CSR (Women's Swimming & Diving Team Captures MIAA Title/Calvin Men 3rd)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 11, 2006 (PART THREE)

CALVIN WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING TEAM CAPTURES MIAA TITLE * CALVIN MEN TAKE THIRD

(Written by Calvin Sports Information Director Jeff Febus '92 and Calvin Sports Information Student Assistant Annalise VenHuizen'08)

JENISON * For the second consecutive year and for the fourth time in the last six years, the Calvin women's swimming and diving team is an MIAA champion.

On Saturday night at the Jenison Aquatic Center, the Knights put the finishing touches on the 2006 MIAA crown, finishing with a first place score of 621.5 points, more than 130 points ahead of runner-up Hope. The point total is the highest total ever produced by a Calvin team at the MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

On the men's side, Calvin fought off Albion and Kalamazoo to take third place with a score of 314 points, 20 points ahead of fourth place Kalamazoo and 21 points ahead of fifth place Albion. Olivet captured its first-ever men's title, posting a winning score of 559 points with Hope second with 532 points.

On the women's side, Calvin swept the Most Valuable Swimmer and Most Valuable Diver awards as junior Becky Weima of Grand Rapids Christian High School was named the MIAA's Most Valuable Swimmer for the third straight year while freshman Erica Deur of Holland Christian High School was named the MIAA's first-ever Most Valuable Diver.

On Saturday night, Weima posted her third MIAA record of the weekend in winning the 100 freestyle with an NCAA III automatic qualifying time of 50.95, breaking her own league and school record of 51.38 set in 2004. Weima also anchored Calvin's first place 400 freestyle relay team that took first place with an MIAA record and NCAA III automatic qualifying time of 3:30.73, breaking the previous record of 3:31.48 set last year by Calvin's quartet. Weima was joined on the winning relay by sophomore Kat Vinson (Kaneohe, HI), junior Liz Ingebrigtsen (Bensenville, IL) and sophomore Stephanie Duncan (Long Grove, IL). Vinson led off the relay with an NCAA III provisional qualifying (100 freestyle) time of 53.23.

A change of attitude helped Weima throughout the MIAA Championships. "The last night is always the hardest, but the atmosphere tonight was amazing. Our team was cheering us on so much," said Weima. "I think I had an attitude change this weekend. I decided what I wanted to do before I got in and each time I did it. I had my goals before I swam: to swim for God and do the best for the team."

Calvin junior Alex Wilson (Ellsworth, OH) also put the capper on a terrific weekend by winning the 200 breaststroke with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 2:25.45. On Thursday, Wilson clocked an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 1:06.78.

According to Wilson, Saturday's championship final in the 200 breaststroke was a struggle after three days of rugged competition. "I actually felt pretty horrible during the race. It's been a long weekend," said Wilson. "Tonight was a time just to gut it out, do what you can do, and it worked out. My teammates got me through it, and I want to give a lot of credit to them."

Wilson was part of a giant haul of points for Calvin in the 200 breaststroke as senior Laura Miersma (Holland Christian HS) was second (2:27.58), sophomore Sarah Abbott (East Grand Rapids HS) fifth (2:30.76) and junior Barbara Frazier (Placerville, CA) seventh (2:31.99).

Calvin also collected a large sum of points in the 100 freestyle with Weima first, Vinson second (53.29), Ingebrigtsen sixth (54.30), Duncan 10th (54.64), freshman Cara VanWoerkom (Calvin Christian HS) 11th (54.78 and freshman Julie Wolfe (Westerville, OH) 12th (54.89).

In the 200 backstroke, Calvin placed two swimmers in the top six with senior Abby Johnson (Grand Haven HS) third with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 2:09.36 while freshman Jordan Scott (Oakville, ON) was fourth (2:11.48).

One of the few seniors on Calvin's roster, Johnson has now been a part of three MIAA Championship teams in a four-year span. "It's exciting to have won the MIAA title," said Johnson. "It's the best feeling to have your team be on top. We all had an amazing year. I had some of my individual bests, but the team also had many best times and performances. That is what is exciting to me."

Head coach Dan Gelderloos has been at the helm of all four of Calvin's MIAA titles over the last six years and Saturday's finish left him extremely satisfied. "All of the women swam great and our divers were amazing too," said Gelderloos. "This weekend was one of those meets where everyone's clicking on all cylinders. From the get-go we were on a roll, and we just kept going and going. Everything came together for us over the last three days."

On the men's side, Calvin achieved a pre-season goal of finishing in third place after taking fourth the previous two years. "Third place was our goal all season long," said Gelderloos. "I think we got everything out of tonight that we possibly could, and I am very proud of the team's finish."

Calvin's strong finish was due in part by surprise performances by sophomores Joe Gluvers (Rocklin, CA) and John Boumgarden (Naperville, CA). Gluvers took second in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:59.14 while senior teammate Luke Bagnall (Marshalltown, IA) was fifth (2:00.13). Gluvers was seeded fifth heading into Saturday's championship final. Boumgarden was also seeded fifth in the 100 freestyle but came on with a surge of the final 25 years of Saturday's championship final to finish second in a time of 47.04.
"The 100 free was great and a lot of fun," said Boumgarden. "I went in there and wanted to race. After the race, my brother Peter (former All-MIAA swimmer) told me that I had a great swim and I should hold my head high. That felt good to hear him say that."

In the 400 freestyle relay, Bagnall and Boumgarden teamed up with juniors Andrew Resseguie (Holland Christian HS) and Peter Tuuk (Grand Rapids Christian HS) to place second with a season-best time of 3:09.53.

Calvin also received valuable points in the three-meter diving competition and in the 1,650 freestyle as freshman Jack Ryfiak (Grand Rapids Christian HS) was fourth on the three-meter board (378.70) while freshman Keith Conrad (Wheaton, IL) was fifth in the 1,650 freestyle (16:51.55).

Final MIAA WOMEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING STANDINGS
1. Calvin 621.5, 2. Hope 487, 3. Olivet 373, 4. Kalamazoo 274.50, 5. Albion 210, 6. Alma 89, 7. Saint Mary's 87.

FINAL MIAA MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING STANDINGS
1. Olivet 559, 2. Hope 532, 3. Calvin 314, 4. Kalamazoo 294, 5. Albion 293, 6. Alma 92

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sun Feb 12 00:25:40 2006