CSR (Calvin Sports Report for November 15, 2008)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 15, 2008

Cross Country Teams Capture Regional Titles;
Women's Soccer Bows Out In Second Round of NCAA III Tournament In Penalty Kick
Shootout;
Women's Basketball Opens Season With Win at Madonna;
Swim Teams Defeated by Wayne State and Denison
 

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
By Bruce VanBaren

WESTERVILLE, OHIO- Cold and wet conditions couldn’t slow down Calvin’s
nationally ranked cross country teams Saturday at Otterbein College. The
women’s team, ranked first nationally, won its second straight regional
title and the men’s team, ranked fourth nationally, won its 13th consecutive
regional title.

The women’s team overcame the injury of top runner Jessica Koster, who
missed the regional race with a stiff back. Calvin finished five of its seven
runners in the top twelve to edge out Case Western Reserve and DePauw for the
regional title.

“Today everything went right,” assistant coach Al Hoekstra said. “They
ran like a team that has a chance to finish highly next week (at the national
meet).”
Lauren Bergstrom (22:08) finished fourth and Calah Schlabach (22:12) finished
fifth to lead the Knights. Bergstrom and Schlabach trailed second place Case
Western’s top two runners through the first third of the women’s 6K race.
Bergstrom and Schlabach ran side by side through most of the race, but
Bergstrom took about a ten stride lead through the final 1000 meters.

“Our top four today ran a fabulous race,” Hoekstra said. “They got out
strong (from the start) and they held their position. They’ve had a
phenomenal season and have done everything it takes to put them in a position
to win.”

Jesi Hale (22:36) and Elizabeth Smit (22:36) led Calvin’s second pack with
Kelly Edwards (22:47) nipping closely at their heals. Edwards’ performance
filled the void left by the absence of Koster and allowed the Knights to win
the regional.

“All year long we’ve been running with five (runners) up front and
they’ve been done a great job,” Hoekstra said. “I’ll tell you what,
sometimes when you put a little pressure on some other people to step up they
do. Our sixth, seventh, eighth have been watching those top five.

“Kelly Edwards is my hero today, seriously,” he said. “She ran the best
race of her life under circumstances that she had to. She knew that she was the
last straw, she was the fifth women and she had to be there today. “

Hoekstra was especially pleased with Edwards’ performance looking forward to
next weekend’s national meet in Hanover, Indiana.

“I said Kelly,” Hoekstra said. “We now have six (top runners) and we
needed six to be able to go to the national meet and have a chance to win
it.”

Calvin’s top five finished ahead of Case Western’s number three runner who
finished 16th and the Knights’ top six finished ahead of Case Western’s
number four runner who finished 25th. Nicole Farr (23:21), who was Calvin’s
replacement runner for the injured Koster, finished 22nd. Mary Tolsma (23:32)
finished 30th.

All seven of Calvin’s finishers on Saturday earned Great Lakes All-Region
status for placing in the top 35.

Calvin wins its second straight regional at Otterbein College. The last time
Otterbein hosted the regional was in 1996, with both Calvin teams winning
regional titles that day. Case Western won the 2006 regional, but finished 42
points behind the Knights score of 42. DePauw finished third with 105 points.

Calvin’s men’s team swept the top three positions and placed its top four
runners in the top ten to beat out Ohio Northern and Mount Union convincingly.
Jed Christiansen (24:44) won his second straight individual regional title.

“Jed is absolutely amazing,” Hoekstra said. “Jed has some talent
obviously, but the thing I love about Jed is every race you know what you are
going to get. You are going to get everything that Jed has. He is just
phenomenal at rising to a new level when he has to.”

Christiansen was followed closely by Erik Van Kampen (24:50) as both runners
separated from the field by about 100 meters. (For more on Van Kampen’s
pursuit of Christiansen this season, check out a post race interview with
Hoekstra. Hoekstra explains the turning point in Van Kampen’s season.) Nate
DeHaan (25:03) held on to beat out two Ohio Northern runners and a Case Western
runner to finish third.

“(The top three) ran really fast today,” Hoekstra said. “Jed is the
leader, he sets the pace. He takes everyone with. These are really three of the
top ten runners, (top) fifteen for sure, in the country.”

Dan VandenAkker (25:24) trailed two Mount Union runners to finish tenth. Tim
Langenberg (25:41) finished 21st. Jake Christiansen (25:48) and George Visser
(25:48) rounded out Calvin’s seven runners finishing 31st and 32nd
respectively.

All seven of Calvin’s finishers on Saturday earned Great Lakes All-Region
status for placing in the top 35.

“We have a little bit of work to do between (our four and five runners),”
Hoekstra said. “But if you look at the times today that gap (from the top
three) really isn’t that big for as fast as the guys ran up front.”

Calvin finished with 37 points, well ahead of Ohio Northern (88 points) and
Mount Union (121 points. Both Ohio Northern and Mount Union are in the Ohio
Athletic Conference along with host Otterbein and ran Otterbein’s course
earlier this year.

WOMEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 0, Chicago 0 (2 OT)
By Chaz Amidon

GRAND RAPIDS - For Calvin seniors like Elizabeth Ribbens, the penalty kick
shootout elicits more chills than thrills.

After forcing a 0-0 draw in their second-round match-up against the University
of Chicago, the No. 4 Knights were eliminated from the NCAA-III Tournament for
the fourth consecutive year via shootout, falling to the Maroons, 7-6, in the
Regional finale at Grand Rapids Christian High School

“I was thinking, ‘Please, someone just give it that little extra
push,’” said Ribbens. “I was just hoping we could connect…and just
get it in there.”

Calvin (18-3-2) narrowly avoided a shootout against Mount St. Joseph in the
first round at Zuidema Field on Friday - Natalie Veurink scored with under nine
minutes left in double overtime to give the Knights a 1-0 win - but was unable
to on Saturday, withering in the eighth round of penalty kicks.

The Knights were similarly ousted by Wittenberg in a 3-1 shootout outcome in
the 2007 Tournament while faltering against Messiah and Ohio Wesleyan in 2006
and 2005, respectively.

“I think it’s just frustrating, especially for the seniors because the
last four years it has ended this way,” said junior goalkeeper Kalya Sulzer.

After Carly Prins was denied to begin the final frame, the Maroons rattled off
three straight goals to pull ahead, 3-2, over the Knights, who opted to shoot
first and defend second.

Kellie Honderd evened the score at 3-3 by depositing a strike in the
upper-left hand corner of the net, and then it was Sulzer who revived the
Knights’ hopes with a diving save to stop Chicago’s Emily Benoit heading
into the fifth round.

Both teams swapped goals in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds until Veurink,
the hero in Friday’s first-round win, ricocheted her shot off the crossbar,
making it possible for Chicago to claim a victory with one more goal.

The Maroons did just that, as their freshman goalkeeper Emma Gormley marched
from the goal line to the PK line and beat Sulzer to clinch the win for
Chicago.

“It’s just a really hard way to end the season,” said Sulzer. “It’s
nice only because nobody’s ever really beaten us, but it’s a hard way to
lose.”

The loss snapped Calvin’s 13-game win streak, dating back to Sept. 27 when
the Knights turned in a 5-0 drubbing of Hope to begin their conference season.

It marked the second consecutive second-round defeat for the Knights, whose
best NCAA-III Tournament finish was in 2006 when they advanced to the Sweet
Sixteen before losing to Messiah, the No. 2 team in the country this year.

“It’s been a great season,” said Ribbens. “It’s been really
rewarding to play on a team with these players. Everyone’s so positive and we
all have the same goal in mind. We love each other and we love soccer.”

Calvin earned an automatic bid to its fourth straight national with a 3-0 win
over Alma on Nov. 9 in the MIAA title game. The Knights burnished an 11-0
conference record in 2008 and outscored league opponents 37-1 throughout MIAA
play, helping to build a season-high No. 4 ranking heading into last week.

“He’s proud of us - we know he is,” said Sulzer of Calvin coach Mark
Recker. “Our defense did great - we’ve had a lot of sophomores step up,
especially since (Ashley) Bolen’s been hurt - and it’s a good way to segway
into next year.”

Ribbens and Bolen, who missed the past month due to a knee injury, are two of
five seniors who played their final collegiate game on Saturday. Liz Van Rees,
Juliana Litts and Michelle Koele, who exited the game early because of a leg
injury, are the other seniors who won four straight MIAA titles during their
four-year careers at Calvin.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 64, Madonna 49

 LIVONIA -- Calvin College junior Brook VanEck of Lowell High School came up
with a career-high 20 points on eight-of-eight shooting to lead the Knights to
a 64-49 victory at Madonna Saturday evening.

The game marked the season opener for Calvin which also received 14 points
from senior center Marcia Harris (Grand Rapids Christian HS) and 10 points from
senior guard Sarah Patridge (East Lansing HS).

Senior guard Kristi Brummel (South Christian HS) also chipped in with nine and
seven rebounds as the Knights shot 50 percent (24 of 48) from the floor and
held a 44-26 rebounding advantage.

Christie Carrico led Madonna with 15 points.

Calvin returns to action next Friday when it competes at the
Wisconsin-Lutheran Tournament where it will face Elmhurst at 6:00 p.m.

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

The Calvin men's and women's swimming and diving teams dropped dual meets in a
triangular hosted by Wayne State on Saturday. In the men's competition, Calvin
was defeated by Wayne State 173-58 and by Denison 203-35. In the women's
competition, Calvin was defeated by Wayne State 170-71 and by Denison 164-79.

A full report will be sent out later this weekend on the swim competition.
Meet results are available on-line at:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/womens/swimming/results/Results08/WSU%20Calvin%20Denison.htm

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sun Nov 16 00:21:47 2008