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CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MAY 3, 2012

Men's and Women's Track and Field Teams Grab First Place Leads at MIAA Field
Day;
Men's Tennis Defeats Hope in MIAA Tournament Semifinals;
Women's Tennis Falls to Hope in MIAA Tournament Semis

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
By Mark DeHaan

The Calvin men grabbed a trio of wins in the field events Thursday afternoon.

Taking Calvin's first top finish was junior Aaron Meckes in
the shot put, throwing a season best of 54' 7 1/2”.

The Knights also claimed first place in pole vault as sophomore Evert Geerlings
won with a vault of 13' 10 3/4”.

In the javelin throw, senior Justin Kremers beat out the competition by nearly
sixteen feet as Kremers posted a throw of 56.47 meters.

In the final event of the night and the only mens running event of the evening,
Calvin took the top four spots in the men's 10,000 meters. Senior Dan Kerr took
first with a time of 32:40.12, just beating out junior Job Christiansen who
finished
in a time of 32:40.20. Junior David VandeBunte came in third in a time of
33:16.36 while freshman Jacob Kuyvenhoven rounded out the top four with a time
of 33:39.73.

“On the men's side we had a few nice surprises in the shot and the javelin,”
said Head Coach Brett Otte.

“I think we're doing really well. We'll see how (tomorrow) goes.”

On the women's side, Calvin took first in the high jump as junior Carissa
Verkaik won with a jump of 1.62 meters.

In the long jump, sophomore Hilary Banning took second place for the Knights
with a jump of 5.20 meters.

In the only women's running event of the night, Calvin
sophomore Nicole Michmerhuizen took first place in the 10,000 meters with a
time of 37:52.37.

“We had a good day one for both men and women. We did really well in the
women's prelims – women's throws we had really good improvements, women's long
jump and high jump went really well today,” said Otte. “Things are going really
well.”

While the field events and the 10,000 meters ran today, the remainder of the
track events will take place tomorrow, with the first events resuming at 10
a.m. On the mens side, Calvin holds first place with 70 points while Hope is in
second at 39. For the women, Calvin has a ten point advantage as they totaled
57 points on the day, with Alma in second at 47.

MEN’S TENNIS

By Mitch Blankespoor

The Calvin men’s tennis team took on the Hope College Flying Dutchmen on
Thursday afternoon. For the second time in as many weeks, the two teams
took to the Strikwerda Tennis Center courts. This particular match was
the MIAA Tournament semifinals. The result, however, was the same.
The Knights defeated the Flying Dutchmen by the smallest of margins – 5-4.

The doubles matches went differently than the first tome around.
Juniors Preston Phillips and Phil Reinken avenged a loss and defeated Robert
Cawood and Gabe Casher 8-3 at first doubles. Brian DeMaagd and Loukus
Peterson lost at 2nd doubles. They were defeated by Kyle Kreps and Davis
VanderVeen by a score of 8-3. Calvin took the 2-1 lead as Jarrod Brower
and Vashan Wright beat Parker Bussies and Matt Culver 8-6.

The singles flights got underway. Each team had won three first
sets. Just like the previous match, rain swept it. The match was
delayed for roughly half an hour. Once the two rivals took to the courts
again, the five and six singles flights rapped up. Jarrod Brower, who
clinched the match in the previous meeting, won at five singles defeating Davis
VanderVeen 6-1, 6-4. Vashan Wright bowed out to Jon Panzer losing 6-1,
6-1 at six singles.

First singles was the next match off the court. Robert Cawood defeated
Brain DeMaagd 6-2, 6-3. Phil Reinken then defeated Gabe Casher 6-4, 6-1
at third singles. Kyle Kreps avenged a loss in the previous meeting
defeated Loukus Peterson 6-1, 6-4.

This tied the match at 4-4 with only the second sinWhen the weather delay took effect, Phillips was ahead 6-4, 0-5. Once he
got back on the court, he won seven straight games to take the set and clinch
the match for the Knights.

“He [Bussies] started to serve and volley in the second set. I was
expending more energy and not getting much out of it. I used the rain
delay to my advantage and regrouped and just played smarter,” Phillips
reflected.

“During the rain delay, I told him to hold serve and beat him in the third
set,” laughed Calvin head coach John Ross said. “He didn’t listen, but it
worked out for us in the end. ”

This earns Calvin a matchup against the Kalamazoo Hornets, a team the
Knights have never beaten, in the MIAA Tournament Championship. The match
will be played at 4pm at Kalamazoo’s Stowe Tennis Stadium.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Hope 5, Calvin 0

HOLLAND - The Calvin women’s tennis team saw its season come to an end on
Thursday as the Knights were defeated by Hope 5-0 in the MIAA Tournament
semifinals in a match played to decision.

A youthful Calvin team concludes its season with a final overall record of
7-13.
Received on Thu May 3 22:28:20 2012