CSR (Calvin Track and Field Teams Vault Into 1st Place at MIAA Field Day)

From: Jeffrey Febus <jfebus@calvin.edu>
Date: Thu May 04 2006 - 22:14:54 EDT

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2006
(Written by Annalise VenHuizen '08)

Calvin Track and Field Teams Vault Into First Place at MIAA Field Day

TRACK AND FIELD

ALBION * It was a record-setting day for both the men’s and women’s track and field teams during the first day of competition MIAA Field Day Meet held at Albion College. The Calvin women are in the lead with 100.5 points, while the men also hold first place with 74 points.

On the women’s side, junior Katie Bolt (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian) broke the longest-standing All-Time MIAA record in the high jump, surpassing the previous record of 5’5 ¼” set in 1989 by Adrian’s Heidi Olsen and matched by Alma’s Mandy Paul in 1991 and Calvin’s Gwen Erffmeyer in 1996. Bolt’s 5’6” jump is also a NCAA Division III provisional qualifying jump. Calvin junior Lauren Colyn (Battle Creek/Kalamazoo Christian) placed second behind Bolt in the high jump with a mark of 5’4”.

Senior Missy Smith (Ada/Grand Rapids Christian) shattered the All-Time MIAA pole vault record of 12’4” with a NCAA Div. III automatic qualifying vault of 12’6”. The previous mark was reached by Smith and Adrain’s Amanda Haines in 2004. Smith’s set the Calvin record earlier this season with a 12’7” vault.

Calvin impressively swept the first through fourth place in the women’s long jump finals, with junior Lisa Winkle (Grand Rapids/South Christian) and senior Christine Hendricks (Cincinnati, OH/Turpin) provisionally qualified for nationals with their first and second place jumps of 18’5” and 18’3¼” respectively. In third and fourth were freshman Julie Bratt (Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian) and junior Kelly Zwier (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian), who jumped 17’11¾” and 17’4¼”.

Also gaining points for Calvin was junior Megann VanderVliet (Oakville, ON/Oakville Trafalgar) who placed first in the discus with a season-best and provisional qualifying throw of 142’2”.

The Calvin women went 1-3-6 in the 10,000 Meter Run as sophomore Christina Overbeck (Seattle,WA/Bellewe Christian) took first place with a strong 39:45.30 finish. Freshmen Kelly Edwards (Grand Blac/Grand Blac) and Kristin Haagsma (Grand Rapids/South Christian) finished third and sixth with times of 40:35.72 and 42:04.97, respectively.

In the 100 meter hurdle prelims, both sophomore Sarah Wittingen (East Grand Rapids/East Grand Rapids) and Hendricks gained provisional qualifying marks while gaining top two entry times for tomorrow’s finals. Winkle provisionally qualified for nationals with her season-best and top preliminary time of 25.10 in the 200 meter dash. Winkle also had the fastest preliminary run of the 400 meter dash (59.93), while Bolt qualified for finals with the second best time of 1:00.33. Calvin also took the top three preliminary times in the 800 meter run, with senior Camille Medema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian), senior Tracy Dykstra (Hudsonville/Unity Christian), and sophomore Lynn Marsh (North Vernon, IN/Jennings County) placing first, second, and third.

The Meckes brothers broke a couple of MIAA All-Time records on the men’s side, as junior Josh Meckes (Bay City/Lutheran Westland) placed first in the long jump with a season-best and NCAA Division III provisional qualifying 23’9½” jump, breaking the previous MIAA record of 23’8¾” that was set in 2002 by Albion’s Jared Owens. Senior Nate Meckes’s (Bay City/Lutheran Westland) 58’9” shot put throw set a new MIAA record (previously 56’3”) and a new Calvin record (previously 58’7½”), both of which he previously set last season. Meckes’s throw automatically qualifies him for nationals.

Giving Calvin a great boost in the meet standings was the Knights’ one-three-four finish in the 10000 meter run. Tim Finnegan (Los Alamos, NM/Home School) took first place with a finishing time of 31:44.75, while sophomore Jonathan Gries (King of Prussia, PA/Upper Marion Area) placed third (32:14.83) and senior Jesse Kleinjan (Chino, CA/Ontario Christian) took fourth (33:43.23).

Sophomore Kelby McClelland (Mercer, PA/Mercer Area) and senior Chris Friebel (Shelby,OH/Shelby) gave strong preliminary performances, collectively placing first in four events. McClelland gained the top seed for tomorrow’s finals in the 110 meter and 400 meter hurdles, while Friebel did so in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes. Friebel’s 200 meter dash time of 21.75 is a NCAA Div III provisional qualifying mark.

The Knights will complete MIAA Field Day competition tomorrow at Albion with the finals of the running events and the remaining field events, beginning at 10:00 am.

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES (after 5 events)
Calvin College 100.5
Hope College 47.5
Albion College 28
Alma College 15
Olivet College 4

MEN’S TEAM SCORES (after 5 events)
Calvin College 74
Albion College 60
Hope College 40
Tri-State University 8
Olivet College 7
Alma College 4
Adrian College 2

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu May 4 22:27:18 2006

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