CSR (Women's Swimming and Diving Takes Eighth Place at NCAA III Championships)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 15, 2008 (PART TWO)

Women's Swimming and Diving Takes Eighth Place At NCAA III Championships

WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

OXFORD, OH -- Fueled by a pair of All-America performances and two honorable mention All-America efforts, the Calvin women's swimming and diving team finished in eighth place at the NCAA III Women's Swimming And Diving championships which concluded Saturday night on the campus of the University of Miami of Ohio.

Calvin concluded the three-day tournament with 140 points, recording its fourth consecutive top 10 national finish. Kenyon College repeated as national champions with 566.5 points, outdistancing runner-up Amherst by more than 200 points. Calvin finished eight points ahead of ninth place DePauw and 28 points behind seventh place Middlebury College.

Junior Erica Deur of Holland Christian High School led the way with a fifth place finish on the three-meter diving board with a score of 479.80 points. The finish marked the sixth All-America berth of Deur's Calvin career and her third straight on the three-meter board. Kendall Swett of Tufts College captured the national title on the three-meter board with an NCAA III Championships record point total of 509.30.

"Erica had another strong performance," said Calvin women's swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "The (diving) competition this year was very stiff and she showed she belongs with the top divers in the country. To be a six-time All-American as a diver is incredible."

Also claiming NCAA III All-America honors for the Calvin women on Friday were sophomore Maggie Vail of Portage Northern High School who powered her way to a sixth place finish in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:23.45. It marked the first All-America berth of Vail's collegiate career.

Vail advanced to Saturday's championship finals in dramatic fashion, winning a swim off with Kel Norsworthy of Colby College. Vail recorded a school record time of 2:22.44 in the swim off, breaking the previous record of 2:22.94 set by Alex Wilson in 2007.

"What a day for Maggie Vail," said Gelderloos. "This was her first trip to the national meet and under extreme pressure, she sparkled. I am just thrilled for Maggie. She has a huge future ahead of her."

Junior Cara VanWoerkom of Calvin Christian High School also picked up an honorable mention All-America certificate in the 100 freestyle, finishing 16th with a time of 53.49. VanWoerkom then led off Calvin's 400 freestyle relay team that gained an honorable mention All-America berth with a 13th place finish in a time of 3:33.95. She was joined on the team by senior Stephanie Duncan (Long Grove, IL), junior Julie Wolfe (Westerville, OH) and senior Kat Vinson (Kaneohe, HI).

"One of our goals heading into the season was to finish in the top 10 (nationally)," said Gelderloos. "To achieve that goal is very satisfying."

   FINAL NCAA III WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP TOIP 25 TEAM STANDINGS

   1 Kenyon College KEN 566.5
   2 Amherst College AMH 341
   3 Denison University DEN 328
   4 Emory University EMORY 288
   5 Williams College WILL 269.5
   6 Washington University WASHU 224
   7 Middlebury College MIDD 168
   8 Calvin College CALV 140
   9 Depauw University DEPA 132
   10 Whitworth College WHITW 120.5
   11 Luther College LUTH 100
   12 Wheaton College (Illinois) WHE-I 81
   13 Wisconsin, La Crosse UWL 75
   14 Claremont McKenna-Mudd-Scripps C-M-S 71
   15 Washington and Jefferson W&J 60
   16 Colby College COLBY 56
   17 Suny New Paltz SNP 53
   18 Suny Geneseo GENE 52
   19 Massachusetts Institute of Tec MIT 48
   20 Ithaca College ITHA 47
   21 Tufts University TUFTS 45
   22 Carnegie Mellon University CMU 43
   23 Nazareth College NAZ 41
   24 Hope College HOPE 40
   25 UC Santa Cruz UCSC 37
   25 Springfield College SPFLD 37
 

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Mar 15 22:00:37 2008