CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MAY 4, 2017
WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin women's track and field team has moved into first place through one of competition at the MIAA Championships. The Knights have a day one team score of 62 points and hold a 26.5 point lead over Hope heading into Friday.
The Knights were steady throughout the day on Thursday and crowned two event champions as senior Michaela Meckes (Bay City, Mich./Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS) won the discus with a throw of 139-5 while junior Bethany Van Eck (Cliffton, NJ/Eastern Christian HS) won the high jump (5-1 1/4). It marks the third consecutive year that Meckes has won the MIAA title in the event. Junior Bethany Love (Kentwood, Mich./East Kentwood HS) was fourth in the discus with a toss of 120-10.
Van Eck was part of a 1-3-4 Calvin finish in the high jump as sophomore Erin Van Lenten (Hawthorne, NJ/Eastern Christian HS) was third (5-0 1/4) and freshman Annika Staal (Woodinville, Wash./Bellevue Christian) fourth (5-0 1/4).
In the hammer throw, senior Stephanie Groenewold (Villa Park, Il./Timothy Christian HS) was fifth (132-1) and Love eighth (127-2).
In the long jump, junior Jenna Dyksen (Hawthorne, NJ/Hawthorne HS) was second (17-5 1/2) and freshman Allison Rozell (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern HS) sixth (16-6 1/2).
In the 10,000 meters, Calvin had three runners score points. Senior Hope Gaffner (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) was fourth (37:58.31), sophomore Catherine Croft (Grand Rapids, Mich./Coopersville HS) fifth (38:11.78) and junior Katie McLain (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian HS) eighth (39:00.14).
Action continues on Friday with field events set to begin at 10 a.m. and running events scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin men's track and field team has built a team score of 83 points through one day of competition at the MIAA Championships at Zuidema Field.
The Knights hold a 39-point lead over Trine University.
Calvin claimed a pair of MIAA individual titles on Thursday as sophomore Brendan Van Houten (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) won the shot put with a season-best toss of 47-4 1/4 while junior Andrew Philipose (Mount Prospect, Il./John Hersey HS) took first in the 10,000 meters with a time of 32:34.56.
Van Houten's win came on the heels of an indoor conference championship this past February in the shot put. His winning throw on Thursday was a career-best by more than a foot and was part of a 1-3 Calvin finish in the event as freshman Jayvin Wolfe (Middleton, Mich./Fulton HS) was third with a career-best throw of 44-10 1/4. Wolfe's winning throw was a career-best by more than two-and-a-half feet.
Philipose led a 1-3-5-8 Calvin finish in the 10K with senior Andrew Rylaarsdam (Grandville, Mich./Calvin Christian HS) taking third (32:49.70), senior Robbie Holman (Naperville, Il./Neuqua Valley HS) taking fifth (32:58.09) and senior Matt Plantinga (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) taking eighth (33:08.73).
The field events were a strength for the Knights on Thursday as they went 2-3-4 in the pole vault an 2-4 in the javelin.
Freshman Jordan Jorritsma (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) was second in the javelin (143-2) and senior Erick Holder (Marian, Ind./Eastbrook HS) fourth (139-7).
In the pole vault, freshman Jonathan Walt (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) was nipped for first place on fewer misses but still finished second with a vault of 14-9. Junior Jacob Stout (Escondido, Ca./Escondido Calvin Christian HS) was third (14-1 1/4) while junior Devin Schweigert (Whitehall, Mich./Whitehall HS) was fourth (13-7 1/4).
Action continues on Friday with field events set to begin at 10 a.m. and running events scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
MEN'S TENNIS
Calvin 5, Hope 4
HOLLAND, Mich. - The Calvin men's tennis team upset arch-rival Hope on the road in the MIAA Tournament, 5-4. With the victory, the Knights advance to the final round of the MIAA Tournament on Friday at Kalamazoo. The Knights are now 16-5 on the year and Hope finishes the year at 9-10. The 16 victories are the most for Calvin since the 2011 season.
"Today was a great victory for us," said Calvin head coach John Ross. "It was great to beat them after falling to them in a close match earlier in the season. I thought our doubles played great today and we needed all three of those points. We were able to grind out some points in singles and walk away with the victory. I am very proud of the team."
Calvin downed the Flying Dutch in doubles, taking all three points.
At No. 1 singles, the team of junior Matt VanWinkle (St. Joseph, Mich./St. Joseph) and senior Taylor Asfour (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) defeated Michael Kiley and Mark VanderStoep, 8-6.
At No. 3 doubles, senior Anthony Vroon (Grand Rapids, Mich./South Christian) and sophomore Jason Wolters (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) bounced Sam Kreps and Justin Flokert, 8-5.
Freshman Rodrigo Castellanos Vaca Guzmán (Tarija, Bolivia / Felipe Palazon) and junior David Brown (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) completed the doubles sweep over Christian Rhoades and Danny Kroeze, 8-5.
The Flying Dutchmen would not go away and would take a 4-3 lead, with two matches left.
Jason Wolters would tie the match at four with a victory at No. 6 singles. Wolters topped Justin Folkers in three sets, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2.
The match would come down to No. 1 singles and Rodrigo Castellanos Vaca Guzman. After dropping the first set to Michael Kiley, 0-6. He would rally to take the second set, 6-4. The two battled in the third set and forced a tiebreaker, where Castellanos Vaca Guzman would roll, 7-1.
Calvin will travel to Kalamazoo on Friday for the MIAA Tournament with a 4:00 start time.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
Kalamazoo 5, Calvin 1
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin women's tennis team fell to Kalamazoo on Thursday in the semifinal round of the MIAA Tournament. The Knights finished the season with a 13-7 record and a second place finish in the MIAA at 7-1. With the 5-1 victory, the Hornets will play Hope for the MIAA title on Friday.
"We played a good match and we lost to Kalamazoo, who got the better of us," said Calvin head coach Kevin Van Haitsma. "We had a great season; we had our best finish in the league since 2011. I am very thankful for all of our players and all of the time and energy they put in this year. I would like to give a special thank you to Ellie Benzel, Claire Spoelhof, and Liz Turner for a great four years. They will all be missed next year."
The lone victory for the Knights came from the junior duo of Jessica Bouma (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) and Michaela Seazzu (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia). The pair downed Eloise Germic and Maya Srkalovic, 8-1.
The Hornets responded with victories at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles.
In singles play, Kalamazoo recorded victories at courts one, two, and six to clinch the match.
The Knights finish the 2017 campaign with many accomplishments. The eight-match win streak this season was the longest since 2000. Calvin landed three on All-MIAA teams for the first time since 2011 (Claire Spoelhof - First Team, Ellie Benzel - Second Team, Jessica Bouma - Second Team). The second place finish is the highest finish since 2010.
Received on Thu May 4 23:56:38 2017
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