FEBRUARY 16, 2001
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING
HOLLAND - Bidding for its first-ever MIAA title, the Calvin women's
swimming and diving team will carry a 58-point lead into the final day
of competition at the MIAA Championships hosted by Hope at the Holland
Aquatic Center. Heading into Saturday, Calvin holds first place with 356
points while Hope is second with 298 points and Kalamazoo third with 193
points.
Holding a two-point lead over Hope after Thursday, Calvin boosted its
lead Friday night on the strength of strong depth and a first place swim
by sophomore Ginni Baker (Kalamazoo Christian) in the 400 IM as well as
a first place finish in the 200 medley relay.
Like Thursday, the Calvin women opened the evening with a powerful
performance as its 200 medley relay team of sophomore Katie Nagelkirk
(Holland Christian), freshman Brittney Stevens (Mankato, MN), sophomore
Anne Kuiper (Houghton) and junior Erin Kloostra (Grand Rapids Christian)
blasted its way to a first place in a school record and NCAA conditional
qualifying time of 1:51.37. The time lopped more than a second off of
Calvin's previous school mark. It also marked the first time since 1989
that Calvin captured first place in the 200 medley relay, snapping an
11-year run in the event by Hope.
Seeded third heading into the finals, Bakker then took first place in
the 400 IM with a time of 4:49.61 as she used a strong push over the
final 50 meters to edge Jennifer Troyer of Alma and teammate Mara
McGuin. Baker is just the second Calvin swimmer in MIAA history to win
the 400 IM at the league championships, joining Kathy Vila who achieved
the feat in 1985. McQuin took third in Friday's 400 IM with a time of
4:50.28.
Calvin's biggest point production of the evening came in the 200
freestyle as the Knights went 3-4-5-6 in the event with senior Liesje
Konyndyk (Grand Rapids Christian) taking third (1:59.37); junior Kate
Conrad (Calvin Christian) taking fourth (1:59.61); Kloostra taking fifth
(2:00.40) and sophomore Jenny Los (Holland Christian) taking sixth
(2:00.63).
In addition, Kuiper took second in the 100 butterfly (1:00.70) while
Nagelkirk was third in the 100 backstroke with a school record time of
1:01.30. Nagelkirk's school record performance elapsed nearly two
seconds off her previous school mark in the event. Stevens also added a
fourth place swim in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:11.29.
The Calvin women closed out the evening with a second place performance
in the 800 freestyle relay as its team of Nagelkirk, Conrad, Los and
Konyndyk came in with a time of 7:57.98.
"Our goal today was to build a good lead and we accomplished that
goal," said Calvin coach Dan Gelderloos. "We've been telling our team
that every place and every point counts and our team has really reacted
to that philosophy well. We still have work to do but we like the
position we are in."
In addition to Calvin's top-six individual performances, the Knights
captured the consolation round in three events with senior Dara
VanKampen (Denver, CO) taking seventh in the 400 IM (5:01.38); junior
Liz Alsover (Forest Hills Central) taking seventh in the 100 butterfly
(1:05.07) and sophomore Allison Gliesman (Macomb) taking seventh in the
100 backstroke (1:05.34).
While the Calvin women's team opened Friday's finals in strong fashion,
the Calvin men's team closed out the evening in electrifying fashion as
its 800 freestyle relay team of sophomore A.J. Penninga (Grand Rapids
Christian), junior Chris Veltman (Duarte, CA), freshman Dan Hekman
(Calimesa, CA) and freshman Brad White (Dayton, OH) stunned the field by
taking first place in a school and pool record time of 6:53.36. The
performance is a strong NCAA conditional qualifying time and the
third-fastest this year in Division III. It also marks the first time
in Calvin men's swimming and diving history that the Knights have
captured a relay event at the MIAA Championships. Calvin's time in the
800 freestyle relay eclipsed the previous school record set in 1998 by
nearly seven seconds.
Penninga got the relay off to a solid lead with a blazing time of
1:45.28. Veltman and Hekman then held the lead, leaving it up to White
who had to battle Kalamazoo All-American Judsen Schneider in the final
leg. Schneider closed the gap heading into the final 50 yards but White
was able to dig deep and hold off Schneider's push down the stretch to
allow the Knights to edge Kalamazoo's relay team by less than two-tenths
of a second.
"That relay performance has been a long time coming," said an elated
Gelderloos. "Our men's team has never won a relay at the league meet so
that performance really feels sweet. I have to give a lot of credit to
all four members of that relay. They showed a lot of intestinal
fortitude to win that race."
The 800 freestyle relay performance was one of two school records
turned in by the Calvin men as White shattered the school record in the
200 freestyle with a third place and NCAA conditional qualifying time of
1:43.31, breaking the previous mark of 1:44.45 established by Mike
VanderBaan in 1997. White was one of three Calvin swimmers to actually
break the record as Veltman took fourth in 1:43.33 while Hekman was
fifth in 1:44.35.
Other top-six performances by the Calvin men included Penninga in the
400 IM (fourth in 4:15.55); sophomore Ryan Johnson (Grand Haven) in the
100 butterfly (second with an NCAA conditional qualifying time of
52.31); junior Kevin Katerberg in the 100 breaststroke (fifth in
1:02.23); sophomore Brian Koster (Grand Rapids Christian) on the
three-meter diving board (373.65) and sophomore Jake VanderPlas (Palo
Alto, CA) in the 100 backstroke (sixth in 55.07). Johnson also captured
the consolation heat of the 100 backstroke with a seventh place time of
54.88.
The Calvin men are in third place with 272 points heading into the
final day of competition with Kalamazoo leading with 431 points and Hope
second with 361 points.
Saturday's prelims will begin at 10:30 am with the finals scheduled for
6:30 pm
-end-
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