CSR (Men's And Women's Tennis Recaps From Kalamazoo/St. Mary's/Track and Field Teams Win at Albion)

WEEKEND CALVIN SPORTS WRAP FOR April 22, 2006

Men's Tennis Drops Two To Nationally-Ranked Teams;
Women's Tennis Tops St. Mary's/Falls to Indiana Wesleyan;
Track and Field Teams Wrap Up MIAA Dual Meet Crowns - Jensen Resets School Record in Hammer Throw

MEN'S TENNIS
(Written by Drew DeVries '08)
Coe College 4, Calvin 3
Kalamazoo 9, Calvin 0

KALAMAZOO - It was a tough day for the Knights as Calvin played against 24th ranked Coe College followed by 13th ranked and conference leader Kalamazoo at Stowe Stadium.

Calvin began the first match by winning two of the three doubles sets with a near comeback in the third. In singles play, the Knights took two out of five but showed some impressive play. Senior Rafael Siebenschein (Wuerenlos, Switzerland/Lyndon Christian) played great winning his sets 6-0 and 6-0 to pick up his twelfth straight match win. Freshman Marcus Zielstra (Oak Brook, IL/Timothy Christian) overcame a 4-6 first set loss to win his match by winning the next two sets 7-5 and 7-6.

Head Coach John Ross was pleased with his team's performance against Coe College. "I was pleased with getting the doubles point. We played well and Ricky Tilton had chances to close out his match that would have given us the win but Coe's a good team. But we had great performances from Marcus and Rafael."

SINGLES: Ryan Yao (Coe) d. Ricky Milton 4-6, 6-0, 6-4; 2. Rafael Siebenschein (C) d. Chris Paasoh 6-0, 6-0; 3. Marcus Zielstra (C) d. Chad Evans 4-6, 7-5, 7-6; 4. TJ Leicht (Coe) d. Ryan DeNooyer 6-4, 6-1; 5. Jake Michael (Coe) d. Dan Volkema 6-2, 6-4; 6. Joey Lenkelma (Coe) d. Mike Goorhouse 6-1, 6-1.

DOUBLES: Tilton/Zielstra (C) d. Paasoh/Zesbib 8-5; 2. Yao/Michael (Coe) d. Siebenschein/Goorhouse 9-7; Volkema/Sneller (C) d. Leicht/Lenkelma 8-5.

Following a close loss to Coe College, Kalamazoo proved to be too much for the Knights. The Hornets swept the board by winning all the singles and doubles sets to defeat Calvin 9-0. Kalamazoo showed they belong atop the MIAA standings and also had knocked off Coe College 7-0 earlier in the day.

Coach Ross acknowledged the strength of the Kalamazoo team, "We're trying to get to the top 8 (in the region) but we have a ways to go to get up there and we also have a ways to go to get up to the level where Kalamazoo is."

Calvin (13-5 Overall, 4-1 MIAA) will now look for a win as they host Alma on Tuesday at 4:00 pm in order to gain momentum heading into the MIAA Championships next weekend back at Stowe Stadium.

SINGLES: Julian Seelan (K) d. Ricky Tilton 6-1, 6-2; 2. Dave Atallah (K) d. Rafael Siebenschein 6-1, 6-3; 3. Alec Kempster (K) d. Marcus Zielstra 6-1, 6-2; 4. Tim Hubbard (K) d. Ryan DeNooyer 6-1, 6-0; 5. Matt Wise (K) d. Dan Volkema 6-2, 7-5; 6. Luke Maiker (K) d. Goorhouse 6-0, 6-1.

DOUBLES: Seelan/Hubbard (K) d. Tilton/Zielstra 6-0, 6-1; 2. Atallah/Brown (K) d. Siebenschein/Goorhouse 6-0, 5-7, 6-2; 3. Riley/Kempster (K) d. Volkema/Sneller 6-3, 7-5

MIAA MEN'S TENNIS DUAL MATCH STANDINGS THROUGH 4-22-06

Kalamazoo 6-0
Calvin 4-1
Hope 4-2
Albion 2-3
Alma 2-3
Adrian 1-5
Tri-State 0-5

WOMEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 8, St. Mary's 1
Indiana Wesleyan 6, Calvin 3

SOUTH BEND, IN * Calvin picked up an important 8-1 victory at St. Mary's College Saturday afternoon, improving to 5-2 in MIAA dual match competition. The victory puts Calvin in position to finish in a tie for second place in the MIAA dual match standings heading into the MIAA Tournament April 28 and 29 at Hope College. Calvin also suffered a 6-3 non-conference loss on Saturday at St. Mary's to Indiana Wesleyan University. The Knights are now 11-8 overall and return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Tri-State for their final conference dual match of the year. Tuesday's match will begin at 4:00 p.m.

