CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2004
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
HUDSONVILLE -- Despite cold and rainy conditions, the Calvin men's and women's
cross country teams came up with encouraging performances Friday afternoon at
the Michigan Intercollegiates hosted by Grand Valley State University at the
Rolling Hills Golf Course.
Four races were featured on Friday with a 4K and an 8K offered on the men's
side while the women's competition consisted of a 4K and 6K race.
The highlight of the afternoon came for the top-ranked (NCAA III) Calvin men's
cross country team in the 4K race as the Knights raced to a first place score
of 14 points. In a 4K race, only the top four finishers are counted for a
team's point total. Calvin finished 16 points ahead of host and sixth-ranked
(NCAA II) Grand Valley State. Calvin placed five runners in the top 10 led by
senior Hendrik Kok (Lynden, WA) who cruised to a first place time of 11:49.
Seniors David Haagsma (South Christian HS) and Jeff Engbers (Whitinsville, MA)
were next for the Knights with Haagsma third (11:58) and Engbers fourth
(12:01). Sophomore Tim Finnegan (Los Alamos, NM) was close behind in sixth
place place (12:03) with senior Andy Yazzie (Rehoboth, NM) rounding out
Calvin's top five with a 10th place time of 12:08.
Other Calvin finishers included sophomore Bill Reynolds (Newtown Square, PA) in
15th (12:15); junior Harrison Jorritsma (Beamsville, ON) in 24th (12:21);
sophomore Ben Hammer (Williamsburg) in 29th (12:23); senior Aaron Iverson
(Radnor, OH) in 30th (12:23); freshman Dan MacKay (Whitinsville, MA) in 32nd
(12:27); senior Kyle Carrick (Tokyo, Japan) in 37th (12:31); freshman Josiah
Leuenberger (West Middlesex, PA) in 39th (12:34); sophomore Paul Rollett
(Chatham, IL) in 41st (12:39) and sophomore Todd Schuster (Denver, CO) in 47th
(12:55).
Head coaches Brian Diemer and Al Hoekstra were both pleased with the team's
performance in the 4K race.
"I thought our race tactics today were excellent," said Diemer. "In a race
like this, you get the opportunity to run against outstanding competition and
you also get a chance to try out a few things. Our guys got out very strong
and then pushed the tempo as long as they could. They found out that they were
able to keep a very fast tempo going for the duration of the race and that's
something that they'll be able to take with them in an upcoming races, even
though today was only 4K."
According to Hoekstra, the top-ranked Knights are running with confidence.
"Usually at this point of the year, we have a bit of a drop-off because of
fatigue but we haven't really seen a drop-off so far this year," he said.
"Part of that is the talent, depth and experience that we have this year but
the other thing is that our guys are running with a lot of confidence. They've
embraced the number-one ranking instead of hiding from it and in doing that,
they've taken a lot of pressure off themselves."
In the men's 8K race, Calvin suited up the minimum five runners to field a team
score but still managed to place fifth with a team score of 169 points, two
points behind Grand Valley's reserve squad.
Leading Calvin in the 8K race was junior Tyler Zwagerman (Holland Christian HS)
who took 11th individually with a time of 26:20). Senior Joel Alberts and
freshman Peter Clemo of Grand Rapids Christian High School were next as Alberts
was 31st (26:49) and Clemo 38th (26:59). Junior Jessie Kleinjan (Chino, CA)
and freshman Jon Gries (King of Prussia, PA) were the final Calvin finishers
with Kleinjan 43rd (27:12) and Gries 46th (27:18).
In the women's competition, a youthful Calvin squad came up with its finest
effort of the season as the Knights took eighth with a team score of 146 points
with the seven schools finishing ahead of the Knights either NCAA Division I or
II institutions.
Junior Lindsay Kroonenberg (Denver, CO) led Calvin with a 33rd place finish in
a time of 15:08. Freshman Jenny Zylstra (Lombard, IL) also had a big effort in
taking 41st in 15:23 with sophomore teammate Laura Holtrop (Derwood, MD) next
in 42nd (15:26); sophomore Lydia Singer (Wilmington, DE) 43rd (15:32) and
sophomore Bethany Hofman (Holland Christian HS) 54th (15:52).
Rounding out Calvin's finishers were freshman Christina Overbeck (Seattle, WA)
in 68th (16:22); sophomore Amy VanDyk (Silver Spring, MD) in 92nd (16:40);
junior Rachel Reed (Oak Park, IL) in 99th (17:03); sophomore Christine Witte
(Holland Christian HS) in 106th (17:17) and junior Tracy Dykstra (Unity
Christian HS) in 109th (17:21).
According to head coach Nancy Meyer, Friday's 4K race was without question,
Calvin's top performance of the season. "We've really battled injuries and
illness but some of our runners are starting to come around. Lindsay has been
very consistent this year and this might have been her best race of the season
and without a doubt, Jenny Zylstra had her best performance of the year today.
Lydia Singer and Laura Holtrop ran very well together and Bethany Hofman ran
tough. We still have room for improvement but our effort today in a very
talented field of runners was encouraging. It was definitely a step forward
for this team."
