March 11, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - A clean sweep by Becky Weima and another sterling diving effort by freshman Erica Deur lifted the Calvin women's swimming and diving team to its best-ever national finish Saturday night at the NCAA III Swimming and Diving Championships on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

A graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School, Weima captured her third individual national title in as many nights on Saturday, winning the 100 freestyle with a time of 51.03. The swim came on the heels of national championship performances in the 50 freestyle on Thursday night and in the 200 freestyle on Friday.

A junior at Calvin, Weima finished four-tenths of a second ahead of Hiram senior Eliza Groselle to win the 100 freestyle crown. (Photo of Weima in 100 freestyle taken by Carleton College SID Eric Sieger)

It marked the third straight All-America performance by Weima in the 100 freestyle as she had finished fourth in the event at both the 2004 and 2005 NCAA III Championships.

Meanwhile, Calvin freshman Erica Deur of Holland Christian High School captured her second All-America certificate of the meet, taking fourth on the three-meter diving board with a score of 450.75 points. Deur also took second on the one-meter board on Thursday night.

Calvin's 400 freestyle relay team of sophomore Kat Vinson (Kaneohe, HI), junior Liz Ingebrigtsen (Bensenville, IL), senior Abby Johnson (Grand Haven HS) and Weima also earned All-America accolades with a sixth place time of 3:32.04. (Photo of Erica Deur on 3-Meter Board taken by Carleton College SID Eric Sieger)

In addition, Johnson closed out her collegiate career on a high note, posting an honorable mention All-America performance in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:08.36. Johnson qualified for the consolation finals with a school-record time of 2:08.09 in the morning prelims.

The collection of Calvin performances helped the Knights finish tied for sixth in the final team standings with Denison with a total of 199 points. The finish is Calvin's highest in national competition, surpassing the 10th place finish of a year ago when the Knights recorded a score of 136 points.

"We're extremely pleased," said Calvin women's swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "Becky had another amazing performance. To win three national titles in three days is absolutely incredible. And for Erica Deur to finish as a two-time All-American as a freshman in absolutely amazing. But I'm also very proud of my entire team. We received scoring contributions from all 10 of our athletes here and four of them were freshmen. That's impressive. I was also very happy to see my lone senior Abby Johnson go out with a school record and an All-American swim in our final relay. She's had an amazing career and has been a big part of our success."

Emory repeated as the team national champion, finishing with 428 points, just 10 points ahead of runner-up Kenyon. Calvin was one of two MIAA teams to earn top-20 national finishes as Hope took 13th place. (Photo of Abby Johnson Taken by Dan Vos '94)

Link To Final Results
Link To Final Team Scores
Link to Championships Web Site
Day One Recap
Day Two Recap