Calvin 8, St. Mary's 1
At South Bend, IN

SINGLES*1. Amy Zeilstra (C) d. Kristen Palombo 6-4, 7-5; 2. Kelly McDavitt (SM) d. Emily Oosterhouse 6-1, 6-3; 3. Annie Huizenga (C) d. Calie Mulcahy 6-3, 6-4; 4. Kari Lipinski (C) d. Mary Elizabeth Campbell 6-1, 6-0; 5. Allyson Logan (C) d. Tara O'Brien 6-2, 6-1; 6. Kim Bosscher (C) d. Melissa Dingler 6-2, 6-4.

DOUBLES*1. Zeilstra/Oosterhouse (C) d. McDavitt/Mulcahy 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; 2. Huizenga/Lipinski (C) d. Palombo/Grace Gordon 6-2, 6-3; 3. Logan/Bosscher (C) d. Campbell/O'Brien 6-3, 6-1.

Indian Wesleyan 6, Calvin 3
At South Bend, IN

SINGLES*1. Sarah Bauss (IW) d. Amy Zeilstra 6-2, 6-0; 2. Erin Neuenschwander (IW) d. Emily Oosterhouse 6-2, 6-4; 3. Annie Huizenga (C) d. Julia Hedgebeth 7-6 (5), 6-4; 4. Shannon Gehrke (IW) d. Kari Lipinski 3-6, 6-3, 10-7; 5. Kristi Haddad (IW) d. Allyson Logan 7-5, 6-3; 6. Brittany Raymond (IW) d. Kristina Plaisier 6-2, 6-1.

DOUBLES*1. Neuenschwander/Bauss (IW) d. Zeilstra/Oosterhouse 8-3; 2. Huizenga/Lipinski (C) d. Gehrke/Raymond 8-6; 3. Logan/Bosscher (C) d. Hedgebeth/Laura Helm 8-5.

MIAA WOMEN'S TENNIS DUAL MATCH STANDINGS THROUGH 4-22-06

Albion 7-0
Calvin 5-2
Kalamazoo 5-2
St. Mary's 5-3
Hope 4-3
Olivet 2-4
Tri-State 2-4
Alma 1-6
Adrian 0-7

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

ALBION -- The Calvin men's and women's completed undefeated MIAA dual meet seasons on Saturday as both teams defeated Olivet and Albion at Albion's Isaac Track Complex. In the men's competition, Calvin defeated Albion 116.5-75.5 and Olivet 148-39. In the women's competition, Calvin defeated Albion 124-66 and Olivet 142-32. Both Calvin teams finish the MIAA dual meet season with 6-0 records. The MIAA dual meet season makes up one half of the final MIAA crown with the MIAA Field Day making up the remaining half. The MIAA Field Day will be hosted by Albion May 4 and 5.

In defeating Albion and Olivet, the Calvin women's track and field team extended its MIAA dual meet win streak to 83 dating all the way back to 1989.

In the women's meet, junior Lisa Winkle had a big afternoon, winning the 200 meters (25.41) and 400 meters (58.89) with season-best times. Her time in the 200 meters was just four hundredths of a second off an NCAA III provisional qualifying time. In addition, Winkle won the long jump with a season-best and NCAA III provisional qualifying ,mark of 18-4. Winkle was part of a 1-2-3-4 Calvin finish in the long jump with senior Christine Hendricks (Cincinnati, OH) taking second (17-2 ½), junior Kelly Zwier (Kalamazoo Christian HS) taking third (16-11) and freshman Julie Bratt (Lynden, WA) taking fourth (16-9).

In the triple jump, Calvin went 1-2 with junior Lorilyn Vogel (Orange City, IA) winning with a leap of 36-10 ½ while Bratt was second with a season-best leap of 36-3 ½.

Calvin also flashed an impressive 1-2-3 finish in the 800 meters with senior Camille Medema (Grand Rapids Christian HS) winning the race with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 2:14.41 while freshman Lauren Bergstrom (Rochester, MN) was in second and senior Tracy Dykstra (Unity Christian HS) in third with respective season-best times of 2:16.77 and 2:25.28.

Sophomore Sarah Wittingen (East Grand Rapids HS) also had a blazing time of 14.20 to win the 100 meter hurdles. Her time was not an NCAA III qualifying effort however as her performance was hand-timed.

