CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 17, 2011
Women's Swimming & Diving Team Takes Commanding First Day Lead at MIAA Championships; Men's Swimming & Diving Team In Fourth Place Through Day One - Andy Kraft Has Record-Setting Day On Diving Board
WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING
JENISON - The Calvin women's swimming and diving team has taken a commanding first day lead at the MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships held at the Jenison High School Aquatic Center. Through day one, the Knights are in first place with 287 points, 82 points ahead of second place Hope with Kalamazoo third with 174 points.
Calvin took first place in three events Thursday night led by a 1-2-3 finish on the three-meter diving board with sophomore Sam Klaasen (Holland/Holland Christian HS) taking first place with an NCAA III qualifying score of 414.60 followed by senior Carmen Brummel (West Olive/Unity Christian HS) in second (380.15) and freshman Elise Kaufman (Sugarland, TX/Clements HS) in third (364.25).
In the pool, sophomore Elizabeth Counsell (Indianapolis, IN/Heritage Christian HS) had a stirring first place finish in the 200 IM (2:10.99) while Calvin's 400 medley relay team of senior Monica Bressler (Sandusky, OH/Perkins HS), Counsell, senior Caitlin Alexander (Holland/Holland Christian HS) and sophomore Stephanie Fox (Kentwood, MI/Home Schooled) won with an NCAA III condititional qualifying time of 3:53.93.
Seeded 16th in the 200 IM heading into the day, Counsell advanced to the evening finals with the second-fastest swim of the morning prelims. In the finals, she trailed Hope's Ashley Jasperse by a three yard margin with 15 yards to go but found an extra gear and powered home for the win. Counsell was one of three Calvin swimmers in the finals of the event as Alexander was sixth (2:13.55) and sophomore Rachel Colasurdo (Chesapeake, VA/Home Schooled) eighth (2:14.57).
Calvin opened the meet with a second place finish in the 200 freestyle relay as the quartet of freshman Samantha Musolf (Byron Center/Byron Center HS), Bressler, Fox and freshman Margaret Rechel (Worthington OH/Thomas Worthington HS) clocked an NCAA III conditional qualifying time of 1:36.85.
In the 50 freestyle, Calvin placed placed three individuals in the finals with Bressler taking third with an NCAA III conditional qualifying time of 23.99, Musolf placing fifth (25.05) and Rechel placing eighth (25.24).
In the 500 freestyle, sophomore Shelby Cloyd (Plainwell/Plainwell HS) had a season-best time of 5:09.11 that was good for third place while Fox was seventh 5:21.17 and senior Kendra Kinzer (Fort Wayne, IN/Homestead HS) eighth (5:22.46).
According to head coach Dan Gelderloos, the come-from-behind victory by Counsell in the 200 IM ignited the Calvin team. "If I had to point to one thing that got our team going it would be Elizabeth Counsell's swim in the 200 IM," said Gelderloos. "That created instant energy and really got our team going."
As for the diving contingent, Calvin diving coach Aaron Paskvan was thrilled. "I am so proud of all three of our (women's) divers," said Paskvan. "They have worked so hard all year long despite some ups-and-downs and it paid off tonight. It was wonderful to see how they supported each other. For Sam (Klaasen), I tip my hap to her tonight. This was her first national qualifying score on the three-meter and she did as a conference champion. That was very good to see."
Action continues on Friday with morning prelims set for 10 a.m. and evening finals set for 6 p.m.
DAN GELDERLOOS AUDIO INTERVIEW: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/11/Swimming/DanGelderloosMIAADayOne.mp3
AARON PASKVAN AUDIO INTERVIEW: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/11/Swimming/AaronPaskvanMIAADayOne.mp3
MIAA WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY ONE POINT TOTALS
Calvin 287
Hope 205
Kalamazoo 174
Olivet 99
Saint Mary's 99
Albion 95
Alma 52
MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING
JENISON - The Calvin men's swimming and diving team is in fourth place through day one of the MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships with 160 points, just two points behind Olivet. Kalamazoo leads the competition with 257 points while Hope is second with 241.
Highlighting the evening for the Knights was freshman Andy Krafft who became the first MIAA men's diving champion from Calvin since 1985, winning the one-meter competition with an NCAA III qualifying, Calvin record and Jenison Aquatic Center record score of 511.45. Kraft breaks the previous Calvin record for 11 dives on the one-meter board of 510.00 set by Jake Chapman in 1999.
"I am really proud of Andy," said Calvin men's diving coach Aaron Paskvan after Thursday night's competition was complete. "Andy has been battling through some sickness over the past few weeks so I was a little worried that he would have the strength to make it through an 11-dive competition today but he had plenty in the tank. The exciting thing is that he still has a lot of room for improvement so we're looking forward to the future with him as well."
Krafft is the first MIAA men's diving champion from Calvin since Bill VanEe won the one-meter competition at the 1985 conference meet. Only one Calvin diver has won the three-meter board at the conference meet. Dirk Pruis accomplished the feat in 1982. Krafft was one of four Calvin divers to score as freshman Lim Min (Seoul, South Korea/Unity Christian HS) was 13th (219.30), sophomore Evan Bronson (Kalamazoo, MI/Hackett Catholic Central HS) was 10th (264.05) and freshman Jeff Brown (Allison Park, PA/Hampton HS) eighth (280.70).
The top individual swim for the Calvin men came from sophomore Stephen Kraft (Warsaw, IN/Home Schooled) in the 200 IM as he placed third (1:56.52) while freshman teammate Peter Johnson (Oak Forest, IL/Home Schooled) was sixth (1:59.56).
In the 500 freestyle, junior Ross Battoclette (Cincinnati, OH/Clark Montesorri HS) recorded a fourth place time of 4:44.38.
Calvin's 200 freestyle relay team of sophomore Mark Rushlow (Goshen, IN/Northridge HS), Battoclette, sophomore Kenton Cooper (Galesburg, IL/Galesburg HS) and freshman Casey Harless (DeWitt/DeWitt HS) was fourth 1:25.95 while the Calvin 400 medley relay team of freshman Andrew Mitchell (Iron Mountain/Kingsford HS), junior Greg Gorham (Minneapolis, MN/Richfield HS), Rushlow and Battoclette was fourth with a time of 3:28.48.
"I was proud of our guys tonight," said Gelderloos. "It won't be easy catching Olivet but we are much closer than I anticipated and now our team has something to fight for. I thought our men really picked it up at the end of tonight and I wish we could have started the second (day) session right after tonight because we had that much energy."
Action continues on Friday with morning prelims set for 10 a.m. and evening finals set for 6 p.m.
DAN GELDERLOOS AUDIO INTERVIEW: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/11/Swimming/DanGelderloosMIAADayOne.mp3
AARON PASKVAN AUDIO INTERVIEW: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/11/Swimming/AaronPaskvanMIAADayOne.mp3
MIAA MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY ONE POINT TOTALS
Kalamazoo 257
Hope 241
Olivet 162
Calvin 160
Albion 102
Alma 75
Received on Fri Feb 18 00:15:08 2011
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