Calvin Sports Report (Part Two) for May 20, 2007
Calvin Sending 15 to NCAA III Track & Field Championships
The Calvin men's and women's track and field teams will send a combined 15 athletes to the NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field championships this weekend. The Calvin men will send four individuals while the Calvin women will send 11.
The national meet will be hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The first day of competition is slated for Thursday, May 24. The final day of competition will be held on Saturday, May 26.
A year ago, the Calvin women finished fifth as a team with 40 points, one point out of third place and two points out of second place. Calvin also took second place in 2004 and 2005. The Calvin women have posted 14 consecutive top-20 national finishes and have six top-four national finishes during that span. The Calvin men took 18th place last year with a team score of 15.5 points. The Calvin men have posted 11 top-10 national finishes overall including three in the top four.
Both Calvin track and field teams captured MIAA titles this spring with the men winning their 14th straight league crown and the women their 18th straight league title.
A full schedule of this week's NCAA III Track and Field Championships can be found on the Wisconsin-Oshkosh web site at: http://www.titans.uwosh.edu/NCAATFChampionships/2007/EventSchedule.html.
Up-to-date meet results will be posted at: www.Raceberryjam.com.
The following is a biographical breakdown of the 15 individuals that will represent Calvin at the national meet this week.
Calvin's National Meet Track Teams
Calvin men
JED CHRISTIANSEN-A sophomore from Greenville, Pennsylvania (Greenville High School), Christiansen will be making his second consecutive trip to the NCAA III Championships in track and field. A two-time cross country All-American, Christiansen will compete in the 5,000 meters where he is seeded 11th (14:32.29). A year ago, Christiansen competed in the both the 10,000 meters (16th) and 5,000 meters (10th) at the national meet. Christiansen is also a two-time All-MIAA selection in track and field.
KELBY MCCLELLAND - A junior from Mercer, Pennsylvania (Mercer Area High School), McClelland is making his second straight trip to the NCAA III Championships and including his first as an individual. A year ago, he served as an alternate on Calvin's 4x400 meter relay team. McClelland will compete in the 110 high hurdles where he is seeded 17th (14.77). He is the first individual from Calvin to qualify for the national meet in the 110 high hurdles since Phil Sikkenga accomplished the feat in 2000. Earlier this spring, McClelland repeated as MIAA champion in both the 110 high hurdles and 400 hurdles and earned a spot on the All-MIAA team for the second straight year.
JOSH MECKES-A senior captain from Bay City City, Michigan (Saginaw Lutheran High School), Meckes will be making his fourth straight trip to the national meet and will compete in the long jump for the fourth straight year. Meckes is seed seventh in the long jump (23-10). Meckes was the MIAA runner-up in the long jump this spring and earned a spot on the All-MIAA team for the fourth straight year.
TODD SCHUSTER-A senior from Denver, Colorado (Denver Christian High School), Schuster is making his second straight trip to the national meet. A year ago, he qualified as a member of Calvin's 4x400 meter relay team. This year, Schuster will compete in the 800 meters where he is seeded 10th (1:51.98). A two-time All-MIAA selection in track and field, Schuster defended his league title in the 800 meters earlier this month.
Calvin women
LAUREN BERGSTROM-A sophomore from Rochester, Minnesota (Century High School), Bergstrom is making her second straight trip to the NCAA III Championships. She will compete in the 800 meters where she is seeded seventh (2:11.10). Bergstrom was the MIAA champion this spring in both the 800 and 1,500 meters and was a member of the All-MIAA team.
KATIE BOLT - A senior captain from Grand Rapids (Grand Rapids Christian High School), Bolt is making her third trip to the NCAA III Championships including her second straight. She will compete in the high jump where she is seeded third (5-7 1/4). Bolt was an All-American in the event at the 2004 (outdoor) national meet, taking sixth place. Earlier this spring, she captured the MIAA title in the high jump for the second straight year and landed a spot on the All-MIAA team for a fourth straight year. She was also the MIAA champion in the 400 meters. In addition, she was a member of Calvin's MIAA championship 4x400 meter relay team.
LAUREN COLYN -- A senior from Battle Creek (Kalamazoo Christian High School), Colyn is making her second trip to the NCAA III Championships including her first since her freshman year in 2004 when she placed 14th in the high jump. Colyn will again be competing in the high jump this week where she shares the top seed with a jump of 5-8.
