March 26, 2001
Pair of Calvin men's cross country harriers named to Verizon Academic
All-District IV teams
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A trio of Calvin men's cross country harriers have received
Verizon Academic All-District IV honors in the fall/winter at-large college
division. Named to the Verizon Academic All-District IV first team from Calvin
are senior Paul Petersen and junior Joel Klooster. As members of the first
team, Petersen and Klooster both advance to the national ballot and are eligible
for All-America honors.
The college division of the Verizon Academic All-America program includes NCAA
II, NCAA III and NAIA schools. The Verizon Academic All-District and
All-America teams are selected by the College Sports Information Director's
Association of America (CoSIDA). To be eligible for nomination, a player must
be a starter or a key reserve with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20. The men's
fall/winter division includes the sports of cross country, gymnastics, skiing,
fencing, ice hockey, soccer, water polo, wrestling, rifle and swimming and
diving.
A native of Crawforsdville, Indiana and a graduate of Southmont High School,
Petersen is making his first appearance on the Verizon All-Academic District IV
team. Petersen is a seven-time member of the Calvin Dean's List, a three-time
member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and a two-time recipient of the College
Cross Country Coaches All-Academic award. Petersen is majoring in geology and
carries a 3.82 grade point average.
This past fall, Petersen helped lead Calvin to its first-ever national title as
he finished 22nd individually with a time of 25:31 to help the Knights post a
first-place team score of 65 points. Petersen's individual finish was an
All-America performance as he was one of five Knights to earn All-America honors
at the national meet November 18 in Spokane, Washington.
Earlier in the year, Petersen earned first team All-MIAA honors for the third
straight year as he finished fourth at the MIAA Championships with a time of
25:27 as the Knights captured their 14th straight league crown. Petersen's
fourth place performance was part of a 1-2-3-4-5 Calvin finish as the Knights
posted a perfect score of 15 points, becoming just the third team in MIAA men's
cross country history to record a perfect score at the league championships. At
the Great Lakes Regionals November 11 in Hanover, Indiana, Petersen finished
seventh with a time of 25:50 helping the Knights take first place with a team
score of 22 points. Petersen was then named to the Great Lakes All-Region team
for the second straight year. A four-year member of the Calvin men's cross
country team, Petersen also competed at the 1999 NCAA III Championships, helping
lead the Knights to a fourth place team finish as he finished 61st individually
with a time of 24:53.
Klooster hails from Chatham, Ontario and is a graduate of Chatham Christian High
School. Klooster is making his second straight appearance on the Verizon
Academic All-District IV team. As a sophomore, Klooster went on to earn third
team Academic All-America honors. An electrical engineering major with a
minor in computer science, Klooster carries a 3.98 grade point average. In
addition, Klooster is a five-time member of the Calvin Dean's List, a two-time
member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and a two-time recipient of the College
Cross Country Coaches All-Academic award.
Klooster was also a key member of Calvin's national championship team this fall
as he earned All-America honors at the national meet by finishing 10th
individually with a time of 25:21. His finish was the sixth-best individual
finish at the national meet in Calvin men's cross country history. Earlier in
the year at the MIAA Championships, Klooster finished third with a time of 25:17
to earn a spot on the All-MIAA first team for the second straight year. Two
weeks later at the Great Lakes Regional, Klooster finished second in 25:35 to
earn Great Lakes All-Region accolades for the second year in a row. As a
sophomore, Klooster was named the MIAA's MVP and as a freshman, he earned a spot
on the All-MIAA second team. Klooster was a member of Calvin's seven-man
contingent that finished fourth at the 1999 NCAA III Championships as he
finished 51st individually
Klooster and Petersen were part of four individuals from the MIAA to receive
academic all-district IV honors in the men's at-large division as Evan Whitbeck
(swimming) of Kalamazoo was named to the first team and David Dwaihy (soccer) of
Kalamazoo named to the second team.
-end-
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Mar 26 2001 - 18:35:02 EST