CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 1, 2008
Cross Country Teams Capture MIAA Titles;
Men’s Soccer Clinches Share of MIAA Title & NCAA III Tourney Bid With Tie at
Hope;
Women’s Soccer Advances to MIAA Tourney Semis With Win Over Saint Mary’s
Volleyball Teams Finishes 4-0 at Midwest Challenge;
Swim Teams Split Weekend Dual Meets
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
THREE RIVERS -- The Calvin men's and women's cross country teams kept up their
championship runs on Saturday as both teams wrapped up league titles at the
MIAA Championships held at the Pineview Golf Club.
The fifth-ranked Calvin men's cross country team took first place with 18
points while the top-ranked Calvin women's cross country team took first place
with 23 points. The Calvin men's cross country team has now won at least a
share of the MIAA title 22 consecutive years which ranks as the second-longest
active championship streak in MIAA history, ranking only behind the incredible
70-year championship run currently held by the Kalamazoo College men's tennis
team.
The Calvin women's cross country title was its fourth straight including its
20th in the last 21 years.
"Anytime you can win an MIAA title it's a great accomplishment," said Calvin
men's and women's cross country coach Brian Diemer. "It is not always easy to
win a league title and to finish on top again is something that will cherish."
In the men's race, Calvin took the top four spots including seven of the top
10 led by senior Jed Christiansen (Greenville, PA/Greenville HS) who churned to
a first place time of 24:39. He was followed by senior teammates Erik VanKampen
(Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS) and Nate DeHaan (Byron Center/South
Christian HS) in second (24:54) and third place (25:11) respectively. Senior
Dan VandenAkker (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) was close behind in
fourth place (25:18) with junior George Visser (Winfield, IL/West Chicago HS)
in eighth (25:20), senior Tim Langenberg (Grand Ledge/Grand Ledge HS) in ninth
(25:23) and freshman Nick Kramer (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian S) in 10th (25:28)
to round out Calvin's top-seven.
Rob Bailey and Seth Weener of Hope also cracked the top 10 with Bailey fifth
(25:18) and Weener sixth (25:19) while Tim Murray of Trine was seventh
(25:20).
In the women's race, Kalamazoo's Allison Iott ran away with first place with a
time of 21:38. Calvin senior Calah Schlabach (St. Michaels, AZ/St. Michaels HS)
was second (22:10) followed by senior Lauren Bergstrom (Rochester, MN/Century
HS) in third (22:12). Also cracking the top 10 for the Calvin women were junior
Jessica Koster (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) in fifth (22:24),
junior Elizabeth Smit (Kirkland, WA/Bellevue Christian HS) in sixth (22:26),
senior Jesi Hale (Gallup, NM/Rehoboth HS) in seventh (22:44), senior Kelly
Edwards (Grand Blanc/Grand Blanc HS) in eighth (22:47) and junior Mary Tolsma
(Hawthorne, NJ/Eastern Christian HS) in ninth (22:49).
"There's no question we were stretched in both races and we learned some
lessons," said Diemer. "In the women's race, my hat is off to Allison Iott. She
ran an incredible race and is the real deal. We tried to go out with her and in
doing so, we got taken out of what we had hoped to do. In the men's race, we
were stretched out and didn't really have a chance to run as a pack. On the
positive side, Tim Langenberg had a huge jump forward today and that's a big
plus for our team and George Visser ran another very strong race. We'll
regroup, reorganize and come back in two weeks at the (Great Lakes) regionals
and give it our best shot.
Diemer also had words of praise and encouragement for his entire program.
"Individually, sure, there were a few folks on our team that had hoped to run
better today but as a whole, there were many many positives by both teams. I
thought our entire cross country program had a strong performance today and
that energy will be something positive that we will build on over the next two
weeks. We'll be ready to go at the regional meet and we're looking forward to
the opportunity."
MIAA MEN'S TEAM SCORES
Calvin 18
Hope 54
Adrian 87
Albion 120
Trine 144
Alma 146
Alma 146
Kalamazoo 198
Olivet 243
MIAA FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1.Calvin
2. Hope
3. Adrian
4. Albion
5. Trine
6. Alma
7. Kalamazoo
OIivet
MIAA WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
Calvin 23
Hope 67
Kalamazoo 95
Saint Mary's 115
Albion 122
Alma 145
Adrian 193
Trine 241
Olivet - no team score
MIAA FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1. Calvin
2. Hope
3. Kalamazoo
4. Adrian
5. Saint Mary's
6. Albion
7. Alma
8. Trine
9. Olivet
MEN’S SOCCER
Calvin 1, Hope 1
By Bruce VanBaren
HOLLAND , MI -- Saturday’s 1-1 tie at Hope’s Buys Athletic Field clinched
Calvin’s second straight automatic NCAA tournament berth and a share of the
Knights’ second straight MIAA championship. The tie was a bit bittersweet for
Calvin as Hope tied the game on a goal with less than a minute left in
regulation.
