CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR SEPT. 26, 2015
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
WEST OLIVE - The Calvin men's cross country team posted its lowest score at an MIAA Jamboree since 2012, taking first place at the 2015 MIAA Jamboree Saturday afternoon at the West Ottawa Golf Course with a team score of 22 points.
Ranked 15th nationally, the Knights finished 35 points ahead of second place Hope, taking five of the top 10 spots including the top three.
Junior Zac Nowicki (Comstock Park/Calvin Christian HS) led the Calvin charge by taking first place with a time of 25:22 while sophomore teammate Andrew Philipose (Mount Prospect, IL/John Hersey HS) was second 25:35 and Calvin sophomore Mark DeJong (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) third (25:42).
Senior Jeff Meitler (New Berlin, Wisc./Milwaukee Lutheran HS) was sixth in 25:48 on the 8K course while senior Andrew Otte (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) was 10th in 25:57.
Other finishers of note for Calvin included senior Bret Habura (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville HS) in 12th (26:01), senior Ethan Anderson (Stillwater, MN/Stillwater Area HS) in 13th (26:05), freshman Jamison Koeman (Milford, Mass./Whitinsville Christian HS) in 14th (26:06) and junior Nate VanHaitsma (Olympia, Wash./Olympia HS) in 15th (26:10).
"We said we had to come out of this thing with a sense that we are working hard together and the determination to finish hard and strong," said Calvin cross country coach Brian Diemer. "We drew strength from our pack and that started with our lead guy at the front in Zac Nowicki. He set a nice pace and our guys behind him moved up very nicely. It was very fun to watch. Watching what we did today is the reason why we can get excited about doing something special today."
Saturday's race was worth one-third of the final MIAA standings. The MIAA Championships - slated for October 31 in Charlotte, Michigan, will make up the remaining two-thirds of the final league standings.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
WEST OLIVE - The Calvin women's cross country team took second place at an MIAA Jamboree hosted by Hope College Saturday morning at the West Olive Golf Course. Ranked ninth nationally, Calvin took second place with 49 points while eighth-ranked Hope took home the first place price with 23 points.
Calvin was led by junior Lauren Strohbehn (Stillwater, MN/St. Croix Preparatory HS) who won the race with a time of 21:43, five seconds ahead of Erin Herman of Hope.
Hope placed five runners between Calvin's first and second finishers however to pull away for the win. Sophomore Kate McLain (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian HS) was Calvin's second finisher, placing ninth in 22:54 while freshman Katie Diekema (Kenmore, Wash./Inglewood HS) was right behind in 10th (22:55).
Junior Autumn Vonk (Holland/Zeeland East HS) was 14th in 23:08 and junior Jessie Mulder (Holland/Holland Christian HS) 15th in 23:09. Rounding out Calvin's top seven were senior Lora Huizingh (Byron Center/South Christian HS) in 20th (23:50) and Freshman Marissa Hielkema (Lynden, Wash./Lynden Christian HS) in 24th (24:00).
"The biggest thing I take away from today is that our dreams are still intact," said Calvin head cross country coach Brian Diemer. "We do have a few challenges that were are working through with injuries but we are working hard and still scrapping. We set ourselves to still have the opportunity to win the conference by taking second place. If we can take first place at the conference championships, we can still win the whole thing."
Saturday's race was worth one-third of the final MIAA standings. The MIAA Championships - slated for October 31 in Charlotte, Michigan, will make up the remaining two-thirds of the final league standings.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 6, Alma 1
By Paul Kluitenberg
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The Knights of Calvin Women's Soccer extended their win streak to eight games today in an impressive 6-1 victory against the Scots of Alma College. The Knights improved their overall record to 8-2-0 and their MIAA record to 6-0-0.
Senior Paige Capel (Hudsonville, Mich. / Unity Christian) started off the scoring with a goal in the 5th minute assisted by senior defender Kelsey Hiegel (Mundelein, Ill. / Mundelein). Shortly after, Calvin added a second goal by Taylor TenHarmsel (Holland, Mich. / Holland Christian) on a nice cross from Capel.
In the 30th minute, Alma retaliated with a stunning goal by Agatha Weddle (White Lake, Mich. / Walled Lake Northern). Weddle snuck the ball into the upper right corner past the keeper on a shot from the top of the box.
The floodgates opened in the second half with Calvin scoring four goals.
Calvin's third goal came, unassisted, off the foot of Senior Kelsey Hiegel in the 63rd minute. The Knights remained unrelenting. Junior Forward Brianna Russell (Plainwell, Mich. / Delton-Kellogg) scored her first goal of the season in the 72nd minute with a shot from the top of the box making the score 4-1.
