Distance Runners Post NCAA Provisional Qualifying Times at Rhodes Open Meet
Monday, March 23, 2009
MEMPHIS, TN—The Calvin College men’s and women’s track and field teams turned in a number of NCAA III provisional qualifying performances on Saturday at the Rhodes College Open despite competing in a steady rain throughout the meet.
A big highlight came in the men’s and women’s 10,000 meter runs with senior Jed Christiansen (Greenville, PA) leading a 1-2-3-4 Calvin finish in the men’s race with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 30:21.10 that was just a second off an automatic standard and was a personal best by more than nine seconds. Christiansen was followed by senior Erik VanKampen (Elmhurst, IL) with a second place and NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 30:26.96 while sophomore Jake Christiansen (New Ipswich, NH) just missed a provisional qualifying mark, placing third with a time of 31:25.36. Junior Tim Langenberg (Grand Ledge HS) also had a personal-best for the Knights, finishing with a fourth place time of 31:35.73.
In the women’s 10,000 meters, junior Jessica Koster (Grand Rapids Christian HS) took second with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 35:49.00 that was one second off an automatic qualifying mark and was also a personal best. Senior teammate Kelly Edwards (Grand Blanc HS) just missed an NCAA III provisional qualifying performance, clocking a fourth-place time of 37:28.96.
In the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase, junior Elizabeth Smit (Kirkland, WA) took first place with a strong NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 10:49.30. Junior Nicole Farr (Warrenville, IL) also had a strong performance in placing third with a time of 11:17.23.
In the men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase, senior Nate DeHaan (South Christian HS) led a one-two Calvin finish with a strong NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 9:11.41 while junior teammate Aaron Goodman (Milwaukee, WI) was second with an provisional qualifying time of 9:17.74.
In the women’s 1500 meter run, senior Lauren Bergstrom (Rochester, MN) took second with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 4:35.88. Senior Val Nydam (Uxbridge, MA) also had a career-best time of 4:48.37 in the event.
In the women’s 5,000 meters, senior Jesi Hale (Rehoboth, NM) took first place with a time of 18:09.16 while junior Sarah Dugan (Freeland HS) was third with a career-best time of 18:12.42. Meanwhile, freshman Nick Kramer (Dyer, IN) won the men’s 5,000 meters with a time of 14:57.14 while junior Ben Van Wyk (Sussex, NJ) was third (15:08.48) and senior Andrew Stutzman (Kutztown, PA) was fourth (15:20.45).
Bergstrom also won the women’s 800 meters with a time of 2:15.06 while freshman Kaitlin Diemer (South Christian HS) and sophomore Alison Tuuk (Grand Rapids Christian HS) both posted sub 2:20 times with Diemer seventh (2:19.15) and Tuuk eighth (2:19.43).
Other highlights included sophomore Rachel Boerner (Bergenfield, NJ) posting a time of 58.57 in the women’s 400 meters, freshman Carson Sterchi (Crystal Lake, IL) recording a time of 1:57.52 in the men’s 800 meters, freshman Kelly Veldkamp (Grand Rapids Christian HS) and junior Carla Lindemulder (Illiana Christian HS) clearing the bar at 10-6 in the women’s pole vault, sophomore Eric Michel (Naperville, IL) reaching a height of 13-5 1/4 in the men’s pole vault and a leap of 37-1 3/4 by senior Julie Bratt (Lynden, WA) in the women’s triple jump.
In the throws, sophomore Sarah Reasoner (Cambridge, MN) was third in the women’s discus throw (116-9) and ninth in the women’s shot put (37-1 1/4). Sophomore Joel Klingenberg (Sarasota, FL) was fifth in the men’s discus throw (140-10) with freshman Aaron Clark (Comstock Park HS) seventh (135-2). Sophomore Kim Wigboldy (Chandler, AZ) was second in the women’s javelin (111-5) while Klingenberg was fifth in the men’s javelin (166-2). Sophomore Ken Echtinaw (Caledonia HS) was sixth in the men’s shot put (43-8) while freshman Alex Edwards (Southfield, Mich.) was eighth (42-5 1/2).
