CKSR (Calvin Sports Report for Feb. 17, 2012)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB. 17, 2012

Women's Swimming and Diving Closing in On Eighth Straight MIAA Title;
Rushlow and Battoclette Claim Individual Titles for Men's Swim Team at
MIAA's;
Track & Field Teams Compete at GVSU Tuneup Invitational;
Women's Tennis Defeats Cornerstone 9-0 In Season Opener

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING MIAA CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY THREE REPORT

MEN’S RECAP
By Andrew Knot

The Calvin men’s swim and dive team is poised to complete one of its strongest
finishes in recent memory after Friday’s MIAA conference meet at the Holland
Aquatic Center.
 
After Friday’s action, the Knights sit in fourth place with 407 points. They
trail Olivet, Hope, and Kalamazoo, who hold 420.5, 481 and 510.5 points
respectively.
 
The Knights were led by standout performances from seniors Mark Rushlow and
Ross Battoclette. Rushlow became the first Calvin swimmer since Peter
Boumgarden to win the butterfly. Boumgarden was a four-team champion from
2002-to-2005. On Friday, Rushlow took the 100 butterfly with an NCAA III
automatic qualifying time of 49.33, just missing the school record of 49.25 set
by Boumgarden in 2002.
 
Meanwhile, senior Ross Battoclette, won the 200 freestyle with a time of
1:42.63, becoming the first-ever swimmer in Calvin men’s history to win the
race at the conference meet. Battoclette came from behind in the final two
lengths to take the event in dramatic fashion. Freshman Alex Baumann improved
his preliminary time by nearly two seconds to place third.
 
The Knights’ Travis Vincent also clocked an impressive time of 4:08.33 in the
400 IM, just missing the school record time of 4:08.01. His time was good for
second place.

Rushlow also came back to place third in the 100 backstroke with a time of
52.06.

Calvin’s performance thus far in the meet has the Knights in position for a
third place finish. In order to do so, Calvin would need a strong finish from
both its swimming and diving units tomorrow.
 
Coach Dan Gelderloos was impressed with his squad’s performance.
 
“I saw a lot of heart from my team. They were swimming for each other,” he
said. Gelderloos praised his seniors’ performance.
 
“It was cool to see Mark and Ross rewarded for their hard work. The seniors
have been the backbone of this team for the last couple of years. Even those
who went unrecognized tonight don’t go unrecognized by me,” he added.

WOMEN’S RECAP

On the women’s side, Calvin used depth across the board to build a commanding
112.5 point lead over second place Hope. The Knights are bidding for their
eighth straight MIAA title including their 10th in the last 12 years.

Heading into Saturday’s final day of competition, Calvin has a total of 562.5
points with Hope second (455) and Kalamazoo third (396.5).

Calvin claimed two individual titles on Friday with junior Elizabeth Counsell
repeating as league champion in the 100 breaststroke with an NCAA III B’ cut
qualifying time of 1:05.42 while junior Samantha Klaasen repeated as league
champion on the one-meter diving board, winning with a season-best time of
433.30 points. Calvin also posted a win in the 200 medley relay with the
quartet of Erika Waugh, Counsell, Rachel Colasurdo and Stephanie Fox posting a
time of 1:48.18.

“Our women stepped things up tonight,” said Calvin head swim coach Dan
Gelderloos. “We have a lot solid contributions which was good to see. Our goal
tomorrow is to seal the deal.”

Klaasen led a 1-4 Calvin finish on the one-meter board as freshman Rebecca
Mumby was fourth (381.00). In the 100 breaststroke, sophomore Maria Sedjo added
a seventh place time (1:10.46).

Calvin’s depth was in evidence in the 400 IM as junior Savannah VanWormer was
third (4:48.74), senior Bridgett Scott fifth (4:50.09) and sophomore Elizabeth
Schleh seventh (4:55.02).

Calvin also packed a punch in the 100 butterfly as Colasurdo was second
(59.34), senior Rachel Bos third (59.55) and Sedjo seventh (1:01.50).

Calvin also placed three in the top eight in the 200 freestyle with Fox
finishing second (1:55.19), freshman Kathryn Wrobel placing third (1:55.76) and
freshman Alex Dhaenens fifth (1:59.03).

In the 100 backstroke, Waugh took second (58.99), freshman Lexi Scott fifth
(1:01.46) and senior Brianna Seaks eighth (1:02.72).

Action continues on Saturday with morning prelims set for 10 a.m. and finals
slated for 5:30 p.m.

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

ALLENDALE – A group of Calvin track and field athletes compete at the Grand
Valley State Tuneup Invitational.

Notable performances for the Calvin women included sophomore Stephanie Bennett
placing ninth in the 200 meters (26.52), junior Kaylea Brase placing 11th in
the 800 meters (2:20.88), senior Jodi Hoekstra placing third in the 3,000
meters (10:12.95), freshman Amy Sybesma placing sixth in the high jump (5-0 ¼),
senior Laura Sybesma winning the triple jump (34-4), freshman Christina
Greating placing seventh in the pole vault (9-10 ¾) and sophomore Hillary
Banning placing sixth in the long jump (15-9 ¾) and third in the triple jump
(33-3 ¼).

On the men’s side, sophomore Matt Christians was second in the high jump
(6-5), sophomore Evert Geerlings was seventh in the pole vault (14-2), freshman
Jacob Kuyvenhoven placed sixth in the 5,000 meters (15:37.76), freshman Erik
Holstege was seventh in the 60 meter hurdles (9:04) and eighth in the long jump
(19-8 3/4) while junior Aaron Meckes was fourth in the shot put (51-6 ½).

Calvin will now prepare to host the Michigan/Indiana Invitational next
Saturday at the Huizenga Tennis and Track Center.

WOMEN’S TENNIS
Calvin 9, Cornerstone 0
By Mark DeHaan

Calvin opened up its season Friday night with a clean sweep of Cornerstone,
9-0. The matches were played inside the Huizenga Tennis and Track Center.

Calvin opened up the match in doubles play, where the first doubles team of
Megan Visser and Samantha Reitsma defeated Amy Fouty and Hanna Guest 8-1. The
second doubles team of Bethany Zoerhof and Elise Doezema won by a score of 8-3.
Rounding out the doubles was Emily Swets and Nicole Sheppard who defeated Kelly
Gampel and Carrie Carr 8-0.

In first singles, Visser again beat Fouty, this time by a score of 6-0, 6-1.
Lauren Schlagenhauf beat Janie Silvers 6-1, 6-0 in second singles. Another 6-1,
6-0 match was won by Jordan Ipema over Hannah Guest in third singles. Zoerhof
defeated Carrie Carr in fourth singles 6-3, 6-4. Calvin rounded out the wins
with a pair of straight set 6-0, 6-0 victories, first by Reitsma over Allison
Rusticus and finally by Ali Roode over Kelly Gampel.

“The performance tonight was very good, I was pleased with their effort,” said
Head Coach Jerry Bergsma. “There was really no let-up anywhere, from first
doubles down to sixth singles everyone competed hard, and the result was very
positive.”

The Knights are now 1-0 and look forward to next weekend when they travel down
to Wheaton for matches on Friday and Saturday.
Received on Fri Feb 17 22:41:30 2012