CALVIN SPORTS REPORT PART TWO FOR MAY 11, 2005
FINAL MIAA ALL-SPORTS STANDINGS RELEASED * CALVIN 2nd IN COMMISIONER'S CUP
* TIED FOR SECOND IN WOMEN'S ALL-SPORTS AWARD
It's been said more than once that a game of tiddleywinks featuring teams
from Calvin and Hope would draw a crowd. No matter the game, the level of
competition between the two schools is always keen.
A quick look at the final 2005 MIAA All-Sports Standings would seem to confirm
that keen level of competition.
In one of the closest finishes in the history of the MIAA All-Sports Award,
Hope has captured the Commissioner's Cup trophy with 202 points * four
points ahead of second place Calvin. The Commissioner's Cup award represents
the best cumulative finish in all league sports (men and women). The MIAA also
presents separate awards known as the Men's All-Sports Award and the
Women's All-Sports Award.
Hope has captured the Men's All-Sports Award with 92 points with Calvin
second with 88 points. On the women's side, Calvin and Hope share the 2005
Women's All-Sports Awards with both schools scoring 110 points. It marks the
second straight year that Calvin has won the Women's All-Sports Award.
The final standings for the all-sports awards are determined on the basis of
each college's standings in eight of nine sports for men and eight of nine
sports for women. These point totals are added together to determine the
winner of the Commissioner's Cup.
The Commissioner's Cup (MIAA All-Sports Award) has been presented since the
1934-35 academic year. Hope has won the award 27 times followed by Albion with
14, Kalamazoo with 13, Calvin with eight and Alma with five.
During the 2004-05 academic year, Calvin and Hope captured five MIAA titles
apiece with Calvin winning league crowns in men's cross country, men's
soccer, women's swimming and diving, men's track and field and women's
track field. Hope captured league titles in men's golf, women's soccer,
women's cross country, men's swimming and diving and women's basketball.
In eight of the 17 sports that Calvin and Hope both compete in, only one place
separated the two rivals and in the case of men's tennis, the two schools
shared the same place.
Perhaps emblematic of the keen competition between the two schools were the
sports of men's and women's soccer. On the women's side, Calvin and Hope
played to a double-overtime tie in the first meeting and in the return match,
Hope recorded a one-goal victory in sudden-death overtime. The mid-October
victory allowed Hope to move one point ahead of Calvin in the league standings.
Neither team would lose an MIAA match again with Hope edging Calvin for the
final league crown by a single point. On the men's side, Calvin dropped its
only league match of the year in a 1-0 defeat at Hope in early October. The
two teams then met before an overflow crowd at Calvin the first weekend of
November with Calvin prevailing 1-0 on a goal in the final five minutes of
regulation time. The Calvin victory allowed the Knights to edge Hope for the
MIAA crown by a single victory (three points).
Albion also proved to be a formidable opponent for league schools during the
2004-05 academic year as the Britons took third in the final Commissioner's
Cup Standings with 173, third in the final Men's All-Sports standings with 80
points and third in the final Women's All-Sports standings with 93 points.
FINAL MIAA COMMISSIONER'S CUP STANDINGS
Hope 202
Calvin 198
Albion 173
Alma 125
Kalamazoo 103
Olivet 100
Tri-State 74
Adrian 62
FINAL MIAA MEN'S ALL-SPORTS STANDINGS
Hope 92
Calvin 88
Albion 80
Alma 49
Olivet 48
Kalamazoo 41
Tri-State 37
Adrian 34
FINAL MIAA WOMEN'S ALL-SPORTS STANDINGS
Calvin 110
Hope 110
Albion 93
Alma 76
Kalamazoo 62
St. Mary's 54
Olivet 52
Tri-State 37
Adrian 27
MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
(Written by Colin McWhertor '08)
Junior Nate Meckes (Bay City) broke his own school record yet again in the
discus
Wednesday evening at the Aquinas College Twilight invitational held at
Houseman Field.
