CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 20, 2009
Deur Captures National Title On One-Meter Board;
Men's Tennis Defeats Wheaton
NCAA III WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING DAY THREE REPORT
MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- A national championship performance by senior Erica Deur
propelled the Calvin women's swimming and diving team into fifth place in the
team standings at the NCAA III Swimming and Diving Championships Friday night
at the University of Minnesota.
Deur captured a national title on the one-meter board with an NCAA III
Championships record point total of 496.05 points. The national title is the
second of her career as she also won the national crown on the one-meter board
in 2007. Deur (Holland Christian HS) closes out her collegiate career as an
eight-time NCAA III All-American - including four All-America berths on the one
meter and four berths on the three-meter board. In addition to her two national
titles, Deur also finished her career with three national runner-up finishes
including a national runner-up finish on Wednesday night on the three-meter
board.
Deur was one of two diving All-Americans for Calvin on Friday night as junior
teammate Casey Herman (Libertyville, IL) was eighth on the one-meter board with
a score of 387.70 points. It marks the first time in Calvin history that two of
its divers have earned All-America accolades in the same event.
"It was an historic performance for our divers tonight," said Calvin head swim
coach Dan Gelderloos. "Erica was absolutely on fire tonight and Casey was
terrific as well. I also want to recognize senior Jeena Velzen (Unity Christian
HS) who competed on the one-meter board tonight. To have three divers competing
at a national meet and have two finish as All-Americans and one as a national
champion is incredible. Our diving coach Aaron Paskvan deserves a ton of
credit. We are so blessed to have him at Calvin College."
Deur opened the one-meter competition with an NCAA III Championships record
point total of 490.85 in the morning preliminaries and then upped her
performance in the evening finals, finishing more than 40 points ahead of
runner-up Kelly Sponholz of Fredonia State (NY). "Erica pulled out some amazing
dives today," said Gelderloos. "She had a couple of dives where she earned '9's
and '9.5's which was a lot of fun to watch. She could not have come up with a
better way to end her collegiate career and we are all so proud of her."
Deur and Herman were part of four All-America performances for Calvin on
Friday as the Knights racked up 72 points to build their overall team total to
151 points, placing the Knights in fifth place, 1.5 points ahead of sixth place
Amherst. "It was a big moving day for our team" said Gelderloos. "We received
big performances from several individuals."
Four of those individuals were senior Cara VanWoerkom (Calvin Christian HS),
junior Laura Price (Warren, PA), sophomore Kendra Kinzer (Fort Wayne, IN) and
junior Libby Veldkamp (Calvin Christian HS) in the 800 freestyle relay with the
Calvin quartet finishing seventh in a season-best time of 7:36.18. The
All-America swim came in the second 800 freestyle relay heat of the day and was
the top time of the first two heats. The final (third) heat of the 800
freestyle relay competition took place later Friday night and after its
completion, the Knights had finished ahead of two teams from the final heat,
giving the Knights a final seventh place finish. "I told the members of the
relay that if they could come up with the best time of the morning, they could
sit back, relax and watch the final heat in the evening with a chance to be
All-Americans," said Gelderloos. "That's exactly what happened and I am
thrilled for each member of that relay."
The All-America performance was the first for Kinzer and Veldkamp.
Calvin also received an All-America swim from junior Emily Roberts (DeKalb,
IL) and an honorable mention All-America performance from junior Maggie Vail
(Portage Northern HS) in the 100 breaststroke with Roberts finishing seventh
(1:04.31) and Vail placing 13th (1:05.25). It marks the second time Roberts has
earned All-America honors in the event as she placed third in 2007.
In addition, sophomore Monica Bressler (Sandusky, OH) competed in the 100
backstroke prelims on Friday. Bressler did not advance to the evening finals
but did set a school record, recording a time of 58.45.
MEN’S TENNIS
Calvin 9, Wheaton 0
Calvin improved to 3-0 on the year with a 9-0 win over Wheaton College Friday
night inside the Huizenga Tennis and Track Center. Ranked 11th in the ITA
Division III Central Region rankings. Calvin returns to action next Monday when
it faces Augusta (SD) in a match scheduled to be played in Orlando, FL.
Mar 20, 2009 at Grand Rapids, MI
#11 Calvin College 9, Wheaton College (IL) 0
Singles competition
1. Marcus Zeilstra (CALVINM) def. Davis Moore (WHEATON) 6-2, 7-5
2. Steve DeMaagd (CALVINM) def. Ian Kirchner (WHEATON) 6-3, 6-0
3. Matthew De Vlieger (CALVINM) def. Joel Parrish (WHEATON) 6-0, 6-0
4. Andrew De Vlieger (CALVINM) def. David Warren (WHEATON) 7-5, 2-0
5. Nick Steenstra (CALVINM) def. Jordan Williams (WHEATON) 7-6 (6-2), 6-4
6. Andrew Rescorla (CALVINM) def. Kevin Graham (WHEATON) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Marcus Zeilstra/Steve DeMaagd (CALVINM) def. Davis Moore/Jordan Williams
(WHEATON) 8-4
2. Nick Steenstra/Andrew Rescorla (CALVINM) def. Ian Kirchner/Joel Parrish
(WHEATON) 8-1
3. Andrew De Vlieger/David Hillner (CALVINM) def. Kevin Graham/David Warren
(WHEATON) 8-2
Match Notes:
Wheaton College (IL) 2-6
Calvin College 3-0; Regional ranking #11
David Warren withdrew in the second set of the No. 4 singles match
T-3:45 A-65
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Mar 20 22:31:22 2009
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