KRISTEN KALB -- A senior Stow, Ohio (Stow Munroe Falls High School), Kalb is making her first-ever trip to the NCAA III Championships. She will compete in the javelin where she is seeded 17th (131-4). Earlier this spring, Kalb was the MIAA champion in the javelin and earned a spot on the All-MIAA team.
HEATHER KONING -- A freshman from Kalamazoo (Kalamazoo Christian High School), Koning is making her first-ever trip to the NCAA III Championships. She will be competiting as a member of Calvin's 4x400 meter relay team which is seeded second (3:45.57).
JOURDAN JOHNSON -- A freshman from Gales Ferry, Connecticut (Nedyard High School), Johnson is making her first-ever trip to the NCAA III Championships. She will be competiting as a member of Calvin's 4x400 meter relay team which is seeded second (3:45.57).
CHRISTINA OVERBECK-A junior captain from Seattle, Washington (Bellevue Christian High School), Overbeck is making her second straight trip to the NCAA III Championships. She will compete in the 10,000 meters where she is seeded seventh (35:53.17) and the 5,000 meters where she is seeded sixth (16:59.88). A year ago, Overbeck qualified for the national meet in the 10,000 meters and finished 13th. This fall, Overbeck earned All-America cross country honors, finishing sixth at the NCAA III Championships. This spring, Overbeck defended her MIAA champion in the 10,000 meters and landed a spot on the All-MIAA team for the second straight year.
CALAH SCHLABACH--A sophomore from St. Michaels, Arizona (St. Michaels High School), Schlabach is making her first trip to the NCAA III Championships. She will compete in the 3,000 meter steeplechase where she is seeded 13th (10:51.30). Earlier this month, Schlabach captured the MIAA title in the 5,000 meter run and landed a spot on the All-MIAA team.
MEGANN VANDERVLIET - A senior captain from Oakville, Ontario (Oakville Trafalger High School), VanderVliet is making her fourth straight trip to the NCAA III Championships. She will compete in both the shot put and discus. She is seeded 9th in the shot put (44-6) and fourth in the discus (151-1). VanderVliet is a two-time All-American in the shot put, finishing third at the 2005 NCAA III Championships and seventh at the 2006 national meet. She was also the MIAA Champion in the shot put and discus this spring and landed a spot on the All-MIAA team for a third straight year. In addition, she was named the MIAA's Most Outstanding Field Event Performer.
LISA WINKLE-A senior captain from Grand Rapids (Grand Rapids South Christian High School), Winkle is making her fourth straight trip to the NCAA III Championships. She will compete in the long jump and 400 meters and as a member of Calvin's 4x400 meter relay team. She is seeded second in the 400 meters (54.81) and third in the long jump (19-2). Winkle has been a part of five All-America relay teams at Calvin and has earned individual All-America accolades twice, finishing seventh in the long jump and fourth in the 400 meters last year. In 2004, she was part of 4x100 team that took fourth and a 4x400 team that took third. In 2005, she was part of a 4x400 team that took fourth. In 2006, she was part of a 4x100 meter relay team that was eighth and a 4x400 meter relay team that was fourth. A three-time All-MIAA selection, Winkle captured her third straight MIAA title in the long jump earlier this month. She was also a member of Calvin's MIAA championship 4x100 and 4x400 meter r!
elay teams.
SARAH WITTINGEN-A junior from East Grand Rapids (East Grand Rapids High School), Wittingen is making her third straight trip to the NCAA III Championships. She will compete in the 100 meter hurdles and 400 meter hurdles and as a member of Calvin's 4x400 meter relay team. She is the top seed in the 400 meter hurdles (1:00.64) and is the third seed in the 100 meter hurdles (14.28). Both times are Calvin records. Wittingen was a member of Calvin's All-America 4x400 meter and 4x100 meter relay teams last year and was an All-American in the 400 meter hurdles with a sixth place finish. She was also a part of Calvin's All-America 4x400 meter relay team that placed fourth at the 2005 NCAA III Championships. Earlier this month, she claimed league titles in both hurdle events and was a member of Calvin's MIAA championship 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay team. She was then named the MIAA's Most Outstanding Runner for the second straight year and landed a spot on the All-MIAA team for a th!
ird consecutive season.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sun May 20 22:49:57 2007
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Sun May 20 2007 - 22:49:57 EDT