With the clock ticking under a minute and Calvin confidently holding on to a
1-0 lead, Hope’s Ausable Schwiebert launched a free kick over a scrum of
players and into the net to tie the game 1-1 with just 45 seconds remaining.
“It’s disappointing,” goal keeper Darrin Cline said. “Anytime you play
90 minutes and you have the game all but wrapped up and at the last second
it’s snatched away from you, it’s not a good feeling.”
Cline nearly punched the ball out of the box, but a scrum of eight to ten
players forced him to lunge at the ball and it scraped off his fist and into
the goal.
A discrepancy with the clock stopped play with under a minute left. The
officials took an additional ten seconds off the clock, but the stoppage in
play allowed the Flying Dutchmen to bring everyone into the box, including goal
keeper Logan Neil on the game-tying goal.
Despite the tie, Calvin clinches a share of the final league crown as the
Knights maintain a six-point lead (two games) over Hope with each team holding
two conference games left on the schedule. Calvin gains the MIAA’s automatic
bid to the NCAA III Tournament however as the Knights are 1-0-1 against Hope
this year and hold the direct head-to-head tiebreaker edge for the bid.
The league title is Calvin’s MIAA-leading 19th overall including its third
in the last five years. Calvin will be making its eighth appearance in the NCAA
III Tournament including its second straight.
Saturday’s tie also marked the third consecutive year that Calvin and Hope
have battled to a tie on the second meeting of the year between the two teams.
Hope remains undefeated at home (7-0-1) this year. Calvin extends its
conference undefeated streak to 25 games, but the tie ends its 12 game winning
streak.
“It doesn’t ruin the day, we got a point out of it,” Calvin coach Chris
Hughes said. “Obviously it’s a little frustrating, but you get a point and
you move on. I told them we’re going to Russ’ (restaurant) if we win and
we’re still going to Russ’ even with the tie, we’re not going anywhere
else.”
Hope carried the momentum of the last second goal into the overtime periods,
but was unable to capitalize on a 3-0 shots on goal advantage in the extra
periods.
“Hope needed to put pressure on, they needed a win,” Hughes said. “But
our boys continued to finish off the rest of the game. They need to be proud of
what they’ve done.”
Calvin was going for its first series sweep under Hughes. No team has swept
the two-game season series since Hope did it in 1998. Calvin beat Hope 1-0
earlier this year at Zuidema Field.
“It shows you the strength of both programs,” Hughes said. “I wouldn’t
want it any other way. This is where the kids learn. That was a tournament time
game right there. Both teams wanted it and both found the back of the net.
I’ll take that point coming out of a big (away) game like that.”
Cline and the Knights advance to the NCAA for the second straight year.
“I think it’s huge,” Cline said. “The team makeup is so different this
year. We have so much depth this year. That’s our biggest advantage. Our
depth gives us that much more energy at the end (of a game).”
Calvin will travel to Adrian to play under the lights on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
The Knights will close out their regular season at home on Saturday when they
host Trine at 2 p.m.
MIAA MEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 11-1-08
Calvin 11-0-1 (34 points)
Hope 9-2-1 (28 points)
Albion 7-5-0 (21 points)
Trine 6-5-1 (19 points)
Olivet 6-6-0 (18 points)
Adrian 3-9-0 (9 points)
Alma 2-9-1 (7 points)
Kalamazoo 2-10-0 (6 points)
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 6, Saint Mary's 0
(written by Derek Neice)
GRAND RAPIDS -- Saturday’s match up between Saint Mary’s College and the
Knights of Calvin College lived up to its billing, as the Knights came away
with a dominant 6-0 victory in this first round of the MIAA tournament.
The Belles of Saint Mary’s College came in with an MIAA league record of
0-3-1 and an overall record of 5-8-1, playing the top seed Calvin who is
undefeated in the MIAA at 5-0, 10-2-1 overall.
Calvin senior Elizabeth Ribbons came out as the top offensive threat for the
Knights, scoring two of the six goals and ending the game with 5 total shots.
The other goals for Calvin were scored by sophomore Elaine Schnabel, senior
Juliana Litts, freshman Kim Schmitkons, and sophomore Kellie Honderd via a
penalty kick.
