CKSR (MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships Day Two Report/ Softball Picked Fourth in MIAA Preseason Poll / Baseball Picked Sixth in MIAA Preseason Poll)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB. 16, 2017

MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships Day Two Report;
Softball Picked Fourth in MIAA Preseason Poll;
Baseball Picked Sixth in MIAA Preseason Poll

WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

HOLLAND, Mich. - The Calvin women's swimming & diving team leads after the second day of the four-day MIAA Championships at the Holland Community Aquatic Center. The Knights won four events on Thursday and have a two-day total of 332 points; Hope is in second place at 235 points.
"It's always nice to have things going early in the week," said head coach Dan Gelderloos. "The women have five event wins right now. I am not a big stat guy, but we were able to score over 100 points tonight in the 50 freestyle. They are swimming well up and down."
Calvin started the day with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of freshman Emily Gunderson (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), junior Abby Van Harn (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian), freshman Anna Kutschke (Manistee, Mich./Manistee), and junior Rachel Mattson (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) won with a NCAA B-Cut time of 1:34.64.
Sophomore Anna Serino (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney) kept the winning ways going in the 500-yard freestyle. Serino touched the wall first with a season-best time of 5:04.54, holding off Elizabeth Fris of Hope. Sophomore Kendall Murphy (Modesto, Calif./home school) recorded a third-place finish at 5:09.86. Murphy recorded the fifth-fastest time in school history in the prelims at 5:07.86. Sophomore Madelyn Smith (Allegan, Mich./Allegan) dropped 3.61 seconds from the prelims to take fifth place at 5:11.62. Freshman Libby Engle (Troy, Mich./Troy) scored points for Calvin with an eighth-place time of 5:19.81.
Freshman Emily Slenk (Zeeland, Mich./Holland Christian) was the fastest Knight in the 200-yard individual medley finals. Slenk clocked in a time of 2:14.71. Junior Klara Oh (Kent, Wash./home school) checked in at 2:16.70 to take seventh place.
Abby Van Harn recorded the third Calvin victory of the night. Van Harn had a season-best time and NCAA B-Cut time of 23.48 to edge Tristyn Edsall of Kalamazoo. Emily Gunderson finished in third place at 23.95, the eighth-fastest time in school history. In fourth place was Rachel Mattson at 24.48. Sophomore Alyssa Oezer (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) touched the wall at 24.60 to finish in seventh place and senior Adrienne Wesselius (Sioux Center, Iowa/Unity Christian) was in eighth place at 24.73.
"We had some really good swims on the women's side," said Van Harn. "I feel good after my swims. I am excited for the rest of the week."
Junior Sarah Bradley (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) owned the 3-meter boards on Thursday. Bradley won with a score of 459.35. Sophomore Amelia Andrilenas (Kirkland, Wash./Juanita) was in fifth place at 337.35.
"Sarah did a great job," said Calvin diving coach Aaron Paskvan. "Millie had a great run of her dives tonight. Sarah, I could not be more proud. We have talked all year putting the list together, getting them up and down. She had a good run tonight with a season-best for her."
The Knights closed the night with a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. The team of freshman Abbey Wellman (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point), Klara Oh, Emily Gunderson, and Anna Serino clocked in at 3:39.29.
The Knights return to the pool on Friday morning for day three of the MIAA Championships.

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

HOLLAND, Mich. - The Calvin men's swimming and diving team is in second place through two days of competition at the MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the Holland Aquatic Center. The Knights have a two-day total of 279 points, 25 points behind first place Albion. Hope is in third with 223 points followed by Kalamazoo with 177, Olivet with 88 and Alma with 82.

Calvin had a number of solid efforts on Thursday. The Knights opened the finals on Thursday with a second place finish in the 200 freestyle relay as the quartet of sophomore Ben Holstege (Keswick, Va./Covenant HS), sophomore Jared Britton (Falls Church, Va./George Mason HS), senior Eli Holstege (Kewsick, Va./Covenant HS) and junior Max DeYoung (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Eastern HS) clocked in with a time of 1:23.29. The Knights finished just under two-tenths of a second behind Albion which won the race in a time of 1:23.14.

