CKSR (Calvin Knight Sports Report for February 21, 2018)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 21, 2018

Swimming and Diving Teams Jump Out To Early Leads at MIAA Championships;
Special Olympic Athletes Partner with Calvin SAAC and MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships
Calvin Women's Basketball Seniors Head Down Final Stretch of Collegiate Careers;
Calvin Softball Set to Kick Off 2018 Campaign;
Youthful Calvin Women's Tennis Team Looking Forward to Season
WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin women's swimming and diving team claimed the first-place seat on day one of the 2018 MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships. The Knights earned 40 points to gain an early six-point lead over Hope College.
The Knights kicked off the meet with a record-breaking, first-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The team of junior Madelyn Smith (Allegan, Mich./Allegan), sophomore Libby Engle (Troy, Mich./Troy), junior Anna Serino (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney) and senior Abby VanHarn (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) notched a time of 7:28.14 to break the Calvin and MIAA records. The previous record was held by Megan Schroeder, Serino, Kendall Murphy and VanHarn who posted a 7:31.21 time in 2016.
"What I told the team after the race was that you can never underestimate the value of starting off with a bang like that," said head coach Dan Gelderloos. "What those four individuals did in that relay was give the rest of the team, 60-plus people, all the confidence in the world that what we've been doing in practice is going to work for them too. That was huge. There are no guarantees that just because you swim one event fast that everything else is going to go well. But it sure gets the momentum going."
The Knights' divers also had strong performances in the preliminaries of the three-meter dive. Senior Sarah Bradley (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) placed second with a score of 431.50. Joselyn Smith finished fourth with 407.80, while freshman Hannabeth Magnussen (Oakdale, Calif./Ripon Christian) recorded a 366.15 for sixth place. Freshman Stephany Morrow (Eagle Lake, Minn./Mankato East) finished in eighth place in exhibition with 302.40 points.
"I'm very proud. We did very well," said head diving coach Aaron Paskvan. "We'd like to get a few more entries into the water cleaner, but we were on top of every dive. I think it gives us good energy and a good feeling. We've performed these dives daily, and we can do it under the microscope and when the lights are on. As performers, we want to show our best when everyone comes to watch. We had a good crowd tonight and it was fun to show us our skills and how hard we've worked this season to get to where we are. We're looking forward to tomorrow and see what we can do in finals."
Junior Daniella Sugijanto (Walnut Creek, Calif./Northgate) placed first in the 50-yard backstroke exhibition with a time of 27.56, while sophomore Sydney Boyer (Bristol, Ind./Northridge) followed at 29.13. In the 50-yard butterfly exhibition, junior Ka'lee Sparks (Otsego, Mich./Otsego) was the fastest swimmer at 27.05.
The Knights are back in action tomorrow in day two of the MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin men's swimming & diving team came out strong on the first day of 2018 MIAA Swimming & Diving Championships. The Knights lead with 40 points after the first day.
"If we would've gone that fast and gotten touched out, I could've easily lived with that," said head coach Dan Gelderloos. "Getting the win in a meet that's going to be close is always a good start."
The Knights kicked the meet with a first-place finish in the 800-yard free relay. The team of junior Ben Holstege (Keswick, Va./Covenant), freshman Julian Iturbe (Caracas, Venezuela/Colegio Emil Freidman), sophomore Tim Randall (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) and senior Max DeYoung (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Eastern) earned the victory with a time of 6:44.69.
"I'm feeling very hype about the meet this week," said Iturbe. "We've been training for this, and we're going to show it this weekend."
Calvin also had strong performances in the men's 50-yard breaststroke exhibition race. Sophomore Sam Holstege (Keswick, Va./Covenant) notched a first-place finish at 26.21, while sophomore Jacob Deysher (Colorado Springs, Colo./Palmer Ridge) took second place at 28.28.
The Knights are back in action tomorrow in day two of the MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

MORE SWIMMING AND DIVING

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin swimming & diving program, Calvin College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opened the 2018 MIAA Swimming & Diving Championships with swimmers from the Southwest Region of Special Olympics of Michigan on Wednesday evening. Calvin helped field two relay teams in a Unified Sports Experience.
"It was a very unique and special moment," said Calvin head coach Dan Gelderloos. "Doing that for the first time, I thought it was a cool thing for the Special Olympic athletes to experience and maybe even more so for us to be a part of. I think that for a brief moment it put things in perspective for a lot of us, so I think that was a really cool unified event."
Calvin had the sister duo of junior Alyssa Oezer and freshman Jenna Oezer of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in one unified relay.
"It was really fun to pair together with the Special Olympic athletes and MIAA athletes," said Alyssa Oezer. "It is a sport that we all love. It was a very cool thing to participate in."
The other Calvin relay fielded junior Kendall Murphy of Modesto, California, and Jonathan Krul of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) has been partnering with Special Olympics since 2011. The purpose of the partnership is to enhance the lives of Division III student-athletes and Special Olympics athletes through a mutual learning experience; provide a platform for recognition of Special Olympics athletes and Division III student-athletes within their communities; and raise awareness of Special Olympics, its programs and services.
Calvin is a proud member of NCAA Division III and works together with Special Olympics of Michigan on multiple events during the year. At the 2017 NCAA Championships, the Calvin volleyball team bowled with Special Olympic athletes in November. Calvin also hosts the Southwest Region of Special Olympics of Michigan Spring Games in May, where Calvin student-athletes volunteer and spend time with the athletes.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Calvin seniors Ali Spayde and Bre Luurtsema are heading down the closing stretch of their amazing collegiate careers. The Knights will play at rival Hope Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in the MIAA Tournament semifinals. The Calvin Sports Information office caught up with the dynamic duo earlier this week and filed the following report: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__calvinknights.com_sports_wbkb_2017-2D18_releases_20180220v9w6wn&d=DwIFAg&c=4rZ6NPIETe-LE5i2KBR4rw&r=5aYEzXF7nc6LZSmi__PTAKGUps4SiBVbwUKLqa54NW8&m=E4OAnJKEsEw7gLkejD7rerWgpaHolUqxaz9XJoPq_Q8&s=f8EDrvHpoPRCckQlMcrUeb2lIsEq_4x4HVaqELaDfs0&e=
SOFTBALL

The Calvin softball team is slated to open its season on March 2 and 3 with a four-game weekend set at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. For a preview of the upcoming season, visit the Calvin website at: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__calvinknights.com_sports_sball_2017-2D18_releases_20180220mfd0vr&d=DwIFAg&c=4rZ6NPIETe-LE5i2KBR4rw&r=5aYEzXF7nc6LZSmi__PTAKGUps4SiBVbwUKLqa54NW8&m=E4OAnJKEsEw7gLkejD7rerWgpaHolUqxaz9XJoPq_Q8&s=OqxkFEyxGHyhdeyGcUAz97b44y6hoyWTq6tEirHEyTY&e=
WOMEN'S TENNIS

A youthful Calvin women's tennis team is moving through the 2018 season with energy and enthusiasm. For a preview of the 2018 season, visit the Calvin website at: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__calvinknights.com_sports_wten_2017-2D18_releases_20180220l7jbf2&d=DwIFAg&c=4rZ6NPIETe-LE5i2KBR4rw&r=5aYEzXF7nc6LZSmi__PTAKGUps4SiBVbwUKLqa54NW8&m=E4OAnJKEsEw7gLkejD7rerWgpaHolUqxaz9XJoPq_Q8&s=qi2AznFmsHC9rLsgt7U3Fl12_a1JSVCXueCf-3Gv9XA&e=
Received on Thu Feb 22 00:03:47 2018