March 28, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The Calvin men's and women's track and field teams came up
with an exceptional day of performances at the Grand Rapids Invitational hosted
by Calvin Thursday afternoon. Highlighting the afternoon were seven national
qualifying efforts by Calvin distance runners while the Calvin throwing squad
also excelled with sophomore Katie Corner (Grand Rapids Catholic Central)
leading the way with a pair of school record marks.
Corner shattered Calvin records in the shot put and discus on Thursday, taking
second place in the shot put with a throw of 40-3 ½ and first place in the
discus with an NCAA III provisional qualifying mark of 138-10. Corner's winning
discus throw marked the third time she has shattered the record in the discus
this spring. Her last school mark in the discus had been at 138-1, established
at the Auburn Invitational March 16.
In the distance events, Calvin sparkled in the men's 10,000 meter run as senior
Joel Klooster (Chatham, ON) became the first men's runner in Division III this
spring to qualify for nationals automatically in the event as he posted a first
place time of 30:45.24. Klooster was followed by three Calvin individuals who
posted NCAA III provisional qualifying times as senior Dan Hoekstra (Kalamazoo
Christian) was second in 31:00.56; senior Justin Pfruender (Midland) was third
in 31:28.65 and freshman Brian Maat (Holland Christian) was fourth in 31:31.39.
Sophomores Tim Avery (Rochester, NY) and Matt Edwards (Grand Blanc) also had
strong times in the 10K as Avery was fifth in 31:53.85 and Edwards seventh in
32:41.99.
In the women's 5,000 meters, Calvin up with three NCAA III provisional
qualifying performances as senior Erinn Boot (Kalamazoo Christian) took first
with a provisional qualifying time of 17:51.36. Also turning in provisional
qualifying times were sophomores Sarah Hastings (Traverse City) and Jessie Lair
(Southfield Christian) as Hastings was second in 17:54.49 while Lair was third
in 18:03.03.
Other strong distance efforts included sophomore David Haagsma (South Christian)
in the men's 5,000 meters (2nd place, 15:18.30); sophomore Hendrik Kok (Lynden,
WA) in the men's 1,500 meters (first place, 3:57.20) and senior David Ritsema
(Denver, CO) in the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase (first place, 9:31.10).
The Calvin women's team also came up with a number of other outstanding efforts
with sophomore Annie VanderLaan (Grand Rapids Christian) helping lead the way
with a first place and NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 15.11 in the 100
meter hurdles. VanderLaan also ran a leg on Calvin's first place 4 x 400 meter
relay team that clocked in with a provisional qualifying time of 3:58.81. The
Calvin women swept both relays as the Knights also took first place in the 4 x
100 meter relay with a time of 49.42. Senior Rachel Veltkamp (Grand Rapids
Christian) ran on Calvin's 4 x 100 meter relay team and took first place in the
pole vault (11-0) and triple jump (33-2).
In the women's shot put competition, Corner's school record heave of 40-3 ½ was
part of a 2-3-4-5 Calvin finish with previous record holder Mandy VanDenBosch
(Grand Rapids Christian) taking third with a throw of 40-1 ½, just one inch
short of her previous school record. The throw on Thursday was a season-best
for VanDenBosch who missed the entire 2001 season with an injury. Junior Liz
Frens (Grand Rapids Christian) also took fourth with a career-best throw of 39-1
while freshman Lisa Nanninga (Grand Rapids Christian) continued the City League
brigade on the Calvin throwing squad with a fifth place throw of 38-6.
The Calvin men's throwing squad also had a successful afternoon as senior Ryan
Moore (Wexford, PA) won the discus competition with a season-best throw of 152-9
while freshman Nate Meckes (Westland Lutheran) was third (137-10) and junior
Nick VanderPlas (McBain Christian) fourth (137-9). VanderPlas was also stellar
in the shot put, taking third with a career-best heave of 48-6 while Meckes was
fifth (46-10) and senior Shawgy Frimpong seventh (44-1). In the men's javelin,
senior Ben Talsma (Western Michigan Christian) took first with a throw of 182-8.
The sprints also proved to be a strength for the Calvin men with senior Keith
VanGoor (Midland Park, NJ) winning the 200 meters (22.32) and 400 meters (49.70)
while freshman Chris Friebel took first in the 100 meters (11.12). In the 100
meter hurdles, freshman Reuben Sportel (South Christian) captured first place
with a time of 15.74.