In the 500 freestyle, freshman Tim Randall (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) took second with a season-best time of 4:38.98, dropping more than five seconds off his previous best time. Junior Tanner Vincent (Novi, Mich./Novi HS) was fifth in 4:45.02 while freshman Brian Goins (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS) was 10th (4:50.36) and freshman Ian Hazlet 12th (4:55.02).

In the 200 IM, Calvin had four individuals score points led by Ben Holstege who placed third with a season-best tiem of 1:53.84. Senior Brett Stoughton (Centerville, Ind./Centerville HS) was fifth (1:55.05), freshman Fear Churchwell (Athens, Ga./Clarke Central HS) sixth (1:56.37) and freshman Sam Holstege (Keswick, Va./Covenant HS) 11th (2:00.88).
In the 50 freestyle, five Knights scored points led by Britton who was third with a season-best time of 20.94 while Eli Holstege was fifth (21.49), sophomore Jacob Lensing (Pella, Ia./Pella Christian HS) seventh (21.82), DeYoung ninth (21.66) and freshman Tristan Hazlett 13th (22.16).

In the one-meter diving competition, junior Michael Moentmann (Solon, Oh./Solon HS) was fifth (429.15) and senior Dirk Tanis (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) eighth (394.35).

Calvin's 400 medley relay team of Ben Holstege, Eli Holstege, Stoughton and Britton then placed second in a season-best and NCAA III B' cut qualifying time of 3:21.27.
"We are competing against an Albion team right now that is really rolling right and has some momentum," said Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "We're going to have to find a way to stay close, keep fighting and using that to motivate ourselves to put together some more great swims."
Action continues on Friday with morning prelims set to begin at 10 a.m.

SOFTBALL

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin softball team has been picked to finish fourth in the 2017 MIAA preseason coaches' poll. The Knights received 39 total points. Defending MIAA champion, Alma earned eight first-place votes to earn 64 points.
"We are excited to kick off the 2017 season," said head coach Becky Hilgert. "In softball, the MIAA is very competitive and I expect all of our games to be hard fought. As a team, we are looking forward to the challenges presented by all of our opponents in the conference."
Calvin is under the direction of first-year head coach Becky Hilgert. The Knights return two 2016 All-MIAA selections in Maddie DeGroot and Anna Gernant. The Maroon and Gold posted a 23-13 record in 2016 and finished tied for fourth place in the MIAA at 9-7.
The Knights open the season in Marquette, Michigan on Feb. 24. Calvin will have home series against Wheaton, Cleary, Trine, Saint Mary's, Hope, and Olivet.
2017 MIAA Coaches' Preseason Poll
1. Alma (8 first-place votes) - 64 points
2. Trine - 55 points
3. Hope (1 first-place vote) - 50 points
4. Calvin - 39 points
5. Saint Mary's - 37 points
6. Kalamazoo - 27 points
7. Adrian - 25 points
8. Olivet - 18 points
9. Albion - 9 points

BASEBALL

The MIAA preseason baseball coaches' poll has been released and Calvin has been picked to finish sixth.
Defending MIAA regular season champion Adrian was picked to finish first, receiving seven first place votes while defending MIAA Tournament champion Kalamazoo was picked to finish second, receiving one first place vote.
Hope was picked to finish third, Alma fourth and Trine fifth followed by Calvin. Albion was picked to finish seventh and Olivet eighth.
A year ago, Calvin finished 16-24 overall and in sixth place in the league standings with a 12-16 mark, two games behind fifth place Trine.
Calvin is scheduled to open its season on March 10 and 11 with a three-game weekend series against Oberlin College (Oh.) down in Westfield, Indiana.
Calvin is slated to open its MIAA season on March 25 with a home doubleheader against Trine University.
MIAA 2017 Baseball Coaches Poll - First place votes()

1 Adrian (7) - 7
2 Kalamazoo (1) - 17
3 Hope - 22
4 Alma - 25
5 Trine - 29
6 Calvin - 34
7 Albion - 41
8 Olivet - 49
Received on Thu Feb 16 23:32:53 2017