MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD AT NCAA III CHAMPIONSHIPS

BEREA, OH -- It's a good thing Calvin College sophomore Megan Pierce practices leaning at the tape. Although rarely challenged in the 400 meters during her collegiate career, Pierce practices her lean at the finish line on a regular basis. Pierce put her practice to good use Saturday afternoon on the final day of competition at the NCAA III Track and Field Championships at Baldwin-Wallace College as she outleaned Deshawnda Williams of Wheaton (MA) at the finish line and then tumbled to the track after breaking the tape to captured the national championship in the 400 meters by five-hundredths of a second. A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and a graduate of Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran High School, Pierce finished with a school-record time of 54.17 to edge Williams (54.22) by an eyelash. "I didn't know if I had won or not at first," said a grinning Pierce after the meet with the scrapes on her arm from her tumble still fresh. "That is the first time I have ever fallen at a track meet and when I looked up, coach (Gregg) Afman had his thumbs up and told me I had won which was an incredible feeling." Seeded first and running in lane four, Pierce grabbed the lead after 200 meters and led Williams -- running in lane five -- by a narrow margin on the final turn. "I could hear the beads in her (Williams) hair clicking right behind me on that final turn so I knew she was close," said Pierce. "When I got down the final stretch, I was just hoping I could hold on." In winning the 400 meters, Pierce becomes the fifth individual national champion in MIAA women's track and field history and the fourth in Calvin women's track and field history, joining Angie Feinauer (long jump -- 1993), Holly Breuker (400 meter hurdles -- 1996) and Betsy Haverkamp (3,000 meters -- 1997) as individual national champions at Calvin. Pierce then capped off the afternoon by anchoring Calvin's 1,600 meter relay team that also included senior Kristi Van Woerkom (Grand Rapids Christian) and sophomores Sara Veltkamp (Grand Rapids Christian) and Lindsay Mulder (Calvin Christian) that captured the national championship with a time of 3:47.24 to finish more than a full-second ahead of Wheaton's second place time of 3:48.41. Van Woerkom and Veltkamp led off the relay with two strong legs and Mulder then placed the relay in position to win as she moved from fifth to first place in the final 200 meters of the third leg as she clocked in with a blazing 400 meter split of 55.60. Pierce then anchored the relay home, fighting off another challenge from Williams who was anchoring the Wheaton team as she exploded down the final 100 meters of the race. The first place finish marked the third national championship by a relay team in Calvin women's track and field history and marked the second time that a Calvin 1,600 meter relay has captured the national title, joining its 1994 national championship team of Holly Breuker, Shawn Farmer, Melissa Dykstra and Kathy Haddox. "This relay team is truly special to me," said Calvin women's track and field coach Gregg Afman. "With Megan running a tough 400 earlier today, the other three members of the team knew that they would have to pick up the slack and they did. Lindsay Mulder in particular was exceptional with a remarkable third leg. The national championship by the Calvin relay allowed the Knights to finish tied for fourth with Wisconsin-LaCrosse in the final women's team standings with 39 points, marking the third time in the last seven years that Calvin has posted a top-four national finish. Calvin's total of 39 points is also the third-highest point total ever recorded at the national meet by an MIAA women's team. "I am just thrilled to finish in fourth place," said Afman. "We were not expecting to finish as high as we did but our eight athletes who qualified for this meet came up big." In earning All-America honors in the relay, Van Woerkom completed her Calvin athletic career as a three-time All-American, earning All-America accolades twice in track and field and once in swimming. She also becomes the first athlete in MIAA history to earn All-America honors in swimming and in track and field in the same year as she was a member of Calvin's All-American 400 freestyle relay team in swimming this past March. "It's a wonderful way to finish out my athletic career at Calvin," said Van Woerkom. "I've had a lot of great memories at Calvin and being part of a national championship relay is one I will never forget." The relay team was spurred to victory by a large contingent of Calvin fans including a bare-chested group from the Calvin men's track and field led by seniors Nate Kuipers (Gainsville, NY) and Luke Dragstra (Bowmanville, ON) who chanted "CALVIN - CALVIN - CALVIN" in unison just outside the fence on the final turn. "The guys cheering for us on the final turn were awesome," said Veltkamp. "They gave us a huge boost." Despite blurring past four runners on the final turn in her leg of the race, Mulder also noticed the vocal group. "Those guys were great," said Mulder. "I was trying