CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR OCTOBER 9, 2010 (PART ONE)
CALVIN MEN'S GOLF TEAM CAPTURES FIRST-EVER MIAA TITLE - EARNS NCAA III TOURNAMENT BID
ALMA - There is a first time for everything. On Saturday, the time was right for the Calvin men's golf team as it captured its first-ever MIAA title.
Trailing by 19 strokes heading into the eighth and final MIAA Jamboree of the season, Calvin overcame the deficit to win the league crown by two strokes over Trine University. Calvin posted a team score of 296 at Saturday's jamboree, hosted by Alma at the Pine River Country Club. Trine posted a team score of 317, 21 strokes behind Calvin, allowing the Knights to come-from-behind in dramatic fashion. Calvin finished the season with an eight-round total of 2411 strokes with Trine second at 2413.
Defending MIAA champion Hope had a team score of 303 on Saturday to finish third in the final league standings (2420), nine strokes behind Calvin.
Calvin has competed in men's golf since joining the MIAA in time for the 1953-54 academic year but had never finished higher than second in the final team standings. A year ago, Calvin finished in a three-way tie for second place with Albion and Trine. Calvin also had runner-up finishes in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 2000 and 2003.
"We had no idea we had won until they started posting the (individual) scores one-by-one on the board at the end of the day," said Calvin men's golf coach Brian Bolt. "As the scores went up, we started to do the math and when it became official, it was just an incredible feeling of surprise and joy. I'm just thrilled for our guys and extremely proud to represent Calvin College."
With the MIAA title, Calvin gains its first-ever bid to the NCAA III Championships, scheduled for May 10-13 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Guilford College will serve as host with the competition slated to be held at the Grandover Resort.
Calvin had a number of sterling individual efforts on Saturday led by freshman David Veen (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) who fired a 71 to share medalist honors with Hope senior Chris Ansel. Veen is the fourth individual from Calvin to earn MIAA medalist honors this year as sophomore Ben Kuiper (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS), senior Jess Hendriksma (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and Eric Doezema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) also achieved the feat earlier in the year.
Doezema also had a day to remember, firing a round of 73 highlighted by a hole-in-one on the 180-yard 13th hole with a seven-iron. Doezema closed out his 2010 MIAA season in sizzling style, finishing with rounds of 74, 71 and Saturday's round of 73. Sophomore Dave Sarkipato (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian HS) also had a clutch performance with a round of 75 Saturday while Hendriksma had a 77 and Kuiper an 81.
Hendriksma also earned a spot on the All-MIAA first team, finishing with a season average of 74.5 strokes-per-round, the second-best single-season average in Calvin men's golf history. Doezema earned a spot on the All-MIAA second team. Calvin finished the year by winning three of the eight MIAA Jamborees.
MIAA JAMBOREE #8 TEAM SCORES
Calvin 296
Hope 303
Olivet 309
Adrian 310
Kalamazoo 316
Trine 317
Albion 319
Alma 319
FINAL MIAA MEN'S GOLF STANDINGS
Calvin 2411
Trine 2413
Hope 2420
Adrian 2432
Olivet 2448
Albion 2472
Alma 2547
Kalamazoo 2602
BRIAN BOLT AUDIO INTERVIEW: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/10/Mensgolf/BrianBolt100910.mp3
JESS HENDRIKSMA AUDIO INTERVIEW: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/10/Mensgolf/JessHendriksma100910.mp3
ERIC DOEZEMA AUDIO INTERVIEW: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/10/Mensgolf/EricDoezema100910.mp3
WOMEN'S GOLF TAKES SIXTH AT MIAA TOURNAMENT - 7th IN FINAL LEAGUE STANDINGS
BATTLE CREEK - Calvin followed a first day team score of 370 strokes at the MIAA Tournament with a second day total of 363 strokes. The tournament was held at the Bedford Valley Country Club. The 363 score is a season-best. Calvin's two-day, 36-hole round score of 773 strokes was good for sixth place at the MIAA Tournament and allowed the Knights to finish in seventh place in the final MIAA overall standings. Calvin finished just four strokes behind Adrian in the tournament standings.
Sophomore Elise Doezema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) had a stellar tournament, firing back-to-back rounds of 81 that allowed her to finish tied for fourth place at the tournament. For her efforts (81-81=162), Doezema earned a spot on the all-tournament team. She also finished with a season scoring average of 85.4 strokes-per-round which allowed her to earn a spot on the All-MIAA second team. Doezema is the first player since Annie Huizenga in 2005 to receive All-MIAA honors in women's golf.
Freshman Carlia Canto (Marysville/Port Huron Northern HS) also had a strong tournament, producing a second day total of 87 to go with a first day round of 82 that left her tied (82-87 = 169) for 15th individually in the final tournament standings. Canto finished the year with a season scoring average of 86.4 strokes-per-round which ranks as the third-best single-season average in Calvin women's golf history.
Sophomore Rachel Whitaker (Grand Rapids/Forest Hills Northern HS) had a second day score of 96, giving her a tournament total of (106-96) 202. Freshman Ashley Tiefenthal (Mainstee/Manistee HS) had a 104 on Saturday, giving her a tournament total of 205 (101-104). Freshman Melissa Shepard (Lowell/Lowell HS) had a collegiate best score of 99 on Saturday to give her a two-day total of (109-99) 208.
Saint Mary's took first at the tournament with a score of 635, allowing the Belles to clinch the MIAA regular season title. Olivet took second with a score of 648.
MIAA TOURNAMENT TEAM SCORES
Saint Mary's 635
Olivet 648
Hope 675
Trine 722
Adrian 729
Calvin 733
Albion 741
Alma 769
Kalamazoo 820
FINAL MIAA WOMEN'S GOLF STANDINGS
Saint Mary's 1959
Olivet 1996
Hope 2074
Trine 2184
Albion 2187
Adrian 2219
Calvin 2305
Alma 2330
Kalamazoo 2549
Received on Sat Oct 9 22:55:39 2010
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