CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 17, 2005 (PART TWO)
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
(Calvin Teams Impressive in Season Debuts)
KENOSHA, WI - The Calvin men's and women's cross country teams turned in a
pair of sparkling performances in their season debuts Saturday afternoon at the
Midwest Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
The men's race featured a meeting of the top-three ranked teams in the
latest NCAA III Top-25 poll as Wisconsin-LaCrosse entered the race ranked
number-one, North Central (IL) ranked number-two and Calvin number-three. When
the dust had settled, it was Calvin finishing on top as the Knights shared
first place with Wayne State University with 44 points. North Central took
third place with 57 points followed by Wisconsin-LaCrosse with 69.
Leading the way for the Calvin men was junior Tim Finnegan (Los Alamos, NM)
who cruised to a first place win with a time of 25:06, one second ahead of
Wayne State's Justin Kessler. Finnegan was one of two Calvin runners in the
top-10 as junior Harrison Jorritsma (Beamsville, ON) was fourth in 25:27.
Rounding out Calvin's top seven were sophomore Bill Reynolds (Newtown Square,
PA) in 12th place (25:49); sophomore Tad Hulst (Zeeland HS) in 13th place
(25:53); freshman Jed Christiansen (Greenville, PA) in 14th place (25:54);
sophomore Jon Gries (King of Prussia, PA) in 16th place (25:58) and senior
Tyler Zwagerman (Holland Christian HS) in 30th place (26:24).
The performance may have surprised the field to some extent but not Calvin
cross country coach Brian Diemer. "We graduated several key runners from last
year's (national championship) team but we've had several guys waiting in
the wings," said Diemer. "Those guys stepped up in a big way today and I'm
not surprised. They've waited their turn and now is their time."
According to Al Hoekstra who shares the coaching duties with Diemer, the race
was a great way to start the year. "It was a tremendous way to start the
year," said Hoekstra. "The thing that we have to remember is that this is only
one race and that there is a long way to go in the season. But this is the way
we were hoping to start. Now the challenge is to build off this race in a
positive way."
Finnegan's first place triumph continued the assertion that the New Mexico
native is priming for a big year said Diemer. "Tim definitely showed he's
one of the top runners in the country this afternoon," said Diemer. "He ran a
flawless race. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if he continues
to run intelligently and remains injury free, he'll be one of the top runners
in the nation at year's end."
Jorritsma served as Calvin's eighth man for much of the 2004 season but is
ready for bigger things as are several of Calvin's other runners said Diemer.
"Harrison has stepped into a leadership role this year," said Diemer. "He has
the talent and he has put the work in. The rest of our returning runners have
stepped it up as well and (sophomore transfer) Tad Hulst and (freshman) Jed
Christiansen have fit into our team seamlessly."
On the women's side, Calvin took third place in Saturday's race with a
team score of 96 points with Division I Northwestern University taking first
place with 64 points and Division II Northern Michigan University placing
second with 75 points.
Calvin finished 24 points ahead of fourth place Wisconsin-Oshkosh which
entered Saturday's competition ranked seventh in the latest Division III
Top-25 poll.
The Knights were sparked by senior Camille Medema (Grand Rapids Christian HS)
who churned her way to a second place time of 18:45, finishing just one second
behind Rosa Alvarez of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Medema ran side-by-side with junior
teammate Lydia Singer (Wilmington, DE) for nearly the entire race and then took
off in a sprint in the final quarter-mile, nearly overtaking Alvarez at the
finish line.
"Camille and Lydia both ran fabulous races," said Calvin women's cross
country coach Nancy Meyer. "If Camille had another 25 yards left in her race,
I think she would have won it. I was extremely pleased with our entire team
this afternoon. To finish ahead of a nationally-ranked team like
Wisconsin-Oshkosh is a significant accomplishment and a big confidence booster
for a young team like ours."
Meyer's team features 10 first-year runners this fall and several delivered
standout performances on Saturday as freshman Calah Schlabach (St. Michael's,
Arizona) was Calvin's fourth runner with a time of 19:32 that was good for
31st place while freshman Kelly Edwards (Grand Blanc HS) was 57th (19:55) and
freshman Emily Arkus 63rd (20:07).
Senior Lindsay Rooney (Denver, CO) and junior Laura Holtrop (Derwood, MD) also
had stellar performances for the Knights as Rooney was 27th (19:26) and Holtrop
34th (19:35). Sophomore Christina Overbeck (Seattle, WA) ran stride-for-stride
with Arkus, finishing 64th with a time of 20:07.
"Our pack running was very good today," said Meyer. "Our freshmen class
really made a difference in that aspect. Our freshmen are very supportive
individuals and they want to help their teammates. They are great kids and
have really given our upperclass runners a big lift."
Both Calvin cross country teams return to action next Saturday when they host
an MIAA jamboree at their own Gainey Athletic Complex. Race time is set for
11:00 a.m.
MEN'S GOLF
ALMA - Calvin posted a sixth place team score of 311 strokes at the third MIAA
outing of the year. The outing was hosted by Alma Saturday at the Pine River
Country Club. The Knights finished three strokes behind Adrian and four
strokes behind Alma. The Knights are now five strokes behind Adrian in the
chase for fourth place in the overall MIAA team standings.
Hope took over first place in the overall standings with a first place score
of 291 Saturday, moving one stroke ahead of Tri-State which fired a team score
of 294 Saturday with Olivet third at 298.
Calvin's top individual on Saturday was junior Jeff TenBrink (Kalamazoo
Christian HS) who tied for seventh place in Saturday's outing with a round of
74. Joel Bickel of Tri-State was Saturday's medalist with a round of 68.
Rounding out Calvin's finishers on Saturday were junior Tim VanVugt
(Brookfield, WI) and freshman Brad Tindall (Vicksburg HS) with rounds of 78;
senior Ryan Fischer (North Haledon, NJ) with a round of 81 and senior Drew
Virkus (Kalamazoo Christian HS) with a round of 84.
Calvin returns to action next Wednesday when it competes at the fourth MIAA
outing of the year. The outing will be hosted by Kalamazoo College.
WOMEN'S GOLF
MARSHALL - Although Calvin did not post an official team score at the Olivet
College Invitational, the Knights still had a pair of solid two-day efforts.
Seniors Annie Huizenga (Unity Christian HS) and Margaret Tassaro (Carnegie, PA)
led the way as Huizenga tied for tied for seventh place with a two-day total of
175 (85-90) while Tassaro finished 21st with a two-day score of 194 (103-91).
Joining the tournament for Calvin on Saturday were junior Abby Stemler (Elk
River, MN) and freshmen Kately Farrell (Lakeview HS) and Juanita Gibson
(Detroit Renaissance HS). Stemler had a round of 109 on Saturday with Farrell
coming in at 117 and Gibson at 122.
Calvin returns to action next Tuesday .when it competes at an MIAA outing
hosted by Albion at the Medalist Golf Club.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Sep 17 23:47:14 2005
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