Both Calvin cross country teams return to action next Saturday when they
compete at the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational.
WOMEN'S GOLF
BATTLE CREEK - A strong showing on the first day of the MIAA Championships has
allowed Calvin to creep to within site of fifth place in the overall league
standings.
Calvin posted a fifth place team score of 369 on day one of the conference
tournament, two strokes ahead of Hope and five strokes ahead of Alma. The
conference tournament is being held at the Bedford Valley Country Club in
Battle Creek.
The Knights are now within four strokes of Alma for fifth place in the overall
team standings and five strokes ahead of seventh place Hope.
St. Mary's virtually assured itself of another MIAA title with a first place
team score of 321 Friday, 21 strokes ahead of second place Olivet. The Belles
hold a commanding 68-stroke lead in the overall standings heading into the
final 18-hole round of the season, scheduled to be held Saturday afternoon.
Junior Margaret Tassaro (Carnegie, PA) led Calvin with a round of 86 on Friday
to move into a tie for 11th in the MIAA's overall individual standings. Calvin
also received strong performances from senior Dawn Svenkeson (Scandia, MN) and
junior Annie Huizenga (Unity Christian HS) as Svenkeson carded a score of 91
and Huizenga a round of 92.
Rounding out Calvin's finishers were sophomore Megan Andrews (Midland) with a
score of 100 and sophomore Abby Stemler (Elk River, MN) with a score of 101.
The second and final day of competition is scheduled to begin Saturday at 9:00
a.m.
FIRST DAY TEAM SCORES OF MIAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
St. Mary's 321
Olivet 342
Albion 354
Tri-State 366
Calvin 369
Hope 371
Alma 374
Kalamazoo 442
Adrian 506
OVERALL TEAM STANDINGS THROUGH 10-8-04
St. Mary's 1317
Olivet 1385
Albion 1397
Tri-State 1437
Alma 1482
Calvin 1486
Hope 1491
Kalamazoo 1871
Adrian 1941
VOLLEYBALL
Written by Abby Zylstra '08
Even after two close games, the Knights managed to sweep the Belles in
three at the Calvin Fieldhouse Friday night.
The Knights beat the Belles 30-28, 30-10, and 30-28. Calvin is now 14-5
overall, 9-1 in the MIAA and has pulled within a victory of first place
Alma. St. Mary's is now 4-10 overall and 4-7 in the MIAA.
After Calvin took the first point of game one, St. Mary's went for a
commanding four-point run, giving the Belles a three point lead.
Calvin fought for a lead, battling with St. Mary's until the teams
finally tied at 14. The Knights finally stole a four-point run near
the end of the game. St. Mary's made an attempt to come back, but
Calvin managed the win, 30-28.
Calvin scored the first point of game two, but St. Mary's was there to
take the next one. The teams fought for the lead during the first ten
points until Calvin finally pulled away. Calvin went on an 18-1 run in
the middle of the game, giving the Knights a commanding 19-point lead.
St. Mary's finally broke Calvin's scoring streak and made a feeble
attempt at a comeback, scoring only three points to the Knights' 20.
The Knights won the second game, 30-10,.
St. Mary's managed the first point of the third game, but Calvin fought
back and had a three-point run. No team ever scored more than three
consecutive points the entire game, and neither team ever had a lead of
more than three points the entire game. The Knights managed another
three-point run at the end of the game, giving them a 29-25 lead. The
Belles had a burst of energy and matched the Knights run, bringing the
score to 29-28. The Belles missed their next serve however and the Knights won
the game, 30-28.
"It's always scary to play them," said head coach Amber Warners.
"They're scary defensively."
The Knights were led by several different players. Current MIAA Specialty
Player of the
Week Katie Zondervan [Cerritos, Cal.] led the team with 50 set
assists. Senior Kristin DeGroot [Tulare, Cal.] had 22 digs. Another
MIAA Player of the Week, senior Kara Kuipers, [Hudsonville, Mich.] led
the team with 15 kills and three blocks. Junior Christine Hendricks
[Cincinnati, Ohio] also had three blocks and 11 kills. Sophomore
Lorilyn Vogel [Orange City, Iowa] put down 13 kills.
"I thought we had a good all-around team effort," said Warners.
Defense specialist sophomore Anne Cusack [Naperville, Ill.] led the team
with 19 digs. Senior Elise Rupright [Ossian, Ind.] followed with 11
digs and also had seven kills. Junior Michelle Turley [Stevensville,
Mich.] led the team with 13 kills. Junior Shelly Bender [Buchanan,
Mich.] had three digs.
"I was happy to take them in three," said Warners.
The Knights return to action on Tuesday when they host Albion in a conference
match at 6:30 p.m.
MIAA VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 10-8-04
Alma 10-0
Calvin 9-1
Kalamazoo 8-2
Albion 4-5
Hope 5-6
Adrian 4-6
St. Mary's 4-7
Tri-State 0-8
Olivet 0-8
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Oct 8 21:44:22 2004
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