to pass some people when I saw them and I almost cracked a grin. That helped me relax for the final 100 meters and was a big help." Junior Sarah Gritter (Wauwatosa, WI) also came up with another big performance for the Calvin women on Saturday as she placed third in the 1,500 meters with a school-record time of 4:31.79, shaving nearly three seconds off her own school-record. The All-America performance was the second in as many days for Gritter as she placed second Friday evening in the 3,000 meters. With 400 meters left in Saturday's 1,500, Gritter made a surge and moved into first place with 300 meters to go. She held first place until the final 75 metes as defending champion Janya Mathieu of St. Olaf and Heather Stone of Sewanee State were able to outsprint Gritter to the finish line as Mathieu took first in 4:30.55 and Stone second in 4:31.30. All three times surpassed the 1998 national championship time of 4:34.84 recorded by Mathieu and -- in fact -- surpassed the national championship time in the event for the last seven years. "Sarah ran a perfect race," said Calvin distance coach Brian Diemer. "Coming off a tough 3,000 Friday night, she set herself up perfectly and went for the win. She got run down by some fresh legs but to finish third and break the school record by three seconds is simply amazing." On the men's side, Calvin posted five All-America performances on Saturday as the Knights finished tied for sixth in the final team standings with 22 points, marking its fifth top-10 national finish in the last 11 years and its highest finish since 1991. "I am very happy with the way our team performed this weekend," said Calvin men's track and field coach Jong-Il Kim. "I was not expecting to finish this high in the standings but I am extremely pleased to finish this high nationally. "We had a very good year and I am confident that our team will continue to get better and better." Highlighting the afternoon for the Calvin men was the performance of its 1,600 meter relay team of freshman Keith Van Goor (Midland Park, NJ), sophomore Eric Hansen (Big Rapids), junior Curt Mulder (Grand Rapids Christian) and senior Jay Lumkes (Elkhorn, WI) as it finished third with a school-record time of 3:10.75, shattering the school record by nearly two seconds and coming within five-tenths of Lynchburg's first place relay time of 3:10.20. Lumkes closed out the relay with a blazing 400 meter split of 46.60 to finish his collegiate career as an All-American, joining his older brother John Lumkes -- a three-time All-American (1986-1990) in the Calvin track and field All-American record book. Heading into the national meet, the Calvin 1,600 meter relay record had stood at 3:14.57 but on Thursday night in the prelims, the Calvin group lowered the mark by two seconds with time of 3:12.54 and then dropped nearly another two seconds on Saturday "Our relay team took four seconds off the school record in three days which is amazing," said Kim. "All four relay members worked extremely hard this season and deserved to finish where they did. I am particularly happy for Jay Lumkes who finished out his career with a great race." Sophomore Phil Sikkenga (Wheaton, IL) became Calvin's first-ever All-American in the 110 high hurdles as he placed fourth in the with a time of 14.61 after entering as the top seed in the race. "I am sure Phil is a little disappointed in his race but he is a great athlete who had an outstanding year," said Kim. "He will be back next year and will continue to get better." Senior Steve Michmerhuizen of Holland Christian High School became a three-time All-American at Calvin as he placed fifth in the discus with a throw of 167-7 to go with his All-America certificates earned in the shot put and discus a year ago. Senior Nate Kuipers added a 10th place finish in the discus with a throw of 157-7. A pair of distance runners also turned in All-American efforts Saturday as senior Lee Doherty (Tucson, AZ) took sixth in the 1,500 meters (3:52.49) while sophomore Dan Hoekstra (Kalamazoo Christian) was eighth in the 5,000 meters (14:41.21). The All-America finish was the second of Doherty's career in the 1,500 as he placed seventh in the event at the 1997 nationals while Hoekstra earned All-America honors for the first time in his career. "Lee Doherty has had a fantastic running career at Calvin and it was a wonderful to see him finish it with an All-America performance," said Calvin distance coach Al Hoekstra. "And I could not be prouder of an athlete than I am of Dan Hoekstra," he added. "Dan has battled severe injuries over the past two years but has never given up and he came up with a courageous race today and is an All-American because of it." Lincoln University (PA) captured the national title in both the men's and women's competition as the men took first place with 62 points while the women took first place with 54 points. The Calvin men's track and field program has now produced an MIAA-leading 68 All-America performances including 48 in the last 10 years while the Calvin women's track and field program has now produced an MIAA-leading 51 All-America performances including 47 in the last eight years. -end-