The Knights' offense didn't stop there. Paige Capel added her second goal of the game and fourth of the season in the 78th minute. Senior Defender Jaimie Verbal (Whitmore Lake, Mich. / Dexter) rounded out the scoring with her first goal of the season on a ball just off the head of the Alma keeper.
The Knights finished with a 26-10 shot advantage, with 13 of their 26 shots being on goal.
Senior goalkeeper Holly Ellerbroek (Holland, Mich. / Holland Christian) had another good outing conceding only one goal and making two strong saves.
Calvin Head Coach Mark Recker praised his team saying "We got off to a really good start. We executed, we were sharp, and we got the two goals early." The Knights coach is not content though, "Great teams do small things extremely efficiently, and that's what we need to tighten up."
The Knights will hope to continue their win streak Tuesday, September 29 at 4:00pm against Olivet College at home.
MEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 2, Olivet 1
OLIVET - The sixth-ranked Calvin men's soccer team moved into sole possession of first place in the MIAA standings with a 2-1 victory at Olivet Saturday afternoon. The Knights are now 8-0-1 overall and 4-0-0 in the MIAA, three points clear of second place Adrian, Alma and Kalamazoo.
The Knights outshot Olivet by a commanding 21-3 shots at goal margin but the host Comets kept within striking distance.
Calvin took a 1-0 lead on a goal by junior Isky VanDoorne (Calgary AB/Western Canada HS) in the 24th minute of play as he scored off a feed from senior Taylor Pruis (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS).
Calvin pelted the Olivet goal with shots in the opening minutes of the second half and finally broke through for a second goal in the 76th minute with freshman Bobby McCaw (Dubuque, IA/) scoring his fourth goal of the season on the play. The goal was assisted by freshman Jacob Witte (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS).
Just over two minutes later however, Olivet countered with a goal of its own as Gregory Petty scored his third goal of the season.
Olivet (1-9 overall, 0-4-0 MIAA) went without a shot the rest of the game however as the Knights sealed the win.
Senior Niko Giantsopoulos (Markham, Ont./St. Augustine Catholic HS) picked up the win in goal for the Knights.
"I was proud of our team's resolve today," said Calvin men's soccer coach Ryan Souders. "Olivet is a very difficult place to play. There are no easy games in the MIAA and today was proof of that. There are definitely some things we need to improve upon, but we're happy to leave with three more points in the standings."
Calvin returns to action next Wednesday when it hosts Adrian at Zuidema Field at 4 p.m.
MEN'S GOLF
ANGOLA, Ind. - The Calvin men's golf team finished in third place at the 294 strokes. Host Trine took first place at 287, with Hope finishing two stroke ahead of Calvin at 292. Hope now holds a one stroke lead in the MIAA standings.
Sophomore Ben VanScoyk (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) finished tied for first place with Trine's Connor Dwyer with a two under par score of 69.
Senior Justin Crow (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) recorded a round of 72, to finish one over par on the day to finish tied for sixth place.
Sophomore John Van Noord (Troy, Mich./Oakland Christian HS) finished the day in 12th place at 74.
Sophomore Matthew Lumbantoruan (Jakarta, Indonesia/Morning Star Academy) finished the round tied in 29th place, shooting a round of 79.
Senior Jason Zeigler (Mount Gilead, Ohio/Gilead Christian HS) saw himself finish the round tied for 34th place with a round of 81.
Playing unattached, freshman Sam Kuiper (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) took 10th place with two over par round of 73.
The Knights return to action on Monday as they host the sixth MIAA Jamboree. The action is slated to begin at 1 p.m. at Watermark Country Club in Cascade, Michigan.
WOMEN'S GOLF
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Calvin women's golf team recorded the best round of the season so far on Saturday at the MIAA Jamboree hosted by Kalamazoo College. The Knights finished the day in fifth place, at 339. A 23 stroke improvement from last weekend.
Freshman Grace Bolt (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) recorded the lowest round for the Knights on the day, shooting an 82. Bolt finished the day tied for 11th place.
Senior Casey Harkema (Holt, Mich./Holt HS) finished the round at 84, tied for 14th place.
Senior Sarah Arendsen finished tied in 14th place at 85.
Sophomore Emily Short (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia HS) and senior Shara Reynolds (Big Rapids, Mich./Big Rapids HS) both tallied a round of 88, tied for 28th place.
Amira Bousaab (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northpointe Christian HS) shot an unattached round of 101.
Hope College took first place with a score of 316. Alma's Kennedy Hilley shot the lowest round of the day at 74.
The Knights return to action on Thursday as they host the third MIAA Jamboree. The action will take place at Thornapple Pointe Golf Club in Ada, Michigan.
Received on Sat Sep 26 23:32:14 2015
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