The Knights came out strong in both halves, scoring three goals in each. The
Knights outshot their Saint Mary’s opponents 20-1 in the game, clearly
indicating the control that Calvin had through all ninety minutes.
Coach Recker commented on the game by saying that: "As a whole, his team came
out with the right mentality, and executed very well. Throughout the year,
there have always been plenty of opportunities to score in games, bringing with
it the pressures of finishing those goals." That indeed was not the case
today. Coach Recker also said that: "He is how proud of his squad, and that
the plan for the remainder of the MIAA Tournament is to take them one at a
time," which has proven a successful tactic so far this season.
Ranked fourth nationally, Calvin returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts
Adrian at 3:00 p.m. at Calvin's Zuidema Field in an MIAA Tournament semifinal
game. Adrian advanced to the MIAA Tournament semis by tying Albion 0-0 and then
winning a penalty kick shootout 4-3 on Saturday afternoon. In other first round
action, Hope defeated Kalamazoo 2-0 and Alma and Olivet finished in a 0-0 tie
with Alma advancing by way of a 4-3 penalty kick shootout win. Alma will travel
to Hope for Tuesday's other semifinal contest with Tuesday's winners set to
face each other in the MIAA Tournament finals on November 8 at noon at the site
of the highest remaining seed.
MIAA WOMEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 11-1-08
Calvin 9-0-0 (27 points)
Hope 7-2-0 (21 points)
Alma 6-2-1 (20 points)
Albion 5-3-1 (16 points)
Adrian 4-3-2 (15 points)
Olivet 3-5-1 (10 points)
Kalamazoo 2-6-1 (7 points)
Saint Mary’s 1-8-0 (3 points)
Trine 0-8-0 (0 points)
VOLLEYBALL
By Chaz Amidon
GRAND RAPIDS – The No. 14 Knights rounded out their regular season with two
electrifying wins over Alma and Heidelberg on Saturday, finishing the Midwest
Invitational as the only team to carve an impeccable 4-0 record.
A four-set victory over the Scots concluded Calvin’s league schedule, while
a comeback win over Heidelberg – the No. 3 team in the Great Lakes Region –
in the Invitational finale served to improve the Knights’ chances of moving
up in the rankings as bids for the upcoming NCAA III Tournament draw near.
“It’s a great feeling to have the confidence,” said freshman Rebecca
Kamp (Orland Park, Ill./Chicago Christian), who rattled off 46 combined kills
during Saturday’s action. “I feel like we’re playing with a lot of
confidence right now, just playing great as a team together.”
After defeating Alma in four sets (25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 25-15), Calvin (25-4)
solidified its second-place finish in the MIAA, garnering a record of 14-2
throughout conference play in 2008.
The Knights fended off a 6-0 Alma run in the third set to gain momentum
heading into the fourth, where Calvin raced out to an 8-1 advantage and cruised
to its most decisive victory over the Scots, 25-15.
Heading into the afternoon finale against Heidelberg, the only top-three team
in the Great Lakes Region that Calvin hadn’t defeated, both the Knights and
Bergs were only two of eight teams to have 3-0 records at the Invitational.
Despite dropping the first set, the Knights rallied to pick up three
consecutive set-wins over Heidelberg (22-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-18), the
second-place team hailing from the Ohio Athletic Conference.
“I don’t know exactly the tempo we were playing with, but it wasn’t
excitable,” said Calvin coach Amber Warners of the first-set loss to
Heidelberg. “We were just kind of going through the motions.”
“We talked to them in between games, saying…it’s a huge match. What more
motivation do they need? And they really responded well.”
Calvin was led by the always-stellar play of Kamp, who poured in 22 kills and
five total blocks against the Bergs. Junior Sara Kramer (Dyer, Ind./Illiana
Christian) added 10 kills, while junior Rachel DeYoug (Hudsonville/Unity
Christian) and freshman Erin VanderPlas (Cadillac/McBain Christian) recorded
nine and six, respectively.
But it was the Knights’ defense anchoring the win against a deep Heidelberg
team, as Calvin had only one receiving error throughout the match – a sign
that the defensive adjustments of Coach Warners’ squad are coming to
fruition.
“It’s so fun to play with girls that are awesome, all-around,” said
VanderPlas, who blasted the final two kills for Calvin in their fourth-set
victory. “There’s no weak point, really. It’s great to play on a team
where our setter can go anywhere and we can get a kill.”
Senior setter Lauren DeGroot (Tulare, Calif./Central Valley Christian)
compiled 100 assists in Calvin’s two wins on Saturday, while junior Kelsey
Sears (Traverse City/Traverse City West) notched 48 digs.
