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ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Calvin women's track and field team opened its indoor campaign on Saturday at the Bob Eubanks Open on the campus of Grand Valley State University.
The Knights had a big day in both the distance and throwing events.
On the track, Calvin opened competition in the mile run. Senior
Brandan Knepper (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg HS) led the way by taking fourth in a career-best time of 4:17.33 that ranks 11
th on the NCAA III Indoor Performance List. Sophomore
Thaine Nederveld (Columbus, Oh./Columbus Alternative School) ran in second heat but managed to finish eighth individually with a career-best time of 4:22.13. Sophomore
Luke Witvliet (Grandville, Mich./Calvin Christian HS) was 10
th (4:22.82) and junior
Eric Swinson (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern HS) 12
th (4:28.07).
Calvin brought heat in the 3000 meter run, taking three of the top 10 spots. Sophomore
Nicholas Henz (Oswego, Il./Oswego East HS) was fourth in a time of 8:44.03, just four seconds off his career best. Senior
Derek Sall (Grandville, Mich./Grandville Christian HS) came up with a career-best time of 8:52.80 that was good for seventh place. Sophomore
Trent Sivils (Chesapeake, Va./Stonebridge School) was ninth in a career-best time of 8:57.76. Sophomore
Ryan Sarkett (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair HS) was 11
th in a time of 9:10.50.
The Knights flexed their muscle in the throws. In the shot put invite heat, senior
James Viel (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) was fifth (43-5 ½). In the non-invite shot put heat, senior Misael Martinez-Marquez (Chicago, Il./Chicago Hope Academy) took first with a toss of 39-4 ½.
In the weight throw invite heat, senior
Isaac Jonker (Denver, Co./Denver Christian HS) took fourth with a career-best throw of 53-8 ½. Viel was eighth with a throw of 44-0 ¾.
In the regular weight throw heat, Martinez-Vasquez took first place with a career-best throw of 48-7 ¼.
COACHES COMMENT: "Today was a great opportunity for a small portion of the team to start their indoor season," said Calvin head track and field coach Adam Haldorson. "We had about 30 athletes competing and around half of them walked away from the meet with lifetime personal records, a great result for the first meet of the year! Many of the athletes not competing were in attendance to cheer on their teammates and overall, we had great energy and support at all the events. I extremely proud of how well our group is coming together and this was a perfect way to start the 2022-23 indoor campaign."
NEXT UP: Calvin returns to Grand Valley next Saturday for the Mike Lints Open Invitational.
