FEBRUARY 17, 2001
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING
(Written by Calvin sports information student assistant Ross Weener)
HOLLAND - For the past 22 years the Hope College women's swimming and
diving teams have owned the MIAA, winning 18 conference crowns, and the
last nine in a row.
Going into the final day of the league meet Calvin's women owned a 58
point edge over the defending MIAA champions. Would it last?
Calvin not only showed that it would last but it built upon the 58 point
lead and turned it into a 108 point victory Saturday night in front of a
packed house at the Holland Aquatic Center. Calvin, which earned its
first-ever MIAA crown, finished with 552 points followed by Hope with
444, Kalamazoo 293, Albion 287, Alma 274, St.Mary's 250, and Olivet 5.
Calvin's first place performance at the league championships allowed the
Knights to move ahead of Hope for the final league title. The MIAA dual
meet standings are worth one-third of the final league crown with the
league meet worth the remaining two thirds. Calvin finished second in
the MIAA dual meet standings with its only dual meet loss coming to
Hope.
Calvin was anchored Saturday evening by sophomore Katie Nagelkirk
(Holland Christian) as she was crowned MIAA champion in the 100
freestyle with a NCAA conditional qualifying time of 53.62. Calvin
racked up the points in the 100 freestyle as Nagelkirk led a 1-2-3
Calvin finish. Juniors Kaity Conrad (Calvin Christian) and Erin Kloostra
(Grand Rapids Christian) finished second and third with times of 54.31
and 55.12, respectively.
Nagelkirk, Conrad, Kloostra, and sophomore Anne Kuiper (Houghton) then
combined to form the winning 400 freesyle relay, clocking in with an
NCAA conditional qualifying time of 3:34.39.
Calvin also built up its point total in the 1,650 freestyle as senior
Liesje Konyndyk (Grand Rapids Christian) was fourth (18:20.03);
sophomore Jenny Los (Holland Christian) was fifth (18:31.64) and
sophomore Ginni Baker (Kalamazoo Christian) was sixth (18:46.09).
Bakker also took sixth in the 200 backstroke (2:23.41) while sophomore
Allison Gliesman (Macomb) won the consolation finals with a time of
2:18.53.
Other top-six individual finishes for the Calvin women included Kuiper
and freshman Brittney Stevens (Mankato, MN) in the 200 breaststroke as
Kuiper was fourth (2:30.09) and Stevens fifth (2:36.09). Calvin also
went 3-5-7 in the 200 butterfly with sophomore Mara McQuin (Oak Park,
IL) taking third (2:17.16); junior Liz Alsover (Forest Hills Central)
taking fifth (2:23.49) and senior Dara VanKampen (Denver, CO) winning
the consolation finals with a time of 2:25.17. In the three-meter
diving competition, freshman Sara TerHaar (Bradenton, FL) took third
with a score of 379.50.
"Faith bonded our team like nothing else," explained Nagelkirk. "We
took our faith outside of our swimming and took it to other areas of our
lives."
"This was a whole season effort," commented head coach Dan Gelderloos.
"We came together as a team to become as close as we ever have. We sat
down and planned the whole year out as a road trip with our final
destination being the Holland Aquatic Center."
On the men's side Calvin came in third behind the MIAA swimming powers
Kalamazoo and Hope. Kalamazoo took home its ninth consecutive conference
crown and the 22nd in the last 29 years. Kalamazoo scored 618 points
with Hope registering 553 and Calvin 367. Calvin's point total was a
67-point improvement over its score at the 2000 MIAA Championships.
The Calvin 400 freestyle team of sophomores A.J. Penninga (Grand Rapids
Christian), Ryan Johnson (Grand Haven), junior Jordan Zacharia
(Annondale, VA), and freshman Brad White (Dayton, OH) highlighted the
evening with a second place finish in a school record and NCAA
conditional qualifying time. Seeded fifth going into the race, Calvin
came out with a time of 3:07.59, shattering the previous school mark by
nearly five seconds.
Penninga and White also came up with NCAA conditional qualifying times
in the 100 freestyle. Penninga came up with his qualifying time in the
preliminary round of the 100 freestyle, cruising to a 46.89 finish.
White also received his qualifying nod in the preliminaries, churning to
a school record time of 46.70. White would go on to finish second in
the event while Penninga took fifth.
Other top-six individual finishes for Calvin included freshman Dan
Hekman (Calimesa, CA) in the 200 backstroke (fourth in 1:58.92);
sophomore Jake VanderPlas (Palo Alto, CA) in the 200 backstroke (4th in
1:58.92) and junior Chris Veltman (Duarte, CA) in the 200 butterfly (3rd
in 1:56.59).
"I have never been around so many hard-working kids," beamed assistant
coach Corey Clausing after the meet concluded. "The trip to Florida over
Christmas break really set the tone for the rest of the season. There
was a day when the pool was so cold that many of the Division I swimmers
training in the pool called it off, but not our kids. They did
one-hundred 100's. I don't know of any kids that work any harder than
the kids on our two teams."
-end-
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