the season in sixth place in the MIAA with a record of 9-16 and 5-11 in league play. On a very positive note, Brett de Bear is now the second leading scorer in the history of women’s basketball at Albion College.
De Bear was also selected to the all-league first team. The team will continue to build for the future as they only lose three seniors for their 2014-15 campaign.
“I’m thrilled for Brett’s selection to the first team,” said Doreen Carden, women’s basketball head coach. “It is a well-deserved honor in recognition of the great year she had.”
As the season came to an end for both swimming and diving programs, some of their swimmers ended up traveling to Indianapolis for the NCAA Division III Swimming Championships. Members of the 800 freestyle relay returned to campus from nationals as honorable mention All-Americans.
The group of four include Brian Fiorillo, Southgate senior, Brad Melpolder, Hamilton senior, Tom Parsons, Grandville sophomore and Josh Boren, Dexter sophomore. They finished 14th in the NCAA Championship, which was two spots ahead of their seeding.
The women’s swimming and diving team also made some noise this year as they are now a feared opponent due to their hard work. They had a strong showing at the MIAA Championships as Anna Hargrove, Milan sophomore, won the 100 backstroke while setting the MIAA record during preliminaries.
“In the past couple of years we have really stepped up our training,” said MacKenzie Chesley, Rochester junior. “We are now swimming more yards than ever to better our times, and if we want to improve, the team we will have to step up our training each season.”
Photo via GoBrits.com
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