CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 20, 2013
Women's Swimming and Diving In 10th After Day One of NCAA III Championships;
Women's Basketball Claims NCAA III Statistics Titles;
Men's Lacrosse Blanked at Augie
Softball Sweeps Afternoon Games in Florida;
Women's Tennis Match Postponed
WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING
SHENANDOAH, TX - Calvin's 200 medley relay team struck home for an All-America berth on the first day of competition at the NCAA III Swimming and Diving Championships, finishing eighth with a time of 1:46.02. Calvin qualified for the evening finals with a school record time of 1:45.16 in the morning prelims. Calvin's relay consisted of senior Kristy Kinzer (Fort Wayne, IN/Homestead HS), senior Elizabeth Counsell (Indianapolis, IN/Heritage Christian HS), senior Rachel Colasurdo (Chesapeake, VA/Home Schooled) and freshman Michaela Rookus (Hudsonville/Hudsonville HS). The finish marks Calvin's first All-America relay since 2009 and its first in the 200 medley since 2007.
Meanwhile, senior Samantha Klaasen (Holland/Holland Christian HS) took home an honorable mention All-America berth in the women's three-meter diving with a score of 456.75 points that was good for 10th place.
Klaasen was 9th in the morning prelims, missing the evening finals by just three points. She is competing in her first national meet and is scheduled to compete on the one-meter board on Friday.
Rookus also competed in the morning prelims in the 200 IM but did not advance to the evening rounds.
With the relay finish and Klaasen's diving performance, Calvin is in 10th place with 29 points through the first day of competition.
"We had a very strong first day," said Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "It was important for our relay to get us off to a good start and the four individuals on the team all stepped up in the morning and got us to the big dance this evening. It took a school record time to do it and I'm very pleased with how they swam."
Calvin diving coach Aaron Paskvan was also pleased with how Klaasen performed in her first national meet. "Sam was very steady and had an excellent first day," said Paskvan. "She was extremely close to making it into the evening finals. The three-meter is the weaker of her two events so for her to come that close to being a (top eight) All-American is pretty remarkable. Now our focus it to get her ready for the one-meter on Friday and I am confident that she will do well."
Scheduled to compete on Thursday for Calvin are Kinzer, Counsell, Colasurdo and Rookus in the 200 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The final NCAA III statistics for women's basketball are in the books and Calvin has come out on top in two team statistical categories. Calvin finished as the national leader in field goal percentage, connecting on 46.5 percent of its field goal attempts throughout the year. The Knights also led the nation in assists per-game, averaging 18.4 assists-per-contest.
Calvin also finished fifth in blocked shots per-game (6.4), sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.12) and seventh in scoring margin (23.3).
Individually, senior Carissa Verkaik finished fifth nationally in field goal percentage (.580) and sixth in blocked shots per-game (3.33).
In addition, the two final national polls have come out and Calvin is ranked 12th in one national poll and 14th in another. Calvin is ranked 12th in the final WBCA Division III Coaches poll of the year and 14th in the final D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
The WBCA poll can be found online at: http://www.wbca.org/blog/index.cfm/2013/3/19/20122013-Week-14-DIII-Poll/
The D3hoops.com poll can be found at: http://d3hoops.com/top25/women/2012-13/final
MORE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin senior Carissa Verkaik will receive the prestigious Jostens Trophy tomorrow afternoon at a luncheon in Salem, Virginia. As part of the luncheon, a video presentation of the men's and women's winners will be shown. To see Verkaik's video, go online at: http://vimeo.com/62246271
MEN'S LACROSSE
ROCK ISLAND, IL - Calvin dropped a 20-0 decision to Augustana College Wednesday night. Calvin is now 1-6 on the year.
Calvin trailed 7-0 through one period of play but dug in to allow just one goal in the second quarter to trail 8-0 at halftime.
An undermanned Calvin squad then allowed 12 second half goals.
Junior Casey Harless (DeWitt/DeWitt HS) had 10 ground balls for the Knights and won five faceoffs.
"Even though we were outmanned in extremely cold conditions, we fought hard and didn't quit," said Calvin head coach Joel Kamstra. "In particular, I thought Jon Ptashnik, Tyler DeKryger and Adam Wiersma all played great."
Calvin will now travel to the Chicago area and will play Wheaton's club team on Friday night. Because the game will be against a non varsity team, the result will not count on Calvin's won-loss record.
SOFTBALL
CLERMONT, FL - Calvin improved to 6-2 on the year with victories over Manchester and Benedictine University Wednesday afternoon. Calvin opened with a 5-0 victory over Manchester and then handed Benedictine an 11-3 defeat in five innings late Wednesday afternoon.
In the win over Manchester, junior Caitlin Callow (Rochester/Muskegon Catholic Central HS) tossed a four-hit shutout while striking out three without a walk. Calvin scored all five of its runs in the top of the first inning, using three hits and two Manchester errors to take command.
Sophomore Catherine Hilbrands (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) went 2-for-4 at the plate with two runs batted in and a run scored. Freshman Lydia Gildea (Gobles/Gobles HS) also had a double.
In the win over Benedictine, junior Lina Avila (Lakewood, CA/Valley Christian HS) picked up the win to improve to 4-0 on the year. She struck out five and scattered six hits in a game limited to five innings because of the mercy-rule. Calvin scored one run in the first, three in the second, and seventh in the 5th.
Hilbrands belted a two-run homer while senior Merin Cok (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) went 3-for-3 with a triple and two singles. She also batted in three runs. Sophomore Christie VanderMeer also had two hits and three runs batted in. Avila had two hits as well.
Calvin will face Wesleyan and Wellesley in single games on Thursday morning.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
Calvin's scheduled match with Hamilton College on Wednesday was suspended early in doubles play because of rain showers. An attempt to pick the match back up on Friday will be made.
Received on Wed Mar 20 23:08:15 2013
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Wed Mar 20 2013 - 23:08:15 EDT