October 28, 2000
Calvin Cross Country Teams Roll to MIAA Titles
CONCORD, MI - The nationally-ranked Calvin men's and women's cross
country teams continued their MIAA dominance with a pair of convincing
performances Saturday at the MIAA Championships hosted by Albion at the
Whiffletree Golf Course.
Ranked number-one in the latest NCAA Division III Top-25 poll, the
Calvin men posted a perfect score of 15 points Saturday to wrap up their
14th consecutive MIAA crown. It marks just the third perfect score at
the league championship meet in men's cross country as the 1930
Kalamazoo and 1993 Calvin teams previously achieved the feat. Calvin
took the top five spots including eight of the top nine with senior Dan
Hoekstra (Kalamazoo Christian) leading the way as he churned his way to
a first place time of 25:06, en route to earning MIAA MVP honors.
Calvin junior Justin Momany-Pfruender (Midland) was second with a time
of 25:12 while junior Joel Klooster (Chatham, ON) was third (25:17);
senior Paul Petersen (Crawforsville, IN) fourth (25:27) and sophomore
Cameron Harrison fifth (25:46) to round out Calvin's top-five. In
addition, freshmen Tim Avery (Rochester, NY) and Kris Koster (Grand
Rapids Christian) were seventh and eighth respectively with times of
26:03 and 26:12 while Calvin senior Kevin VerBeek (South Holland, IL)
was ninth in 26:22. Joe Veldman of Hope and Nick Mockridge of Albion
also cracked the top-10 as Veldman was sixth (25:8) and Mockridge 10th
(26:23). Hoekstra, Momany-Pfruender, Klooster, Petersen, Harrison,
Avery and Koster were all named to the All-MIAA first team. It marked
the third consecutive year that Petersen has been named to the All-MIAA
first team.
Hope finished second in the men's race with 63 points while Albion was
third with 91; Alma fourth with 96; Kalamazoo fifth with 112; Adrian
sixth with 177 and Olivet seventh with 198.
"We really needed a good overall team performance and we got that
today," said Calvin menm's cross country coach Brian Diemer. "Our
top-five were awesome but I was just as impressed with our pack behind
them. They ran with a lot of guts and heart. Avery and Koster in
particular were just outstanding."
Diemer also had words of praise for Calvin's perfect score of 15 points.
"I remember coaching the first Calvin team to post a perfect score and
we thought we would be able to do it again," said Diemer. "It took us a
few years to do it which shows you how tough it can be to take the top
five spots. To be able to say that you were on a team that had a
perfect score at the league championship meet is something special."
Ranked number-two in the latest NCAA Division III Top-25 poll, the
two-time defending national champion Calvin women's cross country team
missed a perfect score by just one point as the Knights took first place
with 16 points, taking the top four spots and eight of the top nine.
The first place performance allowed the Knights to claim their 13th
consecutive MIAA title. Calvin's score of 16 points also marked the
second-best score at the league championships in MIAA women's cross
country history, surpassed only by the perfect score of 15 posted by
Calvin's 1994 team.
Senior Sarah Gritter (Wauwatosa, WI) led the Calvin pack with a first
place time of 18:27 as she was named the MIAA's MVP. She was followed
by junior Erinn Boot (Kalamazoo Christian) who was second in 18:36 while
senior Rashel Workman (Sparta) was third (18:40); junior Lindsay
Carrier (Tri-Unity Christian) fourth (18:50) and freshman Sarah Hastings
(Traverse City) sixth (19:00) to round out Calvin's top-five. Freshman
Jessie Lair (West Bloomfield) was next for Calvin as she finished sixth
with a time of 19:03 while junior Laura Medema (Grand Rapids Christian)
was eighth in 19:05 to complete Calvin's top-seven. Gritter, Boot,
Workman, Carrier, Hastings, Lair and Medema were all named to the
All-MIAA first team with Workman earning All-MIAA first team accolades
for the third time in her career.
Albion took second with 81 points followed by Hope in third with 83;
Kalamazoo and Adrian in fourth with 106; Alma sixth with 137 and St.
Mary's seventh with 222 points.
After graduating three All-Americans from last year's national
championship team, Calvin women's cross country coach Nancy Meyer was
thrilled with Saturday's performance. "I am extremely pleased with our
peformance today," said Meyer. "This was supposed to be a rebuilding
year for us so to come up with one of the most dominating performances
in league history really says something for how far our women have come
this year. I have to credit Rashel, Erinn and Lindsay in particular.
They are really stepping up down the final stretch of the season and
closing the time gap in our top-five significantly."
Both Calvin cross country teams will now rest until November 11 when
they compete at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional at Hanover
College of Indiana.
-end-
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