CKSR (Calvin Knight Sports Report for April 30, 2013)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR April 30, 2013

Michermhuizen Named National Runner of Week by USTFCCCA;
Weekly Track Honors From MIAA For Michmerhuizen and Meckes;
Megan Visser Named MIAA Women's Tennis Player of Week;
Baseball Falls at Cornerstone - Men's Lacrosse Concludes Season With Defeat to
Elmhurst

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

For the first time in her collegiate career, Calvin College junior Nicole
Michmerhuizen has been named the Division III National Runner of the Week by
the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association.

Michmerhuizen (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) ran one of Division III’s
all-time best 10,000 meter races at the Hillsdale College Gina Relays, powering
to a 34:09.96 — the seventh-fastest time in division history. Her torrid pace
propelled her to victory by more than 10 seconds over a field with mixed DI,
DII and DIII talent and to the 2013 division lead by nearly a full minute.

Most remarkable is the fact that her 16:55 second half of the race would have
stood alone as the fifth-best performance at 5000 meters in DIII this season,
never mind the fact that she ran another 5000 meters before that point.

Her time broke a 26-year-old Gina Relays record of 34:41.61 set in 1987 by
Eastern Michigan’s Julie Watson; and it crushed the previous Calvin school
record of 35:44..36 set in 2007 by Christina Overbeck by more than a minute and
a half. Hers is the fastest DIII 10,000 meters race since Toni Wiszowaty of
Plattsburgh State ran 33:57.48 at the Penn Relays in 2008.

MORE TRACK AND FIELD

ROYAL OAK, Mich. – The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association has
announced its Athletes of the Week in track and field through April 27.
Calvin’s Nicole Michmerhuizen has been named MIAA Women’s Track Athlete of the
Week, while Calvin’s Aaron Meckes (men) has been chosen MIAA Men’s Field
Athletes of the Week.
Michmerhuizen, a junior from Holland (Holland Christian HS), broke a
26-year-old meet record in the women’s 10,000 meters by more than 30 seconds at
the Hillsdale Gina Relays, winning in a school record time of 34:09.96. She
smashed the Calvin school record in the event by an incredible 1 minute, 34.4
seconds. Michmerhuizen is being honored as Track Athlete of the Week for the
second time this season and in her career. Her time was the seventh-fastest in
NCAA Division III women’s track and field history.
Meckes, a senior from Bay City (Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS), won the shot put
with a toss of 51 feet, 0-1/4 inch and placed third in the discus with a
season-best throw of 158 feet, 9 inches at the Ernie Mousseau Classic at
Aquinas. He is being honored as Field Athlete of the Week for the second time
this season and fifth time in his career.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

ROYAL OAK, Mich. – The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association named
Calvin’s Megan Visser its Player of the Week in women’s tennis for matches
played through April 27.
Visser, a sophomore from Kalamazoo, won the deciding match at No. 1 singles in
Calvin’s 5-4 victory over Saint Mary’s, winning the match 7-5, 1-6, 6-3. The
win secured a spot for the Knights in this week’s MIAA tournament. Visser is
being honored as Player of the Week for the first time in her career.
Visser has served as Calvin’s No. 1 singles player the past two years. She is
currently 7-11 in singles play heading into an MIAA Tournament semifinal match
on Thursday at Hope scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
BASEBALL
Cornerstone 9, Calvin 8

Calvin dropped a non-conference 9-8 decision at Cornerstone University Monday
afternoon. The Knights are now 15-19 on the season.

Calvin held an early 4-0 lead but Cornerstone tied the game with four runs in
the bottom of the second. Calvin regained the lead with two runs in the top of
the third but the Golden Eagles scored three in the fifth and two in the
seventh while Calvin came up with single runs in the seventh and eighth.

Calvin used four pitchers in the game with sophomore Tom Bouwkamp (0-1) taking
the loss in defeat. Max Crimp, Jeremy Kamp and Austin Juza also saw time with
Crimp receiving the start and tossing the first three innings for the Knights.

Calvin had 14 hits in the loss with freshman Jalen Bouma leading the way by
going 3-for-4 with a double. Over his last five games, Bouma is batting .524
(11-for-21) and has raised his season batting average to .311. Also collecting
two hits apiece were sophomore Grant VanPutten, senior Mike Fuller, junior Jack
Jorgenson and senior Tyler Tos. Freshman Travis Kraai also had a triple with
two runs batted in.

Cornerstone racked up 12 hits against the Calvin pitching staff.

Calvin is back in action on Tuesday when it travels to Alma to resume a
conference game that was suspended because of weather on April 19 with the
teams tied 2-2 after two innings. The resumption of the game will begin at 5
p.m. on Tuesday.

MEN’S LACROSSE
Elmhurst 9, Calvin 8
By Mark DeHaan

The inaugural season of Calvin men's varsity lacrosse came to a close Monday
night as the Knights hosted the Blue Jays of Elmhurst. Monday night was also
senior night as Calvin honored seniors Greg Boer, Drew Sroczynski, and Adam
Wiersma. The Knights played strong all game long, but with the game tied late,
allowed a goal by Elmhurst that turned out to be the game-winner. Calvin had an
opportunity to tie in the final minute but could not capitalize, and the
Knights rounded out their season 2-14 overall.

Junior Casey Harless opened up the scoring with 12:39 remaining the first
quarter to take a 1-0 lead. The Blue Jays responded with three straight goals
before Harless netted his second of the game as the contest headed into the
quarter break with Elmhurst leading 3-2.

The Knights tied up the game minutes into the second quarter as junior
Jonathon VanderLaan beat the Elmhurst keeper to make the score 3-3.

Heading toward halftime, Elmhurst scored three goals and junior Tim Marco
scored one for the Knights as the Blue Jays took a 6-4 lead into the halftime
intermission.

Elmhurst took its largest lead out of the break at 7-4 on a goal less than a
minute and a half into the third quarter.

Freshman DJ VanderBaan responded less than a minute later to cut into the Blue
Jays lead, putting the game at 7-5.

Another goal by Elmhurst again saw the Knights in a three goal hole at 8-5.
Calvin then went on a three goal run to tie up the game with 11:41 remaining in
the game, with Marco, VanderLaan, and VanderBaan all scoring their second goals
of the contest, respectively.

With 1:28 remaining, the Blue Jays were able to find a crease in the Calvin
defense and put the ball into the back of the net to take the late 9-8 lead.

The Knights, able to take possession late, held the ball in Elmhurst's
defensive zone for the last half minute of the match, but unfortunately, were
unable to get off a shot and the Blue Jays took the down-to-the-wire 9-8
victory.

Boer was 9-for-17 on faceoffs on the evening, while Sroczynski made eight
saves and Wiersma led the team with 11 ground balls. VanderLaan, Marco,
Harless, and VanderBaan each scored two goals for the Knights.

Tyler Dailey scored three while Alex Opyd added two goals and two assists for
the Blue Jays.

“All the work, all the sacrifice, all the intangible stuff you put into the
game is not evident out on the field by points in the game, and it's no
reflection on (the team), you put in a lot of work and sometimes you see the
results much later, and I think where we're going with this program is a good,
strong direction,” said head coach Joel Kamstra. “We had a strong senior class.
People don't rave about the foundation, but it takes a good, strong foundation
to get to the point so that other people can lay the next few layers on.
Two-and-fourteen is not where we wanted to be when we set out on the season but
we saw a lot of development, and we're really proud of all the time these guys
put in. Tomorrow starts our offseason and we'll be ready to go next season.”

Calvin ends the year at 2-14 overall.
Received on Tue Apr 30 00:14:05 2013