Meckes, from Bay City, Michigan and a graduate of Lutheran Westland
high school bested his previous high mark by ten feet with a throw of
189 feet. Meckes also had an earlier throw of 184 feet. His throw of 57.62
meters ranks as the 12th best throw in all of NCAA outdoor track and field (I,
II or III) and is the second-best throw in NCAA III track and field, trailing
only the 190-8 effort turned in by junior Dan Austin of Williams College on
April 29 at the Penn Relays. The throw shatters the previous record of 179-5
set by Meckes earlier this spring. It is also an NCAA III automatic qualifying
mark
"I have been waiting all season to get that one great throw, and I got
it today," said Meckes, "I felt great today and the weather was perfect
for the disc, so things worked out nicely."
Also performing great in the discus was junior Justin Grasmeyer
(Norwalk, CA). Grasmeyer, plauged by injury problems this season came
through with a throw of 167 feet and 3 inches, which is a provisional
qualifying throw for the NCAA's.
Grasmeyer was relieved to toss a season-best mark today. "It was nice
to be consistent. This year has been a learning experience for sure,
but things are working out now, but it definitely has tested my
patience at times. But it this great to get a throw that should qualify me so
that I won't worry about
throwing next week, I can study for finals now."
Coach Norm Zylstra was ecstatic over his thrower's days. "I am so happy
for Justin, this takes a load off of his back and we can prepare for
Nationals now. I can't say enough about Nate Meckes, he keeps on
impressing every week."
In other men's action Wednesday, sophomore Josh Meckes (Lutheran
Westland) jumped 22-6 in the long jump. Sophomore Todd Schuster
(Denver, CO) placed second in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:56.34,
using a spurt for the final 200 meters to move from 6th place. Senior
Ben Dyke (Unity Christian) ran the 1500 meters in 4:03.22 and freshman
Kelby McClellan ran the 110 hurdles in 15.56 seconds.
In the 4x400 meter relay, the team of Rueben Sportel (South Christian),
Brian Van Dyken (GR Christian), Jared Cok (Bozeman, MT), and Joel Baker
(Kalamazoo Christian) finished with a time of 3:18.50, just above an NCAA
provisional qualifying cut. Baker ran the anchor leg in a blazing time of
48.22.
Select Calvin athletes will head to the North Central Invitational this
Weekend to continue their quest for national qualifying marks and times.
WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
(Written by Annalise VenHuizen '08)
In the women's competition at the Aquinas College Twilight Invitational,
Calvin did a lot of what it came to do, qualifying events for Nationals.
Most of the action happened in the field events. In long jump, sophomore
Kelly Zwier (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian) had a provisional qualifying and
season best mark of 18' 1 ¾". Sophomore Lorilyn Vogel (Orange City, IA) is
close with her jump of 17' 9 ½". Vogel also had a close jump in the triple
jump, with a mark of 36' 6 ¾".
Though already holding an automatic bid to Nationals in the pole vault, junior
Missy Smith (Ada/Grand Rapids Christian) reaffirmed her bid with a provisional
vault of 11' 6".
The throwing events saw two provisional bids for sophomore Megann VanderVliet
(Oakville, ON), as she threw a career-best 46' 1" in the shot put and
138" in discus. Also notable is freshman Rachel VanderWiele's
(Saugatuck/Holland Christian) 116' 6" toss in the discus, an improvement of
three feet over her season best. "It is great that these girls can do this
coming up to Nationals," said throwing Coach Norm Zylstra.
In the running events, freshman Sarah Wittingen (East Grand Rapids/East Grand
Rapids) came close to provisionally qualifying in the 100 meter hurdles with a
time of 15.17 seconds. But Wittingen has already qualified this season.
The 1600 meter relay team came close to matching a season-best time with a
first place effort just under 3:54.00. The relay did not include the usual
anchor leg of senior Sue Abbring (Highland, IN) but still nearly came up with a
season-best with sophomore Katie Bolt (Grand Rapids Christian HS) running the
anchor leg with Wittingen leading off with a sub-58 lead-off leg followed by
sophomore Katie VanderLaan in leg number-two and sophomore Lisa Winkle (South
Christian HS) running leg number-three.
Head coach Kim hopes to qualify even more members in the meets to come in
Naperville, IL, the first of which takes place tomorrow.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed May 11 23:29:10 2005
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