MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
(Written by Colin McWhertor '08)

GRAND RAPIDS - The 116th annual men’s MIAA Championship for Track and Field began Thursday with Calvin College serving as the host school. Day one of the 2007 Championships started off well for the Knights with the field events and the preliminary races. After the first day, Calvin sits in third place in the men’s standings with 48.5 points. Albion College is in the lead with 56.5 points and Hope College stands in second with 50 points.

Albion built a first place lead on the strength of its field events on Thursday as senior Jason Bowman won the long jump (23-3 3/4) while senior teammate Kyle Robinson was a winner in the shot put (49-7 1/4). Albion picked up 19 of its points in the shot put as Evan Walters was third (47-11 3/4), Michael Culliver seventh (44-8 1/4) and Brian Leighton eighth (42-10 1/4).

Hope picked up a win from senior Scott Langille in the pole vault with an NCAA III provisional qualifying height of 15-1 while teammate Kyle Smith was second (13-11 3/4). Hope also had a strong day in the javelin with Andrew Denninger winning with an NCAA III provisional qualifying throw of 190-3 while teammate Nate VandeGuchte was third (156-5). Matthew Gordon of Albion was second (177-8).

For Calvin, Senior Josh Meckes (Bay City) was one of several athletes to shine in the field events. Meckes competed in the long jump, the shot-put, and the javelin on Thursday and gained points for Calvin in all three events. In the long jump, Meckes placed second overall by jumping 23 feet 1 ¼ inches. Meckes then joined the shot put throwers and placed fifth overall (46 feet 2 ¾ inches) and finished up his day by tossing the javelin 148 feet 4 inches, good for sixth place in the event.

Another strong performance from a Calvin athlete in the shot put came from junior Ryan Jensen (Northview), who placed second with a throw of 48 feet 3 ¼ inches. The throw was a personal best for Jensen.

Other performances of note on the field for Calvin on Thursday included junior Kelby McClelland (Mercer, PA) placing seventh in the long jump with a distance of 20 feet 9 ¾ inches and senior Eric DeVries (Unity Christian) who tied for fifth in the pole vault at a height of 12 feet 5 ½ inches.

On the track, the Knights sent a total of sixteen runners through the preliminaries and into the finals of events to be run on Friday.

McClelland and freshman Nathan Musch (Ypsilanti) both qualified in the 110 Meter Hurdles with matching times of 15.24 seconds. In the 100 Meter Dash, freshman Jonathan Repeta (Hoffman Estates, IL) qualified for day two by running 11.07 seconds.

The Knights placed three runners in the finals of the 400 Meter Dash as juniors Joel Baker (Kalamazoo Christian - 49.01sec) and Jared Cok (Bozeman, MT - 49.51sec) joined sophomore Brad Stroner (Woodland - 50.17sec) in the top finishers Thursday. All three of those runners also qualified in the 200 Meter Dash with Baker in at 22.10 seconds, Stroner at 22.23 seconds, and Cok at 22.52 seconds.

In the 400 Meter Hurdles, McClelland (57.92sec), Musch (58.78sec) and DeVries (59.59sec) all advanced to the Friday finals. The 800 Meter Run had four Calvin athletes advance as senior Todd Schuster (Denver, CO - 1:58.59), juniors Brian Wilmarth (Chatham, IL - 1:59.29) and Tad Hulst (Zeeland - 1:57.38), and sophomore Joe Holtrop (Calvin Christian - 1:58.89) all made the cut.

The first day of action was completed with the 10,000 Meter Run, the only final running event of the first day. Calvin had a strong showing in the 10k as sophomore Eric Van Kampen (Elmhurst, IL) took the victory with a time of 32: 43.97. Behind him was sophomore Andrew Stutzman (Kutztown, PA) with a time of 32:54.78 in second place and freshman Kyle Mast (Holland Christian) in fifth place with a time of 33:34.48.

Day two of the MIAA Championships begins at 10:00 am Friday with field events. The men will compete in the Triple Jump, Discus and High Jump. Running finals begin at 1:30pm beginning with the Steeplechase.

