CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 14, 2009
Cross Country Teams Capture Great Lakes Regional Titles;
Women's Soccer Team Advances to "Round of 16" With 1-0 Win Over Wittenberg
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
TERRE HAUTE, IN -- The Calvin men's and women's cross country teams are headed
to the Rock and Roll City. Both teams punched their tickets to next week's NCAA
III Championships scheduled to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, with first place
finishes at the Great Lakes Regional meet hosted Saturday by Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology.
The top two teams in the men's 8K race and the top two teams in the women's 6K
race on Saturday both received automatic trips to the NCAA III Championships
In the men's race, Calvin captured the Great Lakes Regional title for the 14th
straight year with a first place score of 73 points, finishing 21 points ahead
of Heidelberg. Sophomore Nick Kramer (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS)
highlighted the day for the Knights by taking first place individually with a
time of 25:45, finishing nine seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. Kramer
is the ninth individual in Calvin men's cross country history to win a regional
title individually and marks the eighth time in the last 10 years that a Calvin
men's cross country runner has accomplished the feat.
Kramer was part of six Calvin runners that placed in the top 35 with freshman
Matt Vander Roest (Ann Arbor/Ann Arbor Huron HS) placing 14th (26:18), senior
George Visser (Winfield, IL/West Chicago HS), placing 17th (26:24), senior
Aaron Goodman (Milwaukee, WI/Milwaukee Lutheran HS) 19th (26:28), senior Ben
Van Wyk (Sussex, NJ/High Point HS) 22nd (26:34) and junior Alex Wrobel (Arden
Hills, MN/Mounds View HS) 35th (26:49). By placing in the top-35, all six
Calvin runners earned Great Lakes All-Region honors. Rounding out Calvin's
finishers was sophomore Dan Kerr (Petoskey/Petoskey HS) with a 58th place time
of 27:18.
VanderRoest was the second-fastest freshman in the men's race, surpassed only
by Oberlin's Eric Line who placed ninth in a time of 26:11.
In the women's race, top-ranked Calvin placed seven runners in the top-18 led
by senior Lauren Bergstrom (Rochester, MN/Century HS) with a fifth place time
of 22:16. She was followed by senior Jesi Hale (Rehoboth, NM/Gallup HS) in
eighth (22:26), senior Jessica Koster (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS)
in 10th (22:39), senior Elizabeth Smit (Kirkland, WA/Bellevue Christian HS) in
13th (22:46), senior Sarah Dugan (Freeland/Freeland HS) in 15th (22:51),
sophomore Jodi Hoekstra (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian HS) in 17th (22:55)
and junior Gretchen Braymer (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy) in 18th (22:57).
Oberlin grabbed the other automatic qualifying spot by placing second with a
team score of 120 points, 10 points ahead of Case Western Reserve.
POST RACE QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH BRIAN DIEMER:
*ON THE MEN'S RACE - Our men really came through in a big way. The guys have
really stepped up over the last four weeks, catching on and 'getting it.' If we
run next week like we ran today, we have a chance to do very well at nationals.
This team was very determined to make a statement that this year was a
reloading year for the Calvin men's cross country team, not a rebuilding year.
*ON NICK KRAMER'S REGIONAL TITLE PERFORMANCE - Nick Kramer ran an awesome
race. He bided his time and worked in the first pack nicely. It was very wise
racing. He ended up pulling away from the second place runner from Denison (
Makorobo Salukombo) with about a mile to go and then he just kept working it
and finished strong.
*ON FRESHMAN MATT VANDER ROEST - Matt Vander Roest is stepping up in a big
way. He was the second fastest freshmen in this race. He was running with the
big boys today and showed no fear. For awhile, he was even leading the pack
with Nick Kramer which was exciting to see.
*ON THE WOMEN'S RACE - Our women's team took care of what it needed to do
today and that was to run strong and make it to nationals. Today was a good
dress rehearsal for next week. Individually, Lauren Bergstrom is really coming
on strong. Jesi Hale continues to run real well and a couple of our other
runners who have fought through some injuries really had encouraging
performances today.
*ON BOTH TEAMS - I am really proud of both teams today. We're looking forward
to putting on a good show next week at the national meet.
POST RACE QUOTES FROM ASSISTANT COACH AL HOEKSTRA:
*ON THE MEN'S RACE - I can't be any more prouder of this team than I am right
now. Earlier this year there was a time of doubt that our men would even make
it back to the natoinal meet but the last three races, they've taken things up
another notch each time. Our guys really ran with a lot of heart. They are
running together and running for more than just themselves which is the key to
becoming a great team.
*ON NICK KRAMERS REGIONAL TITLE - Nick Kramer ran the best race of his career
and picked a perfect time to do it. He has been in a bit of valley with his
training but he came out of the valley today and ran a phenomenal race. He ran
a very smart, calculated race. He has really become a great Calvin racer.
