CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MAY 21, 2008
Wittingen and Calvin Coaching Staff Receive Regional Honors from USTFCCCA
TRACK AND FIELD
Three members of the Calvin track and field program have received regional honors from the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association. Senior Sarah Wittingen has been named the Great Lakes Regional Women's Runner of the Year, head coach Jong-il Kim has been named Great Lakes Regional Women's Coach of the Year and assistant coach Rick Otte has been named Great Lakes Regional Women's Assistant Coach of the Year.
All three individuals will be honored at the USTFCCA banquet this evening in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in advance of this weekend's NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
A native of East Grand Rapids and a graduate of East Grand Rapids High School, Wittingen is receiving Great Lakes Regional Runner of the Year honors for the second straight season. Earlier this month, she was named the MIAA's Most Valuable Runner after winning conference titles in the 100 meter hurdles and 400 meter hurdles and anchoring Calvin's 4x400 meter relay team to a first place finish. Wittingen is the nation's top seed in the 400 meter hurdles (60.26) for this week's NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships and is seeded 10th in the 100 meter hurdles. She will also compete on Calvin's 4x400 meter relay team which is seeded sixth.
A native of Jin-Cheon, South Korea, Kim is receiving Great Lakes Regional Women's Coach of the Year honors for the fifth time in his coaching career. This spring, he led the Calvin women's track and field team to its 19th consecutive MIAA title including the seventh under his direction as women's coach. The Knights are currently ranked fourth in the most recent Division III Top-25 power rankings and are sending nine athletes to this week's national meet.
Otte is from Grand Rapids and is a graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School and of Calvin College. Otte works primarily with athletes in the 400 through 1,500 meters, and the results are impressive. One of his athletes - Lauren Bergstrom - has qualified for the national meet in the 800 and 1,500. During the year, Bergstrom broke Calvin records in both events with respective times of 2:10.21 and 4:31.04. Three of Bergstrom's teammates also broke 2:20 in the 800 meters this spring.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed May 21 11:21:29 2008
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