Day One Results

WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
(written by Bruce VanBaren '09)

After the field event finals and track preliminaries, the women’s track and field team has a commanding lead in the MIAA Championships as the Knights have a first day total of 102 points, more than 52 points ahead of second place Hope (49.5 points). The Knights picked up four of five possible first place finishes and won six qualifying heats in the track preliminaries.

It was also a good day for Winkle individually, winning three events. She won her second consecutive MIAA title in the long jump with a distance of 18’8.25” as the Knights finished with four of the top five spots. Sophomore Julie Bratt (Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian) and Senior Kelly Zwier- Janke (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian) finished second and third respectively. Freshman Amanda Leese (Charlevoix/Central Lake) finished fifth.

The Knights finished one-two in the 10,000 meter. Junior Christina Overbeck (Seattle, WA/Bellewe Christian) took off from the front three on the final lap to win the event with a time of 38:57 and Junior Lynn Marsh (North Vernon, IN/Jennings County) finished just behind her with a time of 39:01. Emily Arkus (Tinley Park, IL/Victor J. Andrew) finished fifth and Jenny Zylstra (Lombard, IL/Timothy Christian) finished seventh.

Calvin took the top two spots in the discus throw as well. Senior Megann VanderVliet (Oakville, ON, Canada/Oakville Trafalgar) won the event with a distance of 148’1” and Junior Rachel Vander Wiele (Saugatuck/Holland Christian) took second with a distance of 126’10”. Freshman Leigha Oberle (Grand Rapids/ Grand Rapids Christian) finished fourth.

In other final events, Senior Katie Bolt (Grand Rapids/ Grand Rapids Christian) won the high jump for the second straight year, clearing the bar with an NCAA III provisional qualifying mark of 5-6. Hope's Christina Lis also had an NCAA III provisional qualifying jump of 5-6 but took second on more attempts. Calvin senior Lauren Colyn (Kalamazoo Christian HS) finished in third place with a height of 5’5”.

In the women’s pole vault, senior Valerie Thompson (Franklin, MA/Whitinsville Christian) and Carla Lindemulder (Lansing, IL/ Illiana Christian) were Calvin’s top finishers tying for third place reaching 10.5,’ a personal best for Lindemulder. Thompson received the six third place points and Lindemulder the four fifth place points Joy Leach finished seventh. Hope went 1-2 in the event with senior Jen VanderMeer winning the event with an NCAA III provisional qualifying height of 12-3 while teammate Leah Koopmans was second with a height of 11-0.

Outstanding performances by Winkle and Junior Sarah Wittingen (East Grand Rapids/East Grand Rapids) highlighted the track prelims. Winkle won the 100 meter dash prelim with a personal best time of 12.52 seconds and topped the field in heat one of the 200 meter dash with a time of 26.74 seconds. Also qualifying in those events for the Knights with second place finishes were Freshman Jourden Johnson (Gales Ferry, CT/Nedyard) in the 100 meter dash and Junior Sarah Weller (Wyoming/ Calvin Christian) in the 200 meter dash. Johnson won the second heat in the 200 meter dash prelim to qualify as well.

Meanwhile, Wittingen set an MIAA and Calvin record in the 100 meter hurdles with an NCAA III automatic qualifying time of 14.28 seconds. She also won first heat of the 400 hurdles prelims with a time of 1:06.83. Wittingen was Calvin’s only qualifier in both hurdle events.

In the 400 meter dash, the Knights qualified Bolt and Freshman Heather Koning (Kalamazoo/ Kalamazoo Christian) who won their respective heats (58.76 seconds and 59.46 seconds) and Weller who finished third.

Sophomore Lauren Bergstrom (Rochester, MN/Rochester Century) topped the field in the 800 meter with a time of 2:22.95. She was one of three Knights to qualify for tomorrows finals. Freshman Nicole Farr (Warrenville, IL/Warrenville South) finished third in the first heat and Sophomore Laura Jackson (Decatur, IL/St. Teresa) finished second in the second heat.

Day One Results