*ON THE WOMEN'S RACE - Our women ran very well. To have seven in the top 18
was solid. Our women's team has a little work to do up front for next week but
I think they can make the right adjustments. We are really Looking forward to
next week.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 1, Wittenberg 0
(written by sports information student assistant Derek Neice)
GRAND RAPIDS, MI—Victory can sometimes be oh so sweet, which was exactly the
case for the Knights of Calvin College Saturday as it eliminated the Wittenberg
Tigers in a close 1-0 match, moving on to the Round of 16 for the first time
since 2006.
With a large crowd in attendance the two teams squared off knowing that should
they lose, the season would be over, and with picture perfect weather for a
soccer game on Calvin’s campus, the Knights were the ones who came out on
top.
Much like in yesterday’s match against Washington and Jefferson, Calvin
started the game searching for a hole through which it could take some kind of
advantage, and Wittenberg looked to do the same. Neither team showed much
weakness throughout the first half though as the game would remain scoreless
with both defenses looking especially strong. But, and just like yesterday’s
first round match, Calvin was the first to jump out to a lead.
With four minutes left in the first half, Calvin forced a corner kick on the
Tiger’s half, and Lauren Heyboer chipped in her third assist in two games
from corner kicks, sending in a great ball that was redirected into the goal by
senior midfielder Emily Ottenhoff. The goal, Ottenhoff’s seventh of the
year, gave Calvin the lead and showed exactly why Ottenhoff was named the
MIAA’s Most Valuable Player for the 2009 season.
“I think Em is by far one of the smartest soccer IQ players I have ever
coached,” Recker said of his senior leader. “She sees what’s happening
on the field, and she keeps us calm at times when we just need to slow
down.”
“Her career here has been special for us,” Recker continued, “and her
four years here have always given some measure of value in terms of her overall
soccer skills and what she has meant to our team.”
The goal, coming directly off of a corner kick, would be Calvin’s fourth
goal of its last five that have resulted from corner kick set pieces. Calvin
certainly has dominated in the air in this tournament so far. And at 1-0,
Calvin went into the halftime break with the lead, something they definitely
were hoping for coming into this game.
The seniors on Calvin’s squad, playing in their final seasons as Knights,
knew that a lead such as this is especially vital to getting access to the next
round of the tournament. Calvin hasn’t made it beyond the second round of
play in the NCAA Tournament since 2006, back when these current seniors were
freshmen.
“We’re really pumped,” Ottenhoff said after the game, “we kept talking
about how not every team gets a second chance like we did, and yesterday and
today we came out and got it done and so we’re really excited about where
we’re at right now.”
“For the seniors, we got to the elite eight our freshmen year which was a
great way to start off our careers,” Ottenhoff said of how the team’s
senior members are looking at this final tournament, “and not having been
back since then we are definitely looking to get back to that level.”
Halftime stats showed both teams with three shots on goal, with Ottenhoff’s
header the lone success, but Calvin controlled the pace of the game throughout
much of the half. That didn’t slow down a bit once the second frame began.
In the second half the defenses of both teams again took over, not giving
anything over to the other team in terms of scoring opportunity. The first
real chance for the Knights came midway through the half as Calvin took
advantage of a Wittenberg free kick for a breakaway drive by junior back Kellie
Honderd. Honderd received a pass at midfield with no one in front of her and
took off towards Wittenberg’s goal, but a bad touch resulted in Honderd
losing a lot of scoring angle and her shot was easily scooped up by the Tiger
goalkeeper.
As time kept on rolling down emotions began to run a little high on both sides
as Calvin tried to maintain the lead and Wittenberg desperately tried to set
something up on offense in the hopes of getting an equalizer.
In the last few minutes of the game the Tigers pushed Calvin’s half as best
they could and even had a dangerous chance on goal in the final seconds, with a
loose ball scramble occurring in the Knights’ box. Calvin keeper Kayla
Sulzer was swift to the ball though and by collecting it she essentially
cemented the victory for the Knights as soon after the whistle sounded and
Calvin was on to the next round.
“Our team getting the invite was just a real refreshing acceptance,”
Recker said, still grateful for his team’s chance to make noise in this final
tournament, “and we’re just going to take each game we’re offered as a
gift, move on, continue practicing, and represent the MIAA.”
One interesting note for Saturday’s game was that Calvin saw some playing
time from an unexpected player who came back from what was thought to be a
season ending injury. Senior forward Natalie Veurink played for part of the
match after injuring her hip, and her return to the field was a breath of fresh
air to a Knights’ offense that has lacked speed at that position.
“It was great to be back on the field and able to contribute for my team,”
Veurink said afterwards, “and it is wonderful to be back in the sweet sixteen
and we’re ready to hit the road.”
The Knights finished the match ahead of Wittenberg 8-6 in the shot column, a
much closer total than they have been used to for many of their games this
season. Sulzer finished with three saves, getting her second straight shutout,
and Calvin now has shut out its opponents in each of the first two rounds of
the tournament.
And with Saturday’s win, the Knights now have tasted the sweetness of
victory as they move on to their first Sweet 16 since 2006. With a season
reborn from the ashes, look for the Knights to remain invigorated with new life
in this 2009 NCAA Tournament.
Received on Sat Nov 14 17:56:13 2009
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