CALVIN WEEKEND SPORTS WRAP FOR MARCH 18, 2006
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Teams Open Outdoor Campaigns;
Women’s Tennis Team Picks Up First Win of the Season;
Softball Drops Season Opener to Dickenson State
Baseball Swept by Williams
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
MEMPHIS, TN * It must have been the shoes. After arriving at at Rhodes College to compete in the Rhodes Open Track and Field Invitational Saturday morning, Calvin College sophomore thrower Ryan Jensen of Grand Rapids Northview High School reached into his travel bag and found his throwing shoes cracked and torn from his last workout. Needing a pair to compete, Jensen borrowed a dusty old pair of shoes from Calvin throwing coach Norm Zylstra. The shoes had formerly belong to 1999 Calvin graduate Nate Kuipers. Using the old shoes, Jensen went out and broke Kuipers’ school record in the hammer throw on Saturday with a throw of 149-0. The previous record of 144-8 was established by Kuipers in 1998.
“I don’t think those shoes had been washed since the last time they were used,” said Zylstra. “But obviously they still worked. Starting out the season with a school record is pretty impressive. I think we’ll continue to see good things from Ryan the rest of this spring.”
Jensen was part of a Calvin throwing contingent that posted several sterling efforts on Saturday. In addition to his school record toss in the hammer, Jensen also took 10th in the discus (136-6). Senior Nate Meckes (Bay City, MI) also opened his 2006 outdoor season on a strong note, posting NCAA III provisional qualifying marks in both the shot put and discus. Meckes captured the discus with a huge throw of 180-2 while placing second in the shot put with a toss of 54-2. Senior Justin Grasmeyer (Norwalk, CA) also had a strong effort in the men’s discus, placing fourth with a throw of 158-3.
On the women’s side, junior Megann VanderVliet (Oakville, ON) took fourth with a strong NCAA III provisional qualifying throw of 43-6 ½.
Field events were a strength for both Calvin teams on Saturday.
In the women’s high jump, junior Katie Bolt (Grand Rapids Christian HS) took first place with an NCAA III provisional qualifying jump of 5-5. Battling a strong head wind, senior Missy Smith (Grand Rapids Christian HS) still managed to win the pole vault with an NCAA III provisional qualifying height of 11-6.
In the women’s triple jump, junior Lorilyn Vogel (Orange City, IA) took first place with a strong season-opening jump of 36-0 while senior Tim Zwiers (Pella, IA) won the men’s triple jump with a leap of 43-11 ¼.
In the women’s long jump, Calvin took three of the top five spots with junior Kelly Zwier (Kalamazoo Christian HS) winning with a leap of 17-7 ¾ while freshman teammate Julie Bratt (Lynden, WA) was fourth (17-1 ¼) and senior teammate Christine Henricks (Cincinnati, OH) fifth (17-0 ½). A two-time All-American in the heptathlon, Hendricks was also eighth in the shot put (37-5 ¾) and second in the 100 meter hurdles (15.91). Sophomore teammate Sarah Wittingen (East Grand Rapids HS) won the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 15.63. Wittingen also joined junior Lisa Winkle (South Christian HS), Bolt and freshman Lauren Bergstrom (Rochester, MN) to win the 4x400 meter relay with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 3:57.45. Bergstrom added a second place finish in the 400 meters (59.17).
On the men’s side, Calvin’s 4x400 meter relay team of freshman Brad Stroner (Lakewood Lake Odessa HS), sophomore Jared Cok (Manhattan, MT), senior Brian VanDyken (Grand Rapids Christian HS) and sophomore Joel Baker (Kalamazoo Christian HS) took second with a time of 3:24.10.
Senior Camille Medema (Grand Rapids Christian HS) also had a big afternoon, winning the 800 meters (2:17.62) and the 1,500 meters (4:42.31). Medema led a strong group of Calvin distance runners with junior Laura Holtrop taking second in the 5,000 meters (18:24.67) and sophomore Christina Overbeck (Seattle, WA) taking third (18:26.91). On the men’s side, freshman Jed Christiansen (Greenville, PA) led a 1-2-3-4-5-6 Calvin finish in the 5,000 meters, winning with a time of 14:52.91 while junior Tim Finnegan (Los Alamos, NM) was second, senior Harrison Jorritsma (Beamsville, ON) third, sophomore Jon Gries (King of Prussia, PA) fourth, senior Tyler Zwagerman (Holland Christian HS) fifth and sophomore Tad Hulst (Zeeland HS) sixth.