Calvin will now host the first round of the MIAA Tournament this Tuesday, Nov.
4 at the Huizenga Track and Tennis Center against Kalamazoo. Calvin finishes in
second place in the final MIAA regular season standings and will hold the #2
seed for next week’s MIAA Tournament.
“We’re going to keep working on the little things,” said Warners.
“We’re going to just keep going. As long as the players keep buying
into it, I think we’re going to do okay.”
FINAL MIAA VOLLEYBALL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS
Hope 15-1
Calvin 14-2
Alma 11-5
Saint Mary’s 9-7
Adrian 8-8
Albion 5-11
Kalamazoo 4-12
Trine 4-12
Olivet 2-14
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
The Calvin men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams split a pair of
duals this weekend. On Friday night, both teams were defeated at Division III
Grand Valley State with the men falling in their season debut 189-88 and the
women falling to the Lakers 170.5-118.5.
On Saturday, both Calvin teams defeated Albion at the East Grand Rapids
Aquatic Center with the men’s team winning by a 163-125 and the women’s
team winning 182-117.
In Friday’s competition the Calvin men received first place performances
from senior Dennis Steenbergen (Aylmer, ON/London District Christian HS) on the
one-meter board (182.25), junior Jon Herrema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids
Christian HS) in the 100 butterfly (58.90), freshman Greg Gorham (Minneapolis,
MN/Richfield HS) in the 200 IM (2:18.50 and the quartet of junior Kurt
VanAllsburg (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS), sophomore Tyler Westman
(Naperville, IL/Naperville North HS), Herrema and freshman Ethan Tatum (Grand
Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) in the 200 freestyle relay (1:32.91).
On the women’s side, Calvin picked up wins from senior Erica Deur
(Holland/Holland Christian HS) on the one-meter diving board (255.10),
sophomore Caitlin Alexander (Holland/Holland Christian HS) in the 100 butterfly
(1:04.74), junior Emily Roberts (DeKalb, IL/DeKalb HS) in the 200 IM (2:18.09)
and the quartet of freshman Cara VanWoerkom (Grandville/Calvin Christian HS),
sophomore Kendra Kinzer (Fort Wayne, IN/Homestead HS), senior Julie Wolfe
(Westerville, OH/Westerville North HS) and junior Laura Price (Warren,
PA/Warren HS) in the 200 freestyle relay (1:43.10).
Of note, Deur was one of three Calvin divers on the one-meter board to post
scores above 200 points as junior Casey Herman (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville
HS) was second (245.10) and junior Jeena Velzen (Jenison/Unity Christian HS)
was third (211.50).
In Saturday’s competition, the Calvin men picked up individuals wins from
freshman Ross Battoclette () in the 1,000 freestyle (10:23.80), 200 backstroke
(2:03.60) and 100 butterfly (57.12), Ethan Tatum in the 200 freestyle
(1:51.16) and 100 freestyle (49.77), Westman in the 100 backstroke (58.58),
senior Keith Conrad (Wheaton, IL/Wheaton South HS) in the 200 butterfly
(2:07.61), 500 freestyle (5:07.43) and 200 IM (2:08.43).
Calvin’s 200 medley relay team of Westman, Gorham, Herrema and VanAllsburg
won in a time of 1:42.39 while its 400 freestyle relay team of VanAllsburg,
Tatum, Battoclette and Herrema won in a time of 3:20.77.
On the women’s side, Calvin picked up individual victories from VanWoerkom
in the 200 freestyle (2:03.04), sophomore Brianna VandenEnde (Huntsville,
ON/Huntsville HS) in the 100 backstroke (1:04.84), junior Maggie Vail
(Portage/Portage Northern HS) in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.02) and 100
freestyle (56.85), sophomore Monica Bressler (Sandusky, OH/Perkins HS) in the
50 freestyle (25.47), Deur on the one-meter diving board (263.30), freshman
Bridgett Scott (Oakville, ON/Kings Christian Collegiate HS) in 500 freestyle
(5:33.61), Price in the 100 butterfly (1:04.11) and Herman on the three-meter
board (234.40).
Calvin’s 400 freestyle relay team of Wolfe, junior Libby Veldkamp (Grand
Rapids/Calvin Christian HS), junior Jo Vander Linde (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids
Christian HS) and VandenEnde won with a time of 3:53.28 while its 200 medley
relay team of junior Alyssa Ludema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS),
Vail, Alexander and Kinzer won with a time of 1:56.31.
Both Calvin teams are back in action next Saturday when they compete in
non-conference dual meets at Wheaton (IL).
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sun Nov 2 00:23:49 2008
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