CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 17, 2010
Women's Tennis Opens Strikwerda Tennis Courts With 8-1 Win Over Olivet;
Women's Swimming & Diving in 10th Place After Day One of NCAA III Championships;
More Post-Season Honors for John Mantel
WOMEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 8, Olivet 1
The first-ever tennis match on the newly refurbished Strikwerda Tennis Courts took place on Wednesday and the regionally-ranked Calvin women's tennis team came away with an 8-1 victory over the visiting Comets of Olivet. Wednesday's match served as the MIAA opener for both teams. It also served as the first match on the refurbished outdoor tennis courts at Calvin now called Strikwerda Tennis Courts in honor of Calvin alumns Jim and Dolly Strikwerda.
Granddaughter Rachel Strikwerda (Holland Christian HS) helped inaugurate the courts with a win at No. 4 singles for Calvin and a win along with teammate Jill Van Veen (Grand Rapids Christian HS) at No. 2 doubles.
Ranked 13th in the most recent set of ITA Division III Regional rankings, Calvin also received singles victories from junior Melissa Oosterhouse (Grand Rapids Christian HS) at No. 1 singles, junior Kaitlin Spoelhof (Holland Christian HS) at No. 2 singles, senior Elisabeth Geenen (Holland Christian HS) at No. 3 singles, junior Michelle Busscher (Western Michigan Christian HS) at No. 5 singles, Oosterhouse and Spoelhof at No. 1 doubles and Geenen and senior Rachel DeGroot (Lombard, IL) at No. 3 doubles.
The match on the royal blue courts was also played under blue skies and weather temperatures hovering in the high 60's. "It was a great day to be outdoors. We feel very blessed," said Calvin women's tennis coach Jerry Bergsma. "We also feel very blessed to have the facilities that we now have for tennis, both indoors (Huizenga Tennis and Track Center) and outdoors (Strikwerda Tennis Courts). We are very grateful for these gifts."
Calvin is now 4-1 overall and is scheduled to return to action on Saturday when it faces UW-Stevens Point at 4:30 p.m. in Orlando, Florida.
Calvin/Olivet Box Score: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/womens/tennis/results/2010/caolivet.htm
Jerry Bergsma Post-Match Audio Interview:http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/Wtennis/JerryBergsma031710.mp3
ITA Division III Central Region Rankings: http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Rankings/2009-10_NCAA_Division_III_Women_s_Rankings/March_16_-_DIII_W_Central_Rankings.htm
NCAA III SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY ONE REPORT
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - The Calvin women's swimming and diving team broke into the scoring column on day one of the NCAA III Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota with a 12th place finish in the 200 medley relay. The 12th place finish by the Calvin quartet of freshman Kristen Kinzer (Fort Wayne, IN), senior Emily Roberts (DeKalb, IL), junior Caitlin Alexander (Holland Christian HS) and junior Monica Bressler (Sandusky, OH) in a time of 1:46.92 was good for 10 points and put the Knights in 20th place with three days of competition left.
Earlier in the day, Bressler competed in the prelims of the 50 freestyle while Roberts, senior Maggie Vail (Portage Northern HS) and freshman Elisabeth Counsell (Indianapolis, IN) competed in the prelims of the 200 IM but did not advance to the evening finals.
"We had a little bit of a so-so start to the morning prelims but I think we turned the corner with our relay performance tonight," said Calvin head men's and women's swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "We had some great splits in the relay, particularly Emily Roberts who swam the fastest split of her life in her breaststroke leg. That should bode well for her over the next few days."
Scheduled to compete for Calvin on Thursday on the women's side are seniors Joy Leach (Charlottsville, VA) and Casey Herman (Libertyville, IL) on the one-meter diving diving board. The Calvin women will also compete in the 200 freestyle relay (seeded 13th) and 400 medley relay (seeded 17th). Scheduled to compete for the Calvin men on Thursday is freshman Mark Rushlow (Goshen, IN). Rushlow is seeded 16th.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
The post-season awards list continues to grow for Calvin senior John Mantel. The Chelsea native was named to the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) Division III All-District second team this afternoon. It marks the third consecutive year that a Calvin men's basketball player has landed NABC All-District honors as Caleb Veldhouse was a second team selection in 2008 and 2009.
During the 2009-10 season, Mantel averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. He concluded his career 12th on the Calvin career scoring list with 1,263 points and sixth on the Calvin career rebounding list with 680 rebounds. At the conclusion of the season, Mantel was named to the All-MIAA first team for the second straight year after helping lead Calvin to its second consecutive outright MIAA regular season title.
Mantel is scheduled to compete in the NABC Division III All-Star game in Salem, Virginia, on Saturday.
CALVIN NABC ALL-DISTRICT SELECTIONS OVER LAST 12 YEARS
John Mantel, 2nd Team, 2010
Caleb Veldhouse, 2nd Team, 2009
Caleb Veldhouse 2nd Team 2008
Dan Aultman 1st Team 2005
Dan Aultman 2nd Team 2004
Jeremy Veenstra 1st Team 2003
Jeremy Veenstra 1st Team 2002
Jeremy Veenstra 1st Team 2001
Aaron Winkle 1st Team 2000
Aaron Winkle 1st Team 1999
Received on Wed Mar 17 23:32:38 2010
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