CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MAY 19, 2017
WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
On Saturday, senior Michaela Meckes will graduate from Calvin College. Next weekend she will compete at the NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Meckes (Bay City, Mich./Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS) punched her ticket to next week's national meet with a career-best and first place toss of 160-4 in the discus throw Thursday night at the Augustana College Twilight Invitational. The throw ranks fourth on the NCAA III performance list and assures her a spot in next week's national championships discus field.
Meckes will be the fourth member of her family to compete at the NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships as older brothers Nate Meckes (shot put and discus), Josh Meckes (long jump) and Aaron Meckes (shot put) were all previous national qualifiers.
Meckes entered Thursday's competition with a career-best throw of 146-9. Meckes had fouls on her first two attempts Thursday but then unleashed her monster throw of 160-4 on attempt number three.
"Michaela has heightened her focus and preparation this year and now it is paying off," said Calvin throwing coach Katie (Corner) Dean who is one of two individuals in Calvin women's track and field history to throw the discus more than 160 feet and holds the school record at 167-1. "Now our focus turns to nationals next week. This (nationals) is a goal she has been striving for and now she has an opportunity to reach even higher goals. It is exciting to watch."
Meckes was one of two individuals from the Calvin women's track and field team to punch their tickets to next week's NCAA III Championships as junior Jenna Dyksen (Hawthorne, NJ/Hawthorne HS) clocked a career-best time of 14.44 in the 100 meter hurdles Thursday at the North Central College Gregory Invitational. The time boosts Dyksen from 19th to ninth on the NCAA III performance list and will lock her into a spot for next week's national meet. Dyksen's time Thursday was good for a second place finish in the event. Dyksen ran a career-best time of 14.59 in the early afternoon preliminaries and then came up with a second PR in the finals.
"Jenna is peaking at the right time," said Calvin head track and field coach Bret Otte. "She was very poised in her execution tonight. Earning a spot at the national meet has been a big goal for her and I am very pleased to see her reach that goal."
Also competing for Calvin on Thursday were sophomore Katie Diekema (Kenmore, Wash./Ingelmoor HS) in the 1500 meters and junior Marissa McGahan (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) and sophomore Breanna Kooiman (Tinley Park, Il./Chicago Christian HS) in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
Diekema placed third in the 1500 meters (4:36.16) while McGahan was 10th in the steeplechase (11:31.19) and Kooiman 14th (12:09.58).
MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
Calvin College sophomore Brendan VanHouten came up with a career-best toss of 158-8 in the discus Thursday at the Augustana Twilight Invitational. VanHouten's throw surpassed his previous best effort of 157-2 and was good for 12th place in Thursday's competition.
Calvin also had several individuals compete at the North Central College Gregory Invitational Wednesday and Thursday.
On Wednesday, sophomore Jamison Koeman (Whitinsville, Mass./Whitinsville Christian HS) clocked a fourth place tiem of 15:19.74 while senior Robbie Hohlman (Naperville, Il./Neuqua Valley HS) came in 10th with a time of 16:04.94.
Freshman Addison Smith (Seoul, South Korea/Seoul Foreign School) was sixth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:26.80.
In the 1500 meters, senior Nate VanHaitsma (Olympia, Wash./Olympia HS) had a time of 4:01.40, freshman Tyler Johnson (Springfield, Il./Pleasant Plains HS) a time of 4:07.65 and junior Mark DeJong (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) a time of 4:14.93.
At the Wisconsin-Lacrosse NCAA III Qualifier Meet on Thursday evening, senior Jordan Kramer (Pewaukee, Wisc./Lake Country Lutheran HS) took second in a time of 14:45.48.
BASKETBALL
Calvin College senior Anna Timmer has collected one more notable honor to her long list of accomplishments.
Earlier this week, Timmer was named to the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) Women's College Academic All-State team.
Timmer is the only Division III player on the five-member honor list which also includes Reyno Frost (Central Michigan), Taylor Gleason (Oakland), Kylie Townsley (Spring Arbor) and Emily WEdnling (Saginaw Valley State).
A native of Caledonia and a graduate of Grand Rapids South Christian High School, Timmer completed a standout four-year career this past March.
Timmer averaged 13.4 points and 11.4 rebounds a game this past year while connecting on 58.3 percent of her field goal attempts. A forward, Timmer accumulated a Calvin single-season record of 320 rebounds, becoming just the second player in Calvin women's basketball history to amass more than 300 rebounds in a season. She also tallied 19 double-doubles. Timmer finished the 2016-17 season ranked ninth nationally in double-doubles, 11th in field goal percentage and 17th in total rebounds.
Last month, Timmer was named to the All-MIAA first team. She was named MIAA Player of the Week once during the season and was named to the Lakeland College Tip-Off Tournament all-tournament team. She concluded her career ranked seventh on the Calvin career list for points (1,274) and third in rebounds (785).
Timmer was named to the All-MIAA first team this past March and landed a spot on the D3hoops.com Great Lakes All-Region third team. She was subsequently named a Women's DIII News Honorable Mention All-American.
A team captain, Timmer helped the Calvin women's basketball team advance to the 2017 MIAA Tournament finals and gain an at-large berth to the NCAA III Tournament.
Received on Fri May 19 23:00:11 2017
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