Knights Capture First-Ever MIAA Title

HOLLAND -- The Calvin women's swimming and diving team captured its first-ever MIAA title Feb 15-17 as the Knights came up with a first place total of 552 points at the MIAA Championships held at the Holland Aquatic Center. Hope finished second with 444 points. With the league meet worth two-thirds of the final conference title, Calvin moved ahead of Hope in the final league standings with its first place performance at the league championships. During the dual meet season, Calvin finished in second place with its only loss coming to Hope. Hope had won the last nine MIAA titles including 18 of the last 22. Over the course of the weekend, Calvin established six new school records and also produced five NCAA conditional qualifying performances. Calvin's depth was also a key as the Knights won seven (seventh place) consolation finals.

DAY ONE RECAP

On Thursday, Calvin opened the meet with two first place performances while also shattering three school records. The Knights opened the meet in thrilling fashion as its 200 freestyle relay of sophomore Katie Nagelkirk (Holland Christian), junior Kate Conrad (Calvin Christian), sophomore Anne Kuiper (Houghton) and junior Erin Kloostra (Grand Rapids Christian) repeated as MIAA champions with a strong NCAA III B' cut qualifying and school record time of 1:3743.

Nagelkirk then led a 1-2-3 Calvin finish in the 50 freestyle as she blasted her way to an NCAA III B' cut qualifying and school record time of 24.55. She was followed by Kloostra who was second in a B' cut qualifying time of 24.68 while Conrad was third in 25.04. Sophomore Rachel Hyde (Rockford) added to Calvin's point total in the event by winning the consolation heat with a time of 25.89.

Calvin's 400 medley relay team of sophomore Ginni Baker (Kalamazoo Christian), freshman Brittney Stevens (Mankato, MN), Kuiper and Kloostra took second with a school record time of 4:08.75, breaking a 13-year old mark by a quarter of a second. Calvin's depth also showed up in the 500 freestyle and 200 IM. Senior Liesje Konyndyk (Grand Rapids Christian) was fourth in the 500 freestyle (5:17.41) while sophomore Jenny Los (Holland Christian) was fifth (5:21.49). Stevens also won the consolation heat with a time of 5:24.92. In the 200 IM, Kuiper took second in 2:13.41 while sophomore Mara McGuin was fifth (2:17.39).

"Our depth really paid off this evening," said Calvin coach Dan Gelderloos at the conclusion of the day. "We were hoping for a good start and we got it. We had great performances right on down the line. We're hoping to keep this momentum up over the next two days."

DAY TWO RECAP

Calvin kept the momentum up the following evening as the Knights increased their lead to 58 points. boosted its lead Friday night on the strength of strong depth and a first place swim by Baker in the 400 IM as well as a first place finish in the 200 medley relay.

Like Thursday, the Calvin women opened the evening with a powerful performance as its 200 medley relay team of Nagelkirk, freshman Brittney Stevens, Kuiper and Kloostra blasted its way to a first place in a school record and NCAA conditional qualifying time of 1:51.37. The time lopped more than a second off of Calvin's previous school mark. It also marked the first time since 1989 that Calvin captured first place in the 200 medley relay, snapping an 11-year run in the event by Hope.

Seeded third heading into the finals, Baker then took first place in the 400 IM with a time of 4:49.61 as she used a strong push over the final 50 meters to edge Jennifer Troyer of Alma and teammate Mara McGuin. Baker is just the second Calvin swimmer in MIAA history to win the 400 IM at the league championships, joining Kathy Vila who achieved the feat in 1985. McQuin took third in Friday's 400 IM with a time of 4:50.28.

Calvin's biggest point production of the evening came in the 200 freestyle as the Knights went 3-4-5-6 in the event with senior Liesje Konyndyk (Grand Rapids Christian) taking third (1:59.37); Conrad taking fourth (1:59.61); Kloostra taking fifth and sophomore Jenny Los (Holland Christian) taking sixth (2:00.63). In addition, Kuiper took second in the 100 butterfly (1:00.70) while Nagelkirk was third in the 100 backstroke with a school record time of 1:01.30. Nagelkirk's school record performance elapsed nearly two seconds off her previous school mark in the event. Stevens also added a fourth place swim in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:11.29.

The Calvin women closed out the evening with a second place performance in the 800 freestyle relay as its team of Nagelkirk, Conrad, Los and Konyndyk came in with a time of 7:57.98.

"Our goal today was to build a good lead and we accomplished that goal," said Gelderloos. "We've been telling our team that every place and every point counts and our team has really reacted to that philosophy well. We still have work to do but we like the position we are in."

In addition to Calvin's top-six individual performances, the Knights captured the consolation round in three events with senior Dara VanKampen (Denver, CO) taking seventh in the 400 IM (5:01.38); junior Liz Alsover (Forest Hills Central) taking seventh in the 100 butterfly (1:05.07) and sophomore Allison Gliesman (Macomb) taking seventh in the 100 backstroke (1:05.34).

DAY THREE RECAP

On Saturday night, Calvin was anchored by Nagelkirk as she was crowned MIAA champion in the 100 freestyle with a NCAA conditional qualifying time of 53.62.

Calvin racked up the points in the 100 freestyle as Nagelkirk led a 1-2-3 Calvin finish. Conrad and Kloostra finished second and third with times of 54.31 and 55.12, respectively. Nagelkirk, Conrad, Kloostra, and Kuiper then combined to form the winning 400 freesyle relay, clocking in with an NCAA conditional qualifying time of 3:34.39.

Calvin also built up its point total in the 1,650 freestyle as Konyndyk was fourth (18:20.03); Los was fifth (18:31.64) and Baker was sixth (18:46.09). Bakker also took sixth in the 200 backstroke (2:23.41) while Gliesman won the consolation finals with a time of 2:18.53. Other top-six individual finishes for the Calvin women included Kuiper and Stevens in the 200 breaststroke as Kuiper was fourth (2:30.09) and Stevens fifth (2:36.09). Calvin also went 3-5-7 in the 200 butterfly with McGuin taking third (2:17.16); Alsover taking fifth (2:23.49) and VanKampen winning the consolation finals with a time of 2:25.17.

In the three-meter diving competition, freshman Sara TerHaar (Bradenton, FL) took third with a score of 379.50.

"Faith bonded our team like nothing else," explained Nagelkirk. "We took our faith outside of our swimming and took it to other areas of our lives."

"This was a whole season effort," commented Gelderloos. "We came together as a team to become as close as we ever have. We sat down and planned the whole year out as a road trip with our final destination being the Holland Aquatic Center."