CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 24, 2011
Andy Krafft Claims National Runner-Up Berth on One-Meter Board;
Men's Golf Leads Sunshine Invitational;
Softball Splits Final Two Games in Tucson;
Tennis Teams Swept by Wisconsin-Whitewater
NCAA III SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
KNOXVILLE, TN - Andy Krafft continued his amazing freshman campaign for the Calvin College men's swimming and diving team, posting a national runner-up berth on the one-meter diving board at the NCAA III Championships Thursday night. A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Krafft (Home Schooled) took second at the national meet with a score of 459.0 points. Krafft finished behind Nick Halbach of the United States Merchant Marine Academy who took first with a score of 497.80 ponts. Krafft is just the male diver in Calvin history to claim All-America honors, joining Dirk Pruis who did so on multiple occassions in the early 1980's. Krafft's national finish is the highest by a Calvin male diver and was the best finish by an MIAA men's diver at the NCAA meet since Kalamazoo's Anthony Holt won the 1-meter and 3-meter titles in 2003. Krafft's finish also gave Calvin 17 points in the team standings, placing the Knights in 22nd place with two days of competition left.
Krafft used a steady rise through the standings beginning in the afternoon prelims as he sat in ninth place after his first five dives but then got on a roll, hitting big scores on his 3 1/2 twister dive as well as his reverse 2 1/2 and back 2 1/2 that allowed him to move up to fifth place and earn a spot in the evening finals with a prelim score of 409.60. In the evening finals, Krafft took his performance to yet another level, hitting key dives that allowed him to move into second place.
"I thought Andy was very calm tonight and put a big charge into moving up in the standings," said Calvin diving coach Aaron Paskvan who has now led Calvin divers to 11 All-America berths in his six years as coach. "He had a little too much ground to make up on the leader but I couldn't be happier or more proud of him."
According to Paskvan, Krafft just missed contending for the national title. "Andy was off just a touch on a couple of dives in the prelims that carried over into the finals," said Paskvan. "He corrected those mistakes and is starting to understand how to perform on the board when it matters most. If he can get off to a little quicker start on the three-meter board, he could be in the running again for one of the top spots."
Krafft is scheduled to compete in the men's three-meter diving competition on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Calvin had two individuals compete on the women's side as sophomore Elizabeth Counsell (Indianapolis, IN/Heritage Christian HS) took 44th in the 200 IM prelims (2:15.56) while freshman Elise Kaufman (Sugarland, TX/Clements HS) was 21st on the three-meter board (334.65).
Counsell is scheduled to compete in the 100 breaststroke prelims on Friday while Kaufman will compete on the one-meter diving board.
MEN'S GOLF
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - Through the first day of competition, the Calvin men's golf team is in first place at the Sunshine Invitational. The Knights carded a team score of 299 strokes on Thursday afternoon at the Wannamaker Ryder Golf Course with Williams second (304) and Trinity College (CT) third (313).
The tournament format allows for six individuals to compete with the toup four individuals counting towards the team score. Calvin had five of its six golfers fire sub-80 rounds led by senior Eric Doezema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) who had a round of 73 that was good for second place individually. Sophomore Mike Fennema (Grand Rapids/South Christian HS) had his best performance of the season, carding a 74 that was good for a third place tie while sophomore Ben Kuiper (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and freshman Jake Hoogstrate (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapdis Christian HS) had rounds of 76.
Rounding out Calvin's finishers on Thursday were senior Jess Henriksma (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) with a 78 and sophomore Dave Sarkipato (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian HS) with an 82.
Competition will continue and conclude tomorrow afternoon. The Sunshine Invitational is one of five spring tournaments Calvin is competing in prior to competing at the NCAA III Championships May 13-16 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
FIRST DAY RESULTS: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/golf/Results/2010/SunshineInvitational%20-%20Combo%20Results.pdf
SOFTBALL
TUCSON, AZ - Calvin concluded its trip to Arizona with a split of games on Thursday. Calvin opened the day with a 10-2 loss to Carleton College but rebounded to defeat St. Catherines University 14-13 in eight innings. The Knights will return to Michigan with a 2-8 overall record.
In the win over St. Catherines, Calvin rebounded from deficits twice. Calvin trailed by four runs early on but tied the game on a grand-slam homerun by freshman Lina Avila. The game then went into extra innings and the Knights fell behind by four runs. Calvin refused to fold however and answered with five runs in the bottom half to win the game with sophomore Lauren Spoelstra driving in the game-winning run on a sacrifice hit. Junior Marie Prins also had a big day at the plate with five hits and three RBI's while freshman Shelby Sheehan also collected four hits in the win. Freshman Danae Miedema went the distance for the Knights, collecting her first collegiate win.
In a 10-7 loss to St. Olaf College Wednesday afternoon, Calvin rapped out three homeruns with Spoelstra, sophomore Bekah Kline and Avila belting homeruns.
Calvin will now prepare for its home opener on Monday with the Knights hosting Trinity Christian College in a non-conference doubleheader at 3:30 p.m.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
ORLANDO - The Calvin women's tennis team dropped a hard-fought 5-4 decision to regionally-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater Thursday afternoon. The loss was the second in as many days for the Knights as they dropped a 7-2 decision to regionally-ranked St. Olaf on Wednesday afternoon. The Knights are now 3-5 on the year.
In the loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater, Calvin picked up a win at No. 1 doubles behind the tandem of seniors Melissa Oosterhouse and Kaitlin Spoelhof but the Warhawks were able to take the remaining two doubles points. Calvin then picked up wins at No. 1 singles (Oosterhouse), No. 2 singles (Spoelhof) and No. 3 singles (Michelle Busscher) but were swept in the remaining three singles flights.
Oosterhouse is now 7-1 in singles play this year while Spoelhof is 6-2. Oosterhouse is now 66-12 in her singles career while Spoelhof is 49-30.
Calvin returns to action on Friday, facing Luther College at 1 p.m.
Calvin-St. Olaf Box Score: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/womens/tennis/results/2011/cwstola.htm
Calvin-Wisconsin-Whitewater Box Score: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/womens/tennis/results/2011/cawwhite.htm
MEN'S TENNIS
ORLANDO, FL - Calvin dropped a 9-0 decision to regionally-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater Thursday afternoon. The loss came on the heels of a 6-3 Calvin win over Colorado College Tuesday afternoon. The Knights are now 3-3 on the year against four-year schools.
In the win over Colorado College Tuesday, Calvin swept the three doubles points and then received singles victories from senior Andrew DeVlieger at No. 2 singles, sophomore Brian DeMaagd at No. 3 singles and sophomore Jarrod Brower at No. 6 singles.
Calvin is back in action on Friday, facing regionally-ranked Grinnell College at noon.
Calvin-Colorado College Box Score: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/tennis/results/2011/calcol.htm
Calvin-Wisconsin-Whitewater Box Score: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/tennis/results/2011/cwww.htm
Received on Fri Mar 25 00:14:54 2011
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