From: Jeff Febus (jfebus@calvin.edu)
Date: Sat Apr 12 2003 - 20:46:42 EDT
April 12, 2003
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
A series of postponements over the past week-and-a-half brought together five MIAA teams for a series of MIAA dual meets Saturday afternoon at Calvin. When the afternoon was over, both Calvin teams had picked up four dual meet victories.
In the men's competition, Calvin picked up victories over Adrian (122-30), Alma (113-40), Hope (105-49) and Olivet (134-17). In the women's competition, Calvin also picked up victories over Adrian (113-39), Alma (118-33), Hope (103-51) and Olivet (130.33-1.66).
The weather Saturday afternoon was ideal and the result was another of standout performances including two school records in the women's meet.
Sophomore Sue Abbring (Highland, IN) highlighted the afternoon for the Calvin women as she took first place in the 100 (12.23) and 200 meters (24.83). Both times were NCAA III provisional qualifying performances while her time in the 100 was a school record, shattering the previous school mark of 12.29 established by Calvin All-American Lindsay Mulder in 2001. Abbring was also part of Calvin's first place 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 meter relay teams. Calvin's 4 x 400 meter relay team that also included freshman Christine Hendricks (Cincinnati, OH), sophomore Laura Hamilton (Downers Grove, IL) and senior Annie VanderLaan (Grand Rapids Christian HS) took first place with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 3:54.72.
Hamilton also took first place in the 400 hurdles with a season-best time of 1:04.78 while VanderLaan took first in the 100 hurdles with a season-best and NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 14.79.
In the throws, Calvin junior Katie Corner (Grand Rapids Catholic Central HS) continued her sizzling spring as she shattered her own school record in the shot put with an NCAA III provisional qualifying throw of 43-3 ¾ while also taking first place in the discus (143-0). Corner led a 1-2-3 Calvin finish in the shot put with senior Mandy VanDenBosch (Grand Rapids Christian HS) taking second (41-6) and senior Liz Frens (Grand Rapids Christian HS) taking 5third (39-11 ¼). In the discus, Calvin went 1-3-4 with Frens taking third with a season-best throw of 120-10 and VanDenBosch taking fourth with a season-best throw of 114-4.
Hendricks and VanDenBosch also came up with strong efforts in their javelin debuts with Hendricks placing third (105-3) and VanDenBosch fourth (102-7).
Another notable effort came from freshman Missy Smith (Grand Rapids Christian HS) as she matched a season-best in tying for first place in the pole vault with a mark of 11-5 ¾. Smith tied for first with Adrian freshman Amanda Haines. Both pole vaulters are among the nation's leaders in the event.
Other first place performances for the Calvin women included:
*Freshman Camille Medema (Grand Rapids Christian HS) in the 800 meters (2:19.42)
*Junior Sarah Hastings (Traverse City Central HS) in the 1500 meters (4:46.50)
*Junior Jessie Lair (Southfield Christian HS) in the 5,000 meters (17:58.48)
*Freshman Kim Vanderzee (Shoreline, WA) in the high jump (5-1 ¾)
*Freshman Kara Zuidema (Escondido, CA) in the triple jump (33-4)
In the men's competition, Calvin received an NCAA III provisional qualifying performance from junior Hendrik Kok (Lynden, WA) in the 1,500 meters as he took first place with a time of 3:54.84. Just missing a provisional qualifying time was senior teammate Joel Klooster (Chatham, ON) who took second with a time of 3:55.84.
Senior Francis Ikwueme (Jos, Nigeria) also just missed an NCAA III provisional qualifying performance as he posted a career-best time of 12.85 in winning the 100 meters. Ikwueme also took second in the 200 meters (22.96) and fifth in the long jump (20-0 ½).
Senior Jon Hutchful (Accra, Ghana) also took first place in the triple jump with a season-best mark of 45-1 ¾. Hutchful was part of a 1-3-4 Calvin finish in the triple jump as freshman Tim Zwiers (Pella, IA) was third (41-5 ¾) and senior Josh Senavoe (Accra, Ghana) fourth (40-9).
Field events were a strength for the Knights as sophomore Nate Meckes (Westland Lutheran HS) took first place in the shot put (52-6 ¾), discus (158-9) and javelin (174-6). The winning throw by Meckes in the javelin was a career-best by more than 12 feet. Senior Nick VanderPlas (McBain Christian HS) added a second place throw of 50-3 ½ in the shot put while freshman Justin Grasmeyer (Norwalk, CA) came up with a collegiate-best throw of 149-10 in taking second in the discus.
Another memorable moment came in the 4 x 400 meter relay as senior Steve Abbring (Highland, IN) came from 15 meters behind in the anchor leg to cross the finish line first. Calvin's 4 x 400 meter relay time was 3:25.67. The Knights also took first place in the 4 x 100 meter relay with a time of 43.28.
Other first place finishes by the Calvin men included junior Kyle Carrick (Tokyo, Japan) in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (9:43.35) and sophomore David Haagsma (South Christian HS) in the 5,000 meters (14:56.55). Junior Joel Reasoner (Cambridge, MN) took second in the steeplechase with a career-best time of 9:46.82 while junior Tim Avery (Rochester, NY) took second in the 5,000 meters with a career-best time of 14:59.05.
Both Calvin teams return to action on Wednesday when they host Albion in critical MIAA dual meets. Wednesday's competition is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m.
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