| Calvin track and field shatters records
By Brian Booth
Guest Writer
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A Calvin high-jumper reaches for the sky during a track and field meet.
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This past weekend, the Calvin track and field team hosted the Grand Rapids Open. It was the team’s third outdoor meet of the year. Temperatures dropped below freezing and occasional snow fell as the meet progressed. The Calvin team fought through the cold and finished well with nineteen combined first place finishes between the men and women.
It was a record-breaking weekend as three Calvin track and field records fell. The record breaking performance came on Friday when senior Joel Klooster broke his own record in the 10,000 meter run. Klooster was invited to the Stanford Invitational in California and took advantage of the opportunity by running a 29:36.82, which automatically qualified him for the NCAA Division III Nationals at the end of the year. The second and third records, which were set on Saturday, came from the same athlete. Junior Katie Corner broke the shot-put and hammer throw records in the same frigid afternoon.
“I was definitely excited about the shot put. I was getting it out there in practice but on Saturday it really flew” Corner said about her record breaking performance.
The shot-put record was previously held by Corner’s teammate, senior Liz Frenz. Frenz’s record was only one week old when Corner broke it, but Frenz had no reason to be upset because she had already been put on the NCAA III provisional qualifying list for the shot put. Also making the NCAA Division III provisional qualifying list on Saturday were sophomore Nate Meckes and senior Nick VanderPlas who finished first and second respectively in the shot-put.
The official outdoor track and field season started when the team took a spring break trip to Alabama. On the way down to Gulf Shores, they competed in the Samford Invitational in Birmingham, Ala. They then stayed in Gulf Shores for five days before departing for Atlanta to compete in another meet on their way back to Calvin. Their performance was good enough to win the event as a team. A team victory is a rare feat in track and field meets because there are usually only individual victories available.
“The Gulf Shores trip was very good for the team. It helped bond us as a team and brought us together for a week,” said sophomore distance runner Joel Alberts.
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Preparing to make the throw: Calvin excelled in field events last year.
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“The weather down there was a big boost for our training, it was really nice” added Corner.
The warm weather ended abruptly as the Calvin team came back to compete in freezing temperatures. The team has better temperatures to look forward to as they go into April with 11 meets still left, not including nationals in May.
The Calvin track and field roster is made up of 50 men and 40 women including 31 freshmen. Both the men and women’s teams have enjoyed success in the past several years. The men’s team finished runner-up in NCAA Division III Nationals in 2002. The women’s team has won 13 consecutive MIAA champoinships.
The head coach of both teams, Jong-Il Kim, is in his second season as coach. He had a very successful first year as a coach winning the women’s NCAA III national coach of the year awarded by the U.S. Track and Field Association. He was also named the Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year for both the men’s and women’s teams. Kim came to Calvin in 1998 as a professor after competing in two Olympics in his track and field career.
“[The coaching] is what sets the Calvin track and field team apart as a Division III school,” said Joel Alberts. “The coaching staff is very experienced and includes two former Olympic competitors.”
There are several other assistants that each coach the twenty one different events. The teams practice one and a half to two hours per day. They also get together outside of practice and train together.
“Hard work is the most important thing in track and field. It doesn’t just come naturally all the time,” said Corner. “It really is a year-round sport. Most of us take a few weeks off after the season, but then it is right back into the lifting and training in the summer.”
Most of the training leads up to qualifying and being ready for the NCAA Nationals that take place in New York this year from May 22-24. There are high expectations for the Calvin track and field team because of all of their past success. The track and field members don’t mind these high expectations because they know that all the coaches ask of them is that they do their best while glorifying God.
Both the men’s and women’s teams are in action here at Calvin this Saturday, April 5. They both play host to Alma beginning at noon.
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