The Calvin Knights fall season was filled with post-season appearances and All-American honors. Here’s a look at the highlights from each team’s season.
Soccer
The men’s and women’s soccer teams each had strong postseason runs making it to the Sweet 16 before falling. The men’s soccer team dominated in the first two rounds of the tournament, outscoring their opponents 9-1 before the team had a close loss to the reigning national champions, the University of Chicago. In their final game, they tied in regulation 1-1 before losing in a shootout. The Knights finished the season with an 18-2-2 record.
Three Knights received All-American honors. Fifth-year goalkeeper Daniel Wunder was named the team’s first All-American. Wunder finishes his outstanding career at Calvin with five All-Conference first-team selections, two All-Region selections (first-team in 2023, second-team in 2022), and now as an All-American.
Receiving second-team honors were senior forward, Oliver Akintade and fifth-year midfielder, Chris Schau. Akintade is now a three-time All-American.
The women’s team also had a sweet-16 run before falling to Washington University in St. Louis. They finished their season with a 16-2-3 record. The Knights received three All-Region honors: senior forward and midfielder Elizabeth Williams and sophomore defender Lucy Iverson received first-team honors and sophomore midfielder Mia Judd was named All-Region second-team. Iverson also received the MIAA MVP award.
Cross Country
The men’s and women’s cross country teams also had a great season. Both teams qualified for nationals as the men’s team finished 23rd and the women’s team finished 24th.
The women’s team earned an automatic qualifying bid to the national meet after dramatically winning the Regional meet; tying Depauw with a score of 90 points each, the Knights won on the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Knights put five runners in the top 35 earning All-Region honors, led by junior Natalie Tebben’s eighth-place finish. Other Knights receiving All-Region hours were Hailey Erickson, Sophie Bull, Jenna Allman and Cath Kortman.
The men’s second-place finish at Regionals was enough to earn an at-large bid to qualify for the National Championships. The Knights put five runners in the top 30 to receive All-Region honors, led by the fifth-place finish of Luke Witvliet with a lifetime best time of 24:01.1. Other Knights receiving all-region honors were Thaine Nederveld, Will Hofmann, Caleb Gaffner and Jacob Buit.
Volleyball
The women’s volleyball team fell in the first round of the NCAA tournament in a 3-0 loss to Gustavus Adolphus College. The Knights finished the season with a 22-8 record.
Aerin Baker and Emma Ekblaw received All-American honorable mention honors as well as first-team All-Region honors.
Triathlon
The women’s triathlon team had their best season yet. The Knights fourth-place finish marks their highest finish ever at the national meet.
The strong team finish was led by Kathyrn Gardner and Rebekah Etherington, both of whom were named All-Americans. Their eighth and 13th place finishes, respectively, were good for second-team All-Americans. Gardner and Etherington’s All-American honors mark the first time in school history the Knights triathlon team was named an All-American.
Winter Sports: A Sneak Peak
Calvin’s winter sports season is just starting. Here’s a look at how a few of the teams are doing so far.
Swimming and Diving
The men’s and women’s swim and dive teams are both off to strong seasons, including a pair of broken school records. “People are swimming fast and diving well,” junior diver Kiah Heminghous told Chimes, Isabella Gable broke the school record in the 400 IM with a time of 4:32.83, breaking the previous record by five seconds.
The women’s team is ranked 13th in the Swim Cloud Dual meet rankings and 20th in the College Swim Coaches Association Top 25 team rankings.
The men’s swimming and diving team is nationally ranked in both the Swim Cloud Dual meet rankings and the College Swim Coaches Association Top 25 team rankings, ranked 13th and fourth respectively.
The fourth-place ranking in the Coaches poll is the highest the Knights have ever been ranked.
The 400 medley relay team of Charles Platt, Caleb Gemmen, Julien Camy and Forrest Peterson swam to a new school record to the tune of 3:14.19, shaving 0.04 off the previous record set last season.
Junior diver Wilson Goodpaster has qualified for diving regionals this year already and the Knights are looking to add to that list.
A reason for the team’s success this season is the teamwork and bond the team has built this season through practice and their campout. “It’s a big family; everybody is all together and close,” Hemminghous said.
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams next compete against Grove City College on Jan. 12.
Basketball
The men’s basketball team is off to a hot start led by sophomore Jalen Overway earning MIAA Men’s Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 27. The Knights are off to a 5-0 to start their season and are ranked fifth in the D3hoops.com top 25 poll.
The women’s team is off to a slower start than years past, starting the season with a 3-3 record and 0-1 in conference play after falling to Trine University 67-50 on Nov. 29.
The men’s basketball team hosts Wheaton College on Dec. 9 while the women’s team travels to Holland to face rivals Hope College in a conference matchup.
