From: Jeff Febus (jfebus@calvin.edu)
Date: Sat Sep 27 2003 - 18:56:14 EDT
CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2003 PART ONE
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
ADRIAN * The nationally-ranked Calvin men's and women's cross country teams rolled to first place performances at the MIAA Jamboree Saturday at Adrian College. The jamboree is worth one-third of the final MIAA standings. Ranked second in the latest set of NCAA III rankings, the Calvin men posted an impressive first place score of 17 points, taking five of the top six spots and 11 of the top-12. The Knights finished 38 points ahead of Albion, ranked 21st nationally.
In the women's 5K race, fourth-ranked Calvin recorded a first place score of 25 points, 40 points ahead of second-place Hope. Seniors Jessie Lair (Southfield Christian HS) and Sarah Hastings (Traverse City Central HS) led the Knights with a dominating 1-2 performance with Lair taking first in 18:15 and Hastings second in 18:24. Also running in the top-10 for the Knights were sophomore Camille Medema (Grand Rapids Christian HS) in fifth (18:57) and senior Tami VerMeulen (Holland Christian HS) in seventh (19:11). Calvin's fifth runner was sophomore Lindsay Kroonenberg (Denver, CO) who placed 11th in 19:19. Rounding out Calvin's top-seven were freshman Laura Holtrop (Derwood, MD) in 13th (19:36) and freshman Bethany Hofman (Holland Christian HS) in 15th (19:44).
Calvin's time game between its first and fifth runners was just 1:04, an improvement of more than 40 seconds from last week's race at Wisconsin-Parkside. "We were really pleased with our performance today," said Calvin women's cross country coach Nancy Meyer. "Our goal was to narrow our time gap between our first and fifth runner and we did that. In particular, our newcomers continue to improve and that bodes well for us in the future."
Meyer also praised her top runners. "Our upperclassmen really ran well too," she said. "I think the race that Camille Medema ran today was probably the best of her career."
In the men's 8K race, Calvin senior David Haagsma (South Christian HS) continued to run up front as he clocked in with a first place time of 25:27 while junior teammate Andy Yazzie (Rehoboth, NM) moved his way through the field throughout the race to finish second in 25:31. Senior Kris Koster (Grand Rapids Christian HS) was third in 25:35 with senior Matt Edwards (Grand Blanc HS) taking fifth (25:43), senior Tim Avery (Rochester, NY) taking sixth (25:45), junior Jeff Engbers (Whitinsville, MA) taking eighth (25:52) and freshman Tim Finnegan (Los Alamos, NM) taking ninth (25:55) to round out Calvin's top-seven. Also placing in the top-10 for the Knights was freshman Ben Hammer (Elk Rapids HS) in 10th with a time of 25:56.
"We ran awesome today," said Al Hoekstra who shares the men's cross country coaching duties with Brian Diemer. "The pack running was fantastic and our guys are brimming with enthusiasm."
"It was a great start to our league season," said Diemer. "The power being able to run together as a pack was in evidence today. It was very encouraging to see Andy Yazzie step up the way he did in today's race. He was a little under the weather last week and didn't run perhaps as quite as well as he would have liked but he made up for it today. Our challenge is to maintain our focus and continue the momentum next week."
Both Calvin teams will compete at the prestigious Notre Dame Invitational next Friday. Top-ranked North Central (IL) is expected to compete against the Calvin men in Friday's race.
MIAA JAMBOREE WOMEN'S TEAM RESULTS
Calvin 25
Hope 65
Kalamazoo 74
Albion 127
Alma 130
St. Mary's 145
Adrian 180
Calvin Finishers
1. Jessie Lair 18:15
2. Sarah Hastings 18:24
5. Camille Medema 18:57
6. Tami VerMeulen 19:11
11. Lindsay Kroonenberg 19:19
13. Laura Holtrop 19:36
15. Bethany Hofman 19:44
16. Katie Bolt 19:47
17. Jen Walter 19:51
26. Melissa VandenBerg 20:09
32. Lydia Singer 20:19
40. Rachel Reed 20:40
50. Melissa Ditzler 20:58
64. Tracy Dykstra 21:22
MIAA JAMBOREE MEN'S TEAM RESULTS
Calvin 17
Albion 55
Hope 78
Kalamazoo 106
Olivet 151
Alma 153
CALVIN FINISHERS
1. David Haagsma 25:27
2. Andy Yazzie 25:31
3. Kris Koster 25:35
5. Matt Edwards 25:43
6. Tim Avery 25:45
8.Jeff Enbers 25:52
9. Tim Finnegan 25:55
10. Ben Hammer 25:56
11. Aaron Iverson 26:08
12. Paul Rollet 26:16
13. Brian Paff 26:18
18. Harrison Jorritsma 26:39
21. Joel Alberts 26:58
25. Tyler Zwagerman 27:09
32. Joel Reasoner 27:41
33. Todd Schuster 27:44
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
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