CSR (Erica Deur Wins National Title on One-Meter Boad - Women's Swim/Diving Team In 3rd at NCAAs)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 8, 2007

Deur Captures National Title On One-Meter Board - Calvin Women In Third Place
After Day One of NCAA III Championships

WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

HOUSTON, TX -- A national championship performance and a pair of national
runner-up efforts have put the Calvin women's swimming and diving team in third
place after day one of the NCAA III Swimming and Diving Championships held at
the University of Houston.

Calvin sophomore Erica Deur of Holland Christian High School became just the
second diver in MIAA women's swimming and diving history to win a national
title, taking first place on the one-meter diving board with an NCAA III
Championships record total of 487.0 points. Deur joins Lynn Achterberg of
Kalamazoo as national champions from the MIAA on the women's side as Achterberg
was a national champion on the three-meter board in 1985. Deur finished nearly
16 points ahead of M.I.T.'s Doria Holbrook who took second with 470.10 points.
The previous NCAA III Championships record had been 455.20 set by Annie Cullen
of Concordia (MN) last year. The All-America berth was the third of Deur's
career as she was second on the one-meter board and sixth on the three-meter
board a year ago.

Senior Becky Weima (Grand Rapids Christian HS) also came up with a national
runner-up finish in the 50 freestyle, clocking in with a season-best time of
23.38 with Kenyon sophomore Elizabeth Carlton winning the race with an
impressive time of 23.15. Weima was one of two Calvin All-Americans in the 50
freestyle as freshman Katie White of Grand Rapids Christian HS taking seventh
with a time of 24.13.

Weima and White then combined with sophomore Cara VanWoerkom (Calvin Christian
HS) and junior Kat Vinson (Kaneohe, HI) to take second in the 200 freestyle
relay with a school-record time of 1:34.07. Calvin also scored in the 400
medley relay as the team of sophomore Jordan Scott (Oakville, ON), senior Alex
Wilson (Ellsworth, OH), sophomore Julie Wolfe (Westerville, OH) and Weima took
ninth in the consolation finals with a time of 3:57.04.

The set of performances has Calvin in third place with a team total of 104
points, one point behind second place Amherst (MA) and four points ahead of
fourth place Emory (GA). Kenyon (OH) leads the competition with 190 points.

"We had a fanastic day," said Calvin head swimming and diving coach Dan
Gelderloos. "Obviously Erica was the story of the night for our team. She was
terrific when she needed to be in the finals and we are all very proud of her.
Becky also had a great swim in the 50 freestyle. It was her best time of the
year and the swimmer from Kenyon had an unbelievably fast swim to win the race
so our hats are off to her."

Gelderloos was also pleased with the way his young freshman Katie White stepped
to the plate in her first nationals appearance. "Katie had a very strong
nationals debut," said Gelderloos. "Swimming at a national meet for the very
first time is never easy and to finish as an All-American in your first
individual race is pretty special."

Finally, Gelderloos was pleased with the performances of his two relay teams.
"If you want to finish high as a team at a national meet, you have to pull in
the relay points and we did that tonight," he said. "Our 200 freestyle relay
team got the night off with a bang and a fabulous race and our 400 medly relay
team had a very strong finish this evening, moving up a couple of spots from
its morning performance in the prelims."

Calvin will now prepare for day two of the national meet. Weima is scheduled to
compete in the 200 freestyle where she is the two-time defending national
champion. Calvin will also have three individuals competing in the 100
breaststroke as White is seeded second in the event, Wilson seeded fourth and
freshman Emily Roberts (DeKalb, IL) seeded 17th.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Mar 8 22:53:01 2007