CALVIN KNIGHT SATURDAY SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 29, 2016 (Part One)
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
CONCORD, Mich. - The Calvin men's cross country team captured its 30th consecutive MIAA title on Saturday, taking first place at the MIAA Championships on Saturday with a team score of 27 points. Saturday's competition was hosted by Albion at the Whiffletree Golf Course.
Calvin placed five runners in the top 10 including seven in the top 17 to claim the win. Host Albion took second with 53 points while Trine and Hope tied for third with 106 points.
Senior Jordan Kramer (Pewaukee, Wisc./Lake Country Lutheran HS) led the Calvin charge with a first place time of 25:38 while junior teammate Andrew Philipose (Mount Prospect, Il./Mount Prospect HS) was right behind in second with a time of 25:39.
Sophomore Jamison Koeman (Milford, Mass./Whitinsville Christian HS) led Calvin's next wave taking seventh (26:13) while sophomore Nathanael Dick (Grand Rapids, Mich./Home Schooled) was eighth (26:15) and senior Nathan VanHaitsma (Olympia, Wash./Olympia HS) ninth (26:18).
Senior Zach Nowicki (Comstock Park, Mich./Calvin Christian HS) was 11th (26:26) and freshman Tyler Johnson (Springfield, Il./Pleasant Plains HS) 12th (26:32) to round out Calvin's top seven.
Calvin's championship streak stretching over 30 years is the second-longest active championship streak in MIAA athletics history.
Kramer was named the MIAA's Most Valuable Runner, becoming the 23rd different runner in Calvin men's cross country history to receive the award.
Kramer was named to the All-MIAA first team and was joined on the first team from Calvin by Philipose, Koeman, Nowicki and Dick. Nowicki was named to the All-MIAA first team for the fourth consecutive year.
VanHaitsma, Johnson and junior Mark DeJong (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) were all named to the All-MIAA second team.
"You can never take winning an MIAA championship for granted," said Calvin head cross country coach Brian Diemer who has been at the helm of the Calvin men's cross country program for all 30 of the program's league titles during its current run. "We had some good performances today and we did what we needed to do. We have some fine tuning that we need to do in order to prepare for the regional meet in two weeks."
Calvin will compete at the Great Lakes Regional meet on November 12 at the West Ottawa Golf Course in West Olive, Michigan.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
CONCORD, Mich. - Calvin's bid for an MIAA Championship came up short on Saturday at the Whiffletree Golf Course. Ranked ninth nationally, the Knights took second place with a team score of 45 points while 17th-ranked Hope took home the title with 33 points.
Earlier in the year, Calvin claimed first place at the MIAA Jamboree with Hope second. With the MIAA Championships worth two-thirds of the final league crown, the Flying Dutch were able to surpass the Knights and claim the MIAA crown for the second consecutive year.
Calvin placed three runners in the top seven but Hope placed five in the top 10 to provide the margin of victory.
Calvin's top finisher was senior Lauren Strohbehn (Stillwater, Mn./St. Croix Preparatory HS) who placed third in 22:09 while sophomore Katie Diekema (Kenmore, Wash./Ingelmoor HS) was sixth (22:54) and freshman Johanna Admiraal (Cincinnati, Oh./Towson HS) was seventh (22:57).
Freshman Kristen Lundberg (Albuquerque, NM/Hope Christian HS) was 14th (23:25), sophomore Marissa Hielkema (Lynden, Wash./Lynden Christian HS) 15th (23:27), senior McKenzie Diemer (Caledonia, Mich./South Christian HS) 16th (23:36) and sophomore Marissa McGahan (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) 18th in 23:47.
Strohbehn, Diekema and Admiraal were named to the All-MIAA first team with Strohbehn receiving the honor for the third straight year.
Diemer and Lundberg were named to the All-MIAA second team.
"I would like to first congratulate Hope for running a great race today," said Calvin head cross country coach Brian Diemer. "They ran a championship level race and are worthy champions. Having said that, we are disappointed because we had higher goals but adversity builds character and this team has faced its share of adversity over the last few weeks. The bright light for our team is that we have two weeks to regroup and refocus. We will learn from this race and grow."
Calvin will compete at the Great Lakes Regional meet on November 12 at the West Ottawa Golf Course in West Olive, Michigan.
MEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 5, Trine 0
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The 20th-ranked Calvin men's soccer team celebrated senior day with a 5-0 victory over Trine University Saturday afternoon at Zuidema Field.
The Knights wrapped up an MIAA regular season championship campaign with a 13-1-0 conference record and will host an MIAA Tournament semifinal game next Thursday at 3 p.m. The Knights will face Albion in the MIAA Tournament semifinals.
Calvin (16-2-0 overall) led 4-0 at halftime on first half goals from sophomore Jacob Witte (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS), junior Matt Hinds (Frankenmuth, Mich./Frankenmuth HS), senior Isky Van Doorne (Calgary, AB/Western Canada HS) and freshman Dillon Weldy (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS).
Witte scored just 2:16 into the match, slipping a shot between the legs of the Trine goalkeeper after a quick flick pass from sophomore teammate Bobby McCaw (Dubuque, Ia./Hempstead HS).
Hinds scored in the 11th minute, cramming in a corner kick from Witte. Just 48 seconds later, Van Doorne struck for his sixth goal of the season, poking a shot over the keeper's head after receiving a pass from junior Mitch Stark (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon HS).
Weldy scored in the 42nd minute, popping in a shot into a wide-open net after receiving a perfectly placed cross from freshman teammate Ian Adams (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS).
Adams completed the scoring in the 69th minute, chipping a shot just inside the far post after collecting a pass from senior Stephan Hooker (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS).
Calvin finished with a 29-9 shots at goal advantage. Junior Nate Van Ryn (Grandville, Mich./Calvin Christian HS) collected two saves in posting his 11th shutout victory of the year.
"It's always good to get a win on senior day," said Calvin men's soccer coach Ryan Souders. "We were able to get everyone involved today which was fun for the players and for the fans. We have to get back to business on Monday and get ready for a tough opponent on Thursday. The postseason always brings a different level of intensity and we will need to be ready to bring our top effort."
FINAL 2016 MIAA MEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS
Calvin 13-1-0 (39 points)
Alma 9-4-1 (28 points)
Adrian 9-5-0 (27 points)
Albion 8-6-0 (24 points)
Kalamazoo 6-5-3 (21 points)
Hope 4-9-1 (13 points)
Olivet 3-9-2 (11 points)
Trine 0-13-1 (1 point)
Received on Sun Oct 30 00:38:00 2016
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