Other first place efforts for the Calvin men included senior Jason DeVries
(Unity Christian) in the pole vault (14-6) while senior Francis Ikwueme (Jos,
Nigeria) captured the long jump (20-6).
Both teams will now break until next Friday when they competed at the Grand
Valley State Invitational in Allendale.
SOFTBALL
Calvin picked up its second victory of the year over a nationally-ranked NAIA
opponents as the Knights split a doubleheader with 23rd-ranked Aquinas College
Thursday at Calvin Field. Thursday's doubleheader marked the first action in
Michigan this year for Calvin which moved to 7-5 on the year with the twinbill
split.
Calvin opened the doubleheader with a 7-6 win. Calvin jumped out to a 5-1 lead,
using a five-run first inning with freshman Laurel Sands (Rockford) blasting a
two-run RBI double in the Knight uprising. Aquinas (13-3) came back with two
runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to knot the score at 5-5. Calvin junior
Sandy VanLeeuwen (Unity Christian) got the Knights out of a jam in the sixth as
she snagged a fly ball to right and then nailed a runner at the plate to end the
inning. The Saints scratched across the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh
however, leaving the Knights trailing 6-5 heading into their last at-bats.
Calvin then used a hit and an Aquinas error to score the game-tying run and with
the bases-loaded, VanLeeuwen delivered a hit over the Aquinas outfield to bring
home freshman Lea Bareman (Unity Christian) with the game-winning run.
Freshman Kara VanKooten (Anchorage, AK) picked up her first collegiate victory
in the win, as she struck out two and walked one in one and two-thirds innings
of relief. Sophomore Keri Cole (Mason County Eastern) started the game for the
Knights and helped her own cause by going 2-for-3 at the plate while VanLeeuwen
and sophomore Trisha Balkema (Highland, IN) also collected two hits apiece for
the Knights in the triumph.
In game two, Calvin snapped a 2-2 tie with two runs in the bottom of the sixth
to take a 4-2 lead. Balkema scored the first run of the inning on a wild pitch
and VanLeeuwen then delivered another RBI single to give the Knights a two-run
margin. Aquinas rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh however and
squashed another Calvin seventh inning rally as the Knights loaded the bases
with one out but failed to score. In the eighth, Aquinas exploded for four
runs, using three hits and one error to take an 8-4 lead. Calvin would bring
home one run in the bottom half of the inning but would score no more as the
Saints picked up the 8-5 win.
Freshman Rachelle Heyboer (Fremont) took the loss for Calvin on the mound to
fall to 3-3 on the year as struck out three and walked three while allowing 10
hits. Calvin picked up nine hits in the loss with Balkema going 3-for-4 at the
plate and sophomore Rachel Dyksterhouse (Kalamazoo Christian) also going
2-for-4.
Calvin returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Alma for an MIAA
doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.. Saturday's twinbill will be the
conference opener for both teams.
MEN'S TENNIS
Calvin dipped to 4-7 on the year as it dropped its MIAA opener with an 8-1 loss
to Hope Thursday afternoon at Hope's DeWitt Tennis Center.
Calvin's lone point came at number-five singles with junior Nate Kraai (Grand
Rapids Christian) gaining a three-set victory.
Calvin returns to action next Wednesday when it hosts Alma in an MIAA conference
match at 3:00 p.m..
Hope 8, Calvin 1
SINGLES-1. Dan Mann (H) d. Kevin VanHaitsma 6-2, 6-1; 2. Kevney Dugan (H) d. Tom
Zeilstra 6-1, 2-6, 7-5; 3. Josh Honholt (H) d. Jon Meyer 6-1, 6-3; 4. Erik Frost
(H) d. Jon Miedema 6-1, 6-2; 5. Nate Kraai © d. Derek Phelan 7-6, 2-6, 7-5; 6.
Raj Malviya (H) d. Mark Brieve 6-1, 6-1.
DOUBLES-1. Mann/Dugan (H) d. VanHaitsma/Zeilstra 6-2, 6-1; 2. Frost/Malviya (H)
d. Meyer/Miedema 6-3, 6-0; 3. Honholt/Phelan (H) d. Kraai/David Bartels 6-4,
4-6, 6-1.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Mar 29 2002 - 00:42:08 EST