As a team, the Calvin women took first place in a field of 11 teams, finishing with a score of 160 points, four points ahead of second place Memphis. The Calvin men took third in a field of 11 teams, recording a score of 135 points with Memphis first with 186 and the University of Missouri-Rolla second with 182.
Women - Team Rankings
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1) Calvin College 160
2) Memphis 156
3) Central Arkansas 71
4) Southeast Missouri State 66
5) Rhodes 59.5
6) Missouri-Rolla 49
7) Ole Miss 46.5
8) Mississippi College 32
9) Hendrix College 24
10) Knox College 13
11) UW Parkside 10
Men - Team Rankings
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1) Memphis 186
2) Missouri-Rolla 182
3) Calvin College 135
4) Ole Miss 48
5) Southeast Missouri State 44
6) Rhodes 42
7) Mississippi College 34
8) Knox College 9
9) Central Arkansas 8
10) Hendrix College 4
11) Christian Brothers Univ. 2
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Calvin 9, Otterbein 0
ORLANDO, FL * The Calvin women’s tennis team picked up its first victory of the year on the first day of its spring break trip to Orlando, Florida, defeating Otterbein College 9-0 Saturday afternoon. Calvin had dropped its two prior matches by 5-4 decisions but on Saturday left little doubt of the final outcome of the match, winning all six singles flights in two set matches while also sweeping the three doubles flights.
The Knights (1-4) return to action on Monday when they face Trinity of Connecticut at noon.
Calvin College 9, Otterbein College 0
Mar 18, 2006 at Orlando, Fla.
Singles competition
1. Amy Zeilstra (CALVIN-W) def. Kelly Fischer (OTT) 6-1, 6-3
2. Annie Huizenga (CALVIN-W) def. Ashley Tackett (OTT) 6-3, 6-3
3. Emily Oosterhouse (CALVIN-W) def. Sheridan Carr (OTT) 7-6 (7-4), 6-0
4. Kari Lipinski (CALVIN-W) def. Lianne Simeone (OTT) 6-4, 6-1
5. Allyson Logan (CALVIN-W) def. Rachel Kerr (OTT) 6-0, 6-3
6. Kim Bosscher (CALVIN-W) def. Jacalyn Crecelius (OTT) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Emily Oosterhouse/Amy Zeilstra (CALVIN-W) def. Kelly Fischer/Sheridan Carr (OTT) 9-7
2. Annie Huizenga/Kari Lipinski (CALVIN-W) def. Bianca Speranza/Ashley Tackett (OTT) 8-0
3. Allyson Logan/Kim Bosscher (CALVIN-W) def. Shannon Carr/Rachel Kerr (OTT) 8-0
SOFTBALL
Dickinson State 10, Calvin 2
TUCSON, AZ * Calvin ran into a red-hot Dickinson State team from South Dakota on Saturday in its season opener, falling 10-2 in a game shortened to five innings because of the mercy rule.
The victory was the 11th consecutive win for Dickinson State which was on the tail end of its spring break trip through Arizona.
Calvin took an early 1-0 lead as freshman Mallory Scholten (Grand Rapids Christian HS) reached base on a fielder’s choice and scored on an error but Dickinson State countered with seven runs in the bottom of the first, using four hits, two walks and an error. Dawn Dunsmore had the big blow for the Blue Hawks, belting a three-run homer.
Calvin came back with a run in the fourth on an RBI single by freshman Brittany Moriarity (Muskegon Mona Shores HS) that scored sophomore Sam Ehlert (Rockford HS) who led off the inning with a hit. Dickinson State came back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and one in the fifth to end the game early.
Dickinson State finished the game with 11 hits while Calvin had six. Junior Ruth Anna Spooner (Twin Falls, ID) took the loss for Calvin, striking out three and walking four.
Calvin returns to action on Monday when it faces Manchester of Indiana at 10:00 am and William Jewell College at 2:00 p.m.
BASEBALL
Williams 8, Calvin 4
Williams 8, Calvin 3
MESA, AZ * Calvin suffered a pair of hard-luck losses to Williams College of Massachusetts Saturday afternoon in the season openers for both teams. In game one of a twinbill, the Knights dropped an 8-4 decision as Williams broke a 4-4 tie with four runs in the top of the seventh.
In game two, Calvin held a 3-2 lead but saw the lead vanish when the Ephs scored six times in the bottom of the fifth to pull away for the win.
No other details were available from Saturday’s action.
Calvin returns to play on Monday when it faces the University of Chicago in a pair of seven-inning games with first pitch set for 11:00 a.m. at the complex of the Milwaukee Brewers in Chandler, Arizona.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sun Mar 19 22:00:12 2006
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