Billings Aquatic Club’s Mason Johnson, Michael Van Keuren Announce Commitments

Photo Courtesy: Sean Marshall

NEW COMMITS: Billings Aquatic Club teammates Mason Johnson and Michael Van Keuren have announced their commitments to swim in college beginning this fall. Johnson will be attending Wesleyan University and Van Keuren is headed off to Kenyon College.

Both swimmers are natives of Billings, Montana, and swim for the BAC Stingrays under head coach Sean Marshall.

Mason Johnson

Primarily a breaststroker and IMer, Johnson most recently raced at the Western Zone Senior Championships last summer where he was a finalist in the 100m breast. He had a fantastic showing at the Montana LCM Championships, earning 11 top-6 finishes. He was a 10-time finalist at the Montana SCY Championships last year and recorded four lifetime bests at Federal Way Speedo Sectionals in March.

Also competing for Billings West High School, Johnson is a six-time finalist at the Montana State Championships. He finishes fifth in the 100 breast and ninth in the 200 IM as a junior after placing sixth and fifth, respectively, in those events during his sophomore season. Although he sits just outside of scoring range at the NESCAC Championships, Johnson will add valuable depth to Wesleyan’s breaststroke and IM training groups.

His best times include:

200 IM – 2:03.92
400 IM – 4:17.88
100 breast – 1:00.23
200 breast – 2:11.61

Michael Van Keuren

Van Keuren notched a trio of best times at the TYR Elite Meet last month and placed 14th in the 200m fly at Santa Clara Futures this past summer. He had nine top-3 finishes at the Montana LCM Championships in August which included a gold medal performance in the 400m IM. He won three events at the Montana SCY Championships last winter and registered 100% lifetime bests at Federal Way Speedo Sectionals in March.

Also a current senior at Billings West, Van Keuren is a five-time Montana State Championship finalist. He took third in the 200 IM and fifth in the 100 fly during his junior campaign after placing fourth in the latter and fifth in the 500 free as a sophomore. Van Keuren will make an immediate impact for Kenyon this fall; he would’ve scored in the A-final of the 400 IM and 200 fly, B-final of the 200 IM and C-final of the 500 free at the 2018 North Coast Conference Championships.

His best times include:

200 IM – 1:58.91
400 IM – 4:06.33
200 fly – 1:53.67
500 free – 4:45.44
1000 free – 9:38.47
1650 free – 16:19.49

If you have a commitment to share, please send a photo and quote via email to hs@swimmingworld.com.

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