CSR (Calvin Sports Report for March 23, 2009)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 23, 2009

Track and Field Teams Record NCAA Qualifying Marks at Rhodes College Open;
Baseball/Softball/Tennis Recaps from Spring Trips

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

MEMPHIS, TN -- The Calvin College men's and women's track and field teams
turned in a number of NCAA III provisional qualifying performances on Saturday
at the Rhodes College Open despite competing in a steady rain throughout the
meet.

A big highlight came in the men's and women's 10,000 meter runs with senior
Jed Christiansen (Greenville, PA) leading a 1-2-3-4 Calvin finish in the men's
race with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 30:21.10 that was just a
second off an automatic standard and was a personal best by more than nine
seconds. Christiansen was followed by senior Erik VanKampen (Elmhurst, IL) with
a second place and NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 30:26.96 while
sophomore Jake Christiansen (New Ipswich, NH) just missed a provisional
qualifying mark, placing third with a time of 31:25.36. Junior Tim Langenberg
(Grand Ledge HS) also had a personal-best for the Knights, finishing with a
fourth place time of 31:35.73.

In the women's 10,000 meters, junior Jessica Koster (Grand Rapids Christian
HS) took second with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 35:49.00 that
was one second off an automatic qualifying mark and was also a personal best.
Senior teammate Kelly Edwards (Grand Blanc HS) just missed an NCAA III
provisional qualifying performance, clocking a fourth-place time of 37:28.96.

In the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase, junior Elizabeth Smit (Kirkland, WA)
took first place with a strong NCAA III provisional qualifying time of
10:49.30. Junior Nicole Farr (Warrenville, IL) also had a strong performance in
placing third with a time of 11:17.23.

In the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase, senior Nate DeHaan (South Christian HS)
led a one-two Calvin finish with a strong NCAA III provisional qualifying time
of 9:11.41 while junior teammate Aaron Goodman (Milwaukee, WI) was second with
an provisional qualifying time of 9:17.74.

In the women's 1500 meter run, senior Lauren Bergstrom (Rochester, MN) took
second with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 4:35.88. Senior Val
Nydam (Uxbridge, MA) also had a career-best time of 4:48.37 in the event.

In the women's 5,000 meters, senior Jesi Hale (Rehoboth, NM) took first place
with a time of 18:09.16 while junior Sarah Dugan (Freeland HS) was third with a
career-best time of 18:12.42. Meanwhile, freshman Nick Kramer (Dyer, IN) won
the men's 5,000 meters with a time of 14:57.14 while junior Ben Van Wyk
(Sussex, NJ) was third (15:08.48) and senior Andrew Stutzman (Kutztown, PA) was
fourth (15:20.45).

Bergstrom also won the women's 800 meters with a time of 2:15.06 while
freshman Kaitlin Diemer (South Christian HS) and sophomore Alison Tuuk (Grand
Rapids Christian HS) both posted sub 2:20 times with Diemer seventh (2:19.15)
and Tuuk eighth (2:19.43).

Other highlights included sophomore Rachel Boerner (Bergenfield, NJ) posting a
time of 58.57 in the women's 400 meters, freshman Carson Sterchi (Crystal Lake,
IL) recording a time of 1:57.52 in the men's 800 meters, freshman Kelly
Veldkamp (Grand Rapids Christian HS) and junior Carla Lindemulder (Illiana
Christian HS) clearing the bar at 10-6 in the women's pole vault, sophomore
Eric Michel (Naperville, IL) reaching a height of 13-5 1/4 in the men's pole
vault and a leap of 37-1 3/4 by senior Julie Bratt (Lynden, WA) in the women's
triple jump.

In the throws, sophomore Sarah Reasoner (Cambridge, MN) was third in the
women's discus throw (116-9) and ninth in the women's shot put (37-1 1/4).
Sophomore Joel Klingenberg (Sarasota, FL) was fifth in the men's discus throw
(140-10) with freshman Aaron Clark (Comstock Park HS) seventh (135-2).
Sophomore Kim Wigboldy (Chandler, AZ) was second in the women's javelin (111-5)
while Klingenberg was fifth in the men's javelin (166-2). Sophomore Ken
Echtinaw (Caledonia HS) was sixth in the men's shot put (43-8) while freshman
Alex Edwards (Southfield, Mich.) was eighth (42-5 1/2).

The Calvin men's and women's track and field program is currently training for
a week in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Calvin assistant coach Norm Zylstra is keeping
a blog of Calvin's trip down south which can be found on-line at:
http://normzcalvinstrolls.blogspot.com/

BASEBALL

The Calvin baseball team is currently 2-2 on its spring trip in Arizona and
2-4 overall on the season. On Friday, Calvin suffered a 13-4 defeat to Hamline
University but came back to sweep a doubleheader from Gustavus Adolphus on
Saturday by scores of 11-10 and 10-7. Sophomores Peter Steiner and Keith
Spoelstra picked up the victories in the doubleheader sweep.

On Monday, Calvin suffered a 17-15 defeat to Eastern Connecticut State, ranked
fifth in the most recent Division III Top 25 poll of the year. Calvin (2-4)
held a 14-13 lead heading into the top of the ninth but Eastern Connecticut
State (11-0) rallied with four runs on three hits. Calvin came back with a run
in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single by freshman Tyler Berger but the
Knights left the tying runs on base.

Calvin collected 15 hits in the loss with senior Nate Pocock batting 3-for-4
with four RBI’s including a three-run homer in the fifth. Freshman Scott
Burden also had three hits and two runs batted in while junior Kyle Gurzynski
had two hits and two RBI’s. In addition, Berger had three hits while junior
Matt Schepel and senior Jason May had two his apiece.

Freshman Zach Thomas started the game and went 4.2 innings, striking out one
and walking one. Junior Rob Kool took the loss for Calvin and was one of four
Calvin pitchers used in relief.

Calvin is scheduled to face Williams College in a doubleheader. On Wednesday,
Calvin will face nationally-ranked Southern Maine in a single game.

SOFTBALL

The Calvin softball team is currently 0-5 on the year. The Knights have
dropped all five of their games on their spring trip to Tucson, Arizona.

Calvin opened the trip on Saturday, falling to St. Mary’s of Minnesota 5-0,
to St. Catherine (MN) 5-2 and to Pomona-Pitzer 13-5. On Monday, Calvin dropped
a 7-3 decision against Gustavus Adolphus and then lost to North Central 11-5.

The Knights are slated to face Buena Vista and Otterbein on Tuesday.

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS

The Calvin men’s and women’s tennis teams picked up 9-0 victories on
Monday in Orlando, Florida. The Calvin women defeated North Central 9-0 to
improve to 4-3 on the year while the Calvin men defeated Augustana (SD) 9-0 to
improve to 4-0.

Both teams will face regionally-ranked squads from Wisconsin-Whitewater on
Tuesday.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Mon Mar 23 23:07:06 2009