Track and Field Teams Post Strong Performances at Grand Rapids Open Invite
Saturday, April 02, 2011
By Sports Information Student Assistant Derek Neice
Calvin’s outdoor track and field spring season continued to get underway here as the Knights came out strong in the Grand Rapids Open, with some quality performances, especially in the distance and field events. Battling the cold and wind at Houseman Field on the northeast side of Grand Rapids, the Knights got some valuable meet experience and a great opportunity to build towards future competitions.
In the field events, the Knights performed very well and took home a number of number one finishes. Calvin took the first two spots in the high jump competition with Rebekah Van Dyk and Carissa Verkaik clearing the bar at 5 feet four inches. For the men, Calvin’s Matt Christians landed a 6 foot 6 inches jump that was good for second place overall.
In the long jump for the women, Kim Wigboldy took first place with a jump of 16-4 1/2, and Calvin’s Kelly Peterson took first in the triple jump at 34-2 1/4. Wigboldy also won the women’s javelin with a throw of 110-11. Calvin took three of the top four spots in men’s triple jump as well with Kyle Jasperse winning the event with a leap of 43-4 3/.4, and then Russell Kamps and Willem Both taking 3rd and 4th with jumps of 41-4 1/2 and 39-10 ¾.
Calvin took second in women’s discus with Sarah Reasoner throwing a strong NCAA III provisional qualifying mark of 147-8 and first for the men with Aaron Meckes throwing 149-8. Reasoner and Meckes also came out strong in the shot put with Reasoner winning on the women’s side with a throw of 42-8 1/4 and Meckes winning the men’s with a throw of 48-6.
For running events the day was kicked off by the 3000 meter steeplechase and Calvin took both sides of that race with Nick Kramer winning in a strong NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 9:10.32 and Jodie Hoekstra winning in an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 11:07.83. The Knights won both sides of the 1500 meters also with a strong first place come from behind finish from Kaitlin Diemer in 4:43.26 and the top two spots for the men with Alex Wrobel winning in 4:01.70 and Greg Whittle taking second in 4:02.72.
Rachel Boerner took home first in the women’s 400 meter hurdles with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 1:03.39, and the women also snagged the 2nd and 3rd spots in the 5000 meter run with Eva Kort finishing in 18:29.56 and Sam Westveer finishing in 18:41.58.
In the relays the Calvin women’s A team [Jordan Gabrielse, Rachel Boerner, Stephanie Bennett, Julie Busscher] won the 4x100 relay with a time of 50.32, the women’s 4x400 relay A team [Gabrielse, Boerner, Busscher, Olivia Butler] won in a time of 4:07.62, and the men’s 4x400 relay A team [Calvin Kuyers, Ben Dykema, Ryan Huffman, Carson Sterchi took a close third place with a time of 3:24.83.
The next action for Calvin will be this upcoming Saturday at Ferris State University where the Knights will continue to show their strength both on the track and in the field.