Junior Megann VanderVliet just missed an NCAA III provisional qualifying mark in winning the discus with a throw of 135-7 while also winning the shot put with a throw of 42-6 ½. VanderVliet led a 1-2-4 Calvin finish in the shot put with freshman Ashley Glover (Northview HS) uncorking a season-best throw of 39-4 to take second and sophomore Brooke Baechler (White Pigeon) tossing a season-best mark of 36-9 to place fourth.

Other first place finishes for the Calvin women on Saturday included junior Katie Bolt (Grand Rapids Christian HS) in the high jump (5-2), senior Missy Smith (Grand Rapids Christian HS) in the pole vault (11-0), freshman Anne Fennema () in the 1,500 meters (4:55.74), junior Lydia Singer (Wilmington, DE/Hillcrest Academy) in the 5,000 meters (18:10.49), freshman Calah Schlabach (St. Michaels, AZ) in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (11:41.05). The times by Singer and Schlabach were both season-best efforts. Calvin's 4x100 meter relay team of junior Lisa Geelhoed (Grand Rapids Christian HS), Vogel, Wittingen and Winkle also took first place with a time of 48.92.

On the men's side, Calvin handed Albion its only dual meet loss of the season by winning several key head-to-head matchups throughout the meet.

One event that was not scored but was certainly a big highlight was the men's hammer throw exhibition where sophomore Ryan Jensen whipped out a school record and NCAA III provisional qualifying throw of 176-3. Jensen had a fabulous series of throws, recording marks of 163'00", 159'07", 171'01" and finally 176'03". Three of the four marks surpassed his previous school record of 157-11.

Calvin's success in the throwing events played a pivotal role in helping the Knights hold off the host Britons with the brother tandem of senior Nate Meckes (Bay City) and junior Josh Meckes (Bay City) paving the way. Nate Meckes took first place in the shot put with a throw of 56-9 while Josh Meckes was third with a season-best mark of 48-0. Josh sat in fifth place with just one throw left before unleashing his season-best performance. In the discus, Nate Meckes took first place with a throw of 172-11. Freshman Kyle Cherney (Gallup, NM) also came up big with a season-best throw of 167-8 to place second in the javelin while junior Eric DeVries (Unity Christian HS) was fourth (140-1).

In the long jump, Josh Meckes led a 1-3 Calvin finish with a season-best and first place jump of 22-10 while sophomore Luke Allison (Lakeville, MN) was third with a jump of 21-10 ½.

In the high jump, Calvin freshman Michael Buist (Calvin Christian HS) won a key event, taking first place with a height of 6-6. In another important showdown, Calvin junior Todd Schuster (Denver, CO) won the 800 meters with a season-best time of 1:56.36. And in yet another key event, senior Chris Friebel (Shelby, OH) took first place with a career-best and NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 21.70.

Distance events were also huge for the Knights as they swept the top three spots in the 1,500 meters, 3,000 meter steeplechase and in the 5,000 meters. Freshman Jed Christiansen (Greenville, PA) led the sweep in the 1,500 meters with a season-best time of 3:57.89 with senior teammate Tyler Zwagerman (Holland Christian HS) close behind in second place with a season-best time of 3:58.68. In the 3,000 meter steeplechase, freshman Nate DeHaan (South Christian HS) led the way with a career-best and first place time of 9:35.63. In the 5,000 meters, junior Tim Finnegan (Los Alamos, NM) clocked in with a first place time of 15:14.49.

Sophomore Kelby McClelland (Mercer, PA) also produced a fine afternoon, winning the 110 meter hurdles (15.26) and 400 meter hurdles (55.61) with season-best times. Calvin's 4x400 meter relay team of Schuster, sophomore Jared Cok (Bozeman, MT), Friebel and sophomore Joel Baker (Kalamazoo Christian HS) also had a season-best and first place time of 3:19.39. Calvin's pole vault crew also had a solid day with senior Brian DeKorne (Grand Rapids Christian HS) taking first (13-0 ¼), freshman Mike VandenBerg (Grand Rapids Christian HS) taking second (12-6) and senior Chris Becker (Reading, PA) taking third (12-0).

Both Calvin track and field teams will now prepare for the Hillsdale "Gina" Relays this coming Friday and Saturday (April 28 and 29).

FINAL MIAA MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD DUAL MEET STANDINGS

Calvin 6-0
Albion 5-1
Hope 4-2
Olivet 3-3
Alma 2-4
Tri-State 1-5
Adrian 0-6

FINAL MIAA WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD DUAL MEET STANDINGS

Calvin 6-0
Hope 5-1
Albion 4-2
Alma 3-3
Olivet 2-4
Adrian 1-5
Tri-State 0-6

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sun Apr 23 16:57:00 2006