CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MAY 3, 2007
DAY ONE REPORT FROM MIAA FIELD DAY
(Full Meet Results and Team Standings at:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mtrckfld/Results07/MIAAFieldDayResultsDayOne.htm)
MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
(Written by Colin McWhertor '08)
GRAND RAPIDS - The 116th annual men’s MIAA Championship for Track and Field
began Thursday with Calvin College serving as the host school. Day one of the
2007 Championships started off well for the Knights with the field events and
the preliminary races. After the first day, Calvin sits in third place in the
men’s standings with 48.5 points. Albion College is in the lead with 56.5
points and Hope College stands in second with 50 points.
Albion built a first place lead on the strength of its field events on
Thursday as senior Jason Bowman won the long jump (23-3 3/4) while senior
teammate Kyle Robinson was a winner in the shot put (49-7 1/4). Albion picked
up 19 of its points in the shot put as Evan Walters was third (47-11 3/4),
Michael Culliver seventh (44-8 1/4) and Brian Leighton eighth (42-10 1/4).
Hope picked up a win from senior Scott Langille in the pole vault with an NCAA
III provisional qualifying height of 15-1 while teammate Kyle Smith was second
(13-11 3/4). Hope also had a strong day in the javelin with Andrew Denninger
winning with an NCAA III provisional qualifying throw of 190-3 while teammate
Nate VandeGuchte was third (156-5). Matthew Gordon of Albion was second
(177-8).
For Calvin, Senior Josh Meckes (Bay City) was one of several athletes to shine
in the field events. Meckes competed in the long jump, the shot-put, and the
javelin on Thursday and gained points for Calvin in all three events. In the
long jump, Meckes placed second overall by jumping 23 feet 1 ¼ inches. Meckes
then joined the shot put throwers and placed fifth overall (46 feet 2 ¾ inches)
and finished up his day by tossing the javelin 148 feet 4 inches, good for
sixth place in the event.
Another strong performance from a Calvin athlete in the shot put came from
junior Ryan Jensen (Northview), who placed second with a throw of 48 feet 3 ¼
inches. The throw was a personal best for Jensen.
Other performances of note on the field for Calvin on Thursday included junior
Kelby McClelland (Mercer, PA) placing seventh in the long jump with a distance
of 20 feet 9 ¾ inches and senior Eric DeVries (Unity Christian) who tied for
fifth in the pole vault at a height of 12 feet 5 ½ inches.
On the track, the Knights sent a total of sixteen runners through the
preliminaries and into the finals of events to be run on Friday.
McClelland and freshman Nathan Musch (Ypsilanti) both qualified in the 110
Meter Hurdles with matching times of 15.24 seconds. In the 100 Meter Dash,
freshman Jonathan Repeta (Hoffman Estates, IL) qualified for day two by running
11.07 seconds.
The Knights placed three runners in the finals of the 400 Meter Dash as
juniors Joel Baker (Kalamazoo Christian - 49.01sec) and Jared Cok (Bozeman, MT
- 49.51sec) joined sophomore Brad Stroner (Woodland - 50.17sec) in the top
finishers Thursday. All three of those runners also qualified in the 200 Meter
Dash with Baker in at 22.10 seconds, Stroner at 22.23 seconds, and Cok at 22.52
seconds.
In the 400 Meter Hurdles, McClelland (57.92sec), Musch (58.78sec) and DeVries
(59.59sec) all advanced to the Friday finals. The 800 Meter Run had four
Calvin athletes advance as senior Todd Schuster (Denver, CO - 1:58.59), juniors
Brian Wilmarth (Chatham, IL - 1:59.29) and Tad Hulst (Zeeland - 1:57.38), and
sophomore Joe Holtrop (Calvin Christian - 1:58.89) all made the cut.
The first day of action was completed with the 10,000 Meter Run, the only
final running event of the first day. Calvin had a strong showing in the 10k
as sophomore Eric Van Kampen (Elmhurst, IL) took the victory with a time of 32:
43.97. Behind him was sophomore Andrew Stutzman (Kutztown, PA) with a time of
32:54.78 in second place and freshman Kyle Mast (Holland Christian) in fifth
place with a time of 33:34.48.
Day two of the MIAA Championships begins at 10:00 am Friday with field events.
The men will compete in the Triple Jump, Discus and High Jump. Running finals
begin at 1:30pm beginning with the Steeplechase.
WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
(written by Bruce VanBaren '09)
After the field event finals and track preliminaries, the women’s track and
field team has a commanding lead in the MIAA Championships as the Knights have
a first day total of 102 points, more than 52 points ahead of second place Hope
(49.5 points). The Knights picked up four of five possible first place
finishes and won six qualifying heats in the track preliminaries.
“For the first day of prelims we did very well,” said Senior Lisa Winkle
(Grand Rapids/ South Christian). “We got a few more qualifiers than what we
were hoping for. Prelims are more for place than time, but we still got good
times. It was a great first day.”
It was also a good day for Winkle individually, winning three events. She won
her second consecutive MIAA title in the long jump with a distance of
18’8.25” as the Knights finished with four of the top five spots.
Sophomore Julie Bratt (Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian) and Senior Kelly Zwier-
Janke (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian) finished second and third respectively.
Freshman Amanda Leese (Charlevoix/Central Lake) finished fifth.
The Knights finished one-two in the 10,000 meter. Junior Christina Overbeck
(Seattle, WA/Bellewe Christian) took off from the front three on the final lap
to win the event with a time of 38:57 and Junior Lynn Marsh (North Vernon,
IN/Jennings County) finished just behind her with a time of 39:01. Emily Arkus
(Tinley Park, IL/Victor J. Andrew) finished fifth and Jenny Zylstra (Lombard,
IL/Timothy Christian) finished seventh.
Calvin took the top two spots in the discus throw as well. Senior Megann
VanderVliet (Oakville, ON, Canada/Oakville Trafalgar) won the event with a
distance of 148’1” and Junior Rachel Vander Wiele (Saugatuck/Holland
Christian) took second with a distance of 126’10”. Freshman Leigha Oberle
(Grand Rapids/ Grand Rapids Christian) finished fourth.
In other final events, Senior Katie Bolt (Grand Rapids/ Grand Rapids
Christian) won the high jump for the second straight year, clearing the bar
with an NCAA III provisional qualifying mark of 5-6. Hope's Christina Lis also
had an NCAA III provisional qualifying jump of 5-6 but took second on more
attempts. Calvin senior Lauren Colyn (Kalamazoo Christian HS) finished in third
place with a height of 5’5”.
In the women’s pole vault, senior Valerie Thompson (Franklin,
MA/Whitinsville Christian) and Carla Lindemulder (Lansing, IL/ Illiana
Christian) were Calvin’s top finishers tying for third place reaching
10.5,’ a personal best for Lindemulder. Thompson received the six third
place points and Lindemulder the four fifth place points Joy Leach finished
seventh. Hope went 1-2 in the event with senior Jen VanderMeer winning the
event with an NCAA III provisional qualifying height of 12-3 while teammate
Leah Koopmans was second with a height of 11-0.
Outstanding performances by Winkle and Junior Sarah Wittingen (East Grand
Rapids/East Grand Rapids) highlighted the track prelims. Winkle won the 100
meter dash prelim with a personal best time of 12.52 seconds and topped the
field in heat one of the 200 meter dash with a time of 26.74 seconds. Also
qualifying in those events for the Knights with second place finishes were
Freshman Jourden Johnson (Gales Ferry, CT/Nedyard) in the 100 meter dash and
Junior Sarah Weller (Wyoming/ Calvin Christian) in the 200 meter dash. Johnson
won the second heat in the 200 meter dash prelim to qualify as well.
Meanwhile, Wittingen set an MIAA and Calvin record in the 100 meter hurdles
with an NCAA III automatic qualifying time of 14.28 seconds. She also won
first heat of the 400 hurdles prelims with a time of 1:06.83. Wittingen was
Calvin’s only qualifier in both hurdle events.
In the 400 meter dash, the Knights qualified Bolt and Freshman Heather Koning
(Kalamazoo/ Kalamazoo Christian) who won their respective heats (58.76 seconds
and 59.46 seconds) and Weller who finished third.
Sophomore Lauren Bergstrom (Rochester, MN/Rochester Century) topped the field
in the 800 meter with a time of 2:22.95. She was one of three Knights to
qualify for tomorrows finals. Freshman Nicole Farr (Warrenville,
IL/Warrenville South) finished third in the first heat and Sophomore Laura
Jackson (Decatur, IL/St. Teresa) finished second in the second heat.
“Our goal is to win tomorrow,” Winkle said. “If we don’t win tomorrow
it will be a disappointment. So far there have been strong performances and
the women have really stepped up. I’m confident we’ll have strong
performances tomorrow.”
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu May 3 22:06:00 2007
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