BELLEVUE, Wash. --- Luke Hanson has a great foundation to build on as he enrolls at Biola and joins the Eagles' swim & dive team. 

Hanson is a great student with a 3.98 GPA and a National Merit Commendation that show he's ready to make the most of his acceptance into Biola's highly selective Stewart Science Honors Program as he majors in mathematics. And his consistent year-over-year improvements in the freestyle and butterfly project to a bright future in a program that prides itself on getting all it can out of swimmers' talents. 

A sprinter in the freestyle and butterfly, Hanson had a great performance at the state championship meet this past February and was a key contributor to Sammamish High School's first WIAA 2A Boys Swim State Championship in school history. The Totems outscored the second-place team by over 45 points with Hanson contributing to two first-place relay teams, including a 200 medley relay that posted a two-second improvement upon a 15-year old school record with a time of 1:36.69

The Bellevue, Washington-native also swam in two individual A finals during the state meet and delivered personal bests in the 50 free and the 100 fly. Hanson's mark of 22.45 in the 50 free was over one second better than his time at the state championships the year prior. And his senior-year jump in the 100 fly dropped his state meet time from 56.94 in 2019 to 53.97 in 2020. 

But improvements like that only increase Hanson's eagerness to get more out of his tank; he's excited about the numerous opportunities he'll have at Biola to develop in the pool and in the classroom.

"I chose Biola because of its Christian environment as well as its new Stewart Science Honors Program," said Hanson. "I'm also super excited to be part of a team that will help me do things I never thought I could."
 
Luke Hanson will join his new teammates in the coming fall semester as Men's Swim & Dive looks to build on its third-place finish at the PCSC Conference Championship. More information on the incoming 2020-21 class that will join him at Biola can be found on the Committed Athletes page.