CKSR (Men's Basketball Defeats Finlandia/Swimming and Diving Teams Provide Journal Updates From Florida)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 31, 2014

Men's Basketball Defeats Finlandia / Swimming and Diving Teams Provide Updates From Florida

MEN'S BASKETBALL

HANCOCK - The Calvin men's basketball team claimed an 82-68 victory at Finlandia University Saturday afternoon inside the Paavo Nurmi Events Center.

Calvin (7-4) held a commanding a 48-33 rebounding advantage in the win and led 41-25 at halftime. Finlandia (6-9) closed to within six at 46-40 but the Knights responded with a 13-3 run to put the game away.

Senior Jordan Brink (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) led the Knights with 20 points and nine rebounds while senior Tyler Dykstra (Holland/Holland Christian HS) racked up a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Austin Parks (Niles/Niles HS) and freshman Connor VanderBrug (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS) added 10 points apiece while senior T.J. Huizenga (Randolph, WI/Randolph HS) had a season-high eight points off the bench.

Brandon Robinette, Jordan LaPlant and Marcus Geralds all had 16 points for the host Lions.

Calvin will now break until January 7 when it hosts Alma at 6 p.m. at Van Noord Arena.

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

December 30 Journal Report

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The Calvin men's and women's swimming and diving teams are currently training this week in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Calvin sophomore Marshall Campbell filed the following diary report).
DEERFIELD BEACH, FL - Our day began with a 30 minute bus ride back to the Coral Springs Aquatic Center for our second day of training. But today our training was not limited to the water. After a "normal" 2 hour practice, we ate a hurried lunch before heading out to Florida Atlantic University.
We arrived to find a series of challenges of varying size and difficulty. All the challenges could not be completed without the cooperation of our 12-13 person teams, and our instructors pushed us to examine our strategies and determine which ones did or didn't help us to cooperate better.
The first challenges were simple such as balancing everyone on a large teeter-totter or climbing through a net without touching the strings. The simpler tasks acclimated each group to its own dynamic before we moved on to the challenges which would put us farther out of our comfort zones.
The pinnacle of the afternoon was a series of telephone poles and steel cables which we climbed with the assistance of our teammates. The instructors made it very clear that the only way we could stay 40 feet in the air was by supporting each other, so for every one climber, we had 4-7 others pulling in the slack from the rope.
After the ropes course we had time to think and talk about what had helped our teams work together and theorize about how we could apply it to the team as a whole. Some of our conclusions included the need for communication and an accepting environment where people are not afraid to offer their ideas.
We finished the day by dining in the various restaurants near the beach.

December 29 Journal Diary

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The Calvin men's and women's swimming and diving teams are currently training this week in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Calvin senior Rebecca Mumby filed the following diary report).

DEERFIELD BEACH, FL - With a broken down bus to start our trip, we arrived safely in Deerfield Beach on Sunday afternoon. We spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the sun and taking inventory on our jellyfish stings. With tired athletes, we hit the bed early to rest up for Monday morning's practice.
We started today with a demanding practice to set the tone for the week, the swimmers hit the long course pool with full force. From the diving well, the swimmers looked fast- working hard to play harder in February! The divers spent the morning adjusting to the new boards and new weather, sunshine looks good on us!
We returned to our relaxing places on the beach to take in some rays while saving up energy for this evenings set. But the volleyball court seemed to call to our natural born players, or lack there of. We headed back to the pool around 5:30 to dive in to a more strenuous set of stations all around. We started with dry land, the swimmers worked their way around the pool completing long course and high velocity circuits. The divers took their first turns off the tower, completing the night with three meter, one meter and trampoline work.
We head back tomorrow morning with a solid workout to start the day before heading to Florida Atlantic University for some high ropes team bonding. We are excited to see what the rest of this week has in store!
Received on Wed Dec 31 17:47:05 2014