From: Jeff Febus (jfebus@calvin.edu)
Date: Sat Nov 15 2003 - 18:00:16 EST
CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2003
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
HANOVER, IN * The Calvin men's and women's cross country teams will make a return visit to Hanover College next Saturday for the NCAA III Championships.
Both teams punched their tickets to the national meet with top-three performances as Saturday's NCAA III Great Lakes Regional meet hosted by Hanover College. In the men's competition, the second-ranked Calvin men's cross country team posted a perfect score of 15 points in taking first place for the eighth straight year while gaining its 19th overall team berth to the NCAA III Championships which ranks seventh in NCAA III men's cross country history.
In the women's competition, the seventh-ranked Calvin women's cross country team took second with a team score of 120 points to advance to the national meet for the 15th straight year which ranks sixth in NCAA III women's cross country history. Unranked Mount Union upset the Knights in taking first place with a team score of 112.
The top three finishing men's and women's teams at Saturday's Great Lakes Regional gained berths to the NCAA III Championships next Saturday which will also be hosted by Hanover College.
The perfect score by the Calvin men's cross country team marked the first time since 1995 that the feat had been accomplished at the Great Lakes Regional. Wabash College (IN) swept the top 15 spots on a snow-covered course at Alma College at the 1995 NCAA III Great Lakes Regional.
Saturday's regional meet also provided dangerous footing in sections of the course as steady rain the night before had softened the clay-based track.
"It was a little slippery out there today but our guys fought through the conditions," said Calvin men's cross country coach Brian Diemer who has been at the helm of 15 of Calvin's 19 national appearances. "We had powerful pack running today and because of that, our team's confidence is very high."
Calvin senior Hendrik Kok (Lynden, WA) led the way for the Knights with a first place finish of 25:32 as he repeated as the Great Lakes Regional individual champion. Its marks the fourth straight year that a Calvin individual has captured the regional title as Dan Hoekstra won regional crowns in 2000 and 2001. Kok is also the third individual in Calvin men's cross country history win back-to-back regional titles as Adam Suarez was regional champion for the Knights in 1988 and 1989.
On Saturday, Calvin's top-five had just a nine-second spread as senior Dave Haagsma (South Christian HS) took second (25:37), senior Kris Koster (Grand Rapids Christian HS) took third (25:39), senior Tim Avery (Rochester, NY) took fourth (25:41) and freshman Tim Finnegan (Los Alamos, NM) took fifth (25:41).
Rounding out Calvin's top-seven were senior Matt Edwards (Grand Blanc HS) in eighth (25:48) and junior Jeff Engbers (Whitinsville, MA) in 16th (26:08).
Calvin's perfect score was due in large part to the teamwork of Engbers. Just over a mile into the race, Finnegan slipped and fell on the muddy turf to fall behind the lead pack. Although running with the leaders, Engbers sacrificed his individual pursuits to fall back to help Finnegan work his way back up among the leaders. Although Engbers lost precious time himself, it paid big dividends for Finnegan and the team as the young freshman was able to work back into the lead pack and then outsprint Chris Paulette of Mount Union for fifth place at the finish line.
"What Jeff Engbers did today exemplifies what this team is all about," said Diemer. "They're willing to sacrifice their own personal goals for the good of the team.'
"Tim Finnegan's sprint at the end was inspiring to our entire team," continued Diemer. "He moved into fifth place in his final three strides. From a psychological standpoint, it was very important to take that fifth place spot and our guys were very excited to do so."
All seven Calvin runners landed spots on the Great Lakes All-Region team. The Albion men's cross country team took second with a team score of 108 points to land its first-ever team berth to the NCAA III Championships.
With Calvin and Albion advancing to next week's national meet, it marks the first time since 1990 that the MIAA will send two men's cross country teams to the NCAA III Championships.
In the women's race, Mount Union (OH) ended Calvin's run of 14 straight Great Lakes Regional title as the Purple Raiders posted a first place score of 113 points, seven points ahead of second place Calvin (120 points). Otterbein was third with a team score of 137 points to gain the final women's team berth.
Calvin senior Jessie Lair (Southfield Christian HS) captured the individual regional title Saturday with a first place and course record time of 22:14. Lair is the first regional champion from the Calvin women's cross country team since Amy Mizzone in 1999. Lair also ended the three-year regional championship run of Anderson's Lisa Nicholson who finished 12th individually with a time of 23:08. Robyn Burns of Franklin College (IN) took second with a time of 22:25, 11 seconds behind Lair.
Calvin senior Sarah Hastings (Traverse City Central HS) also cracked the top-10 for the Knights, placing fifth in 22:43. Rounding out Calvin's finishers were sophomore Camille Medema (Grand Rapids Christian HS) in 25th (23:42), senior Tami VerMeulen (Holland Christian HS) in 37th (24:02), sophomore Jen Walter (Sharon, MA) in 52nd (24:36), freshman Laura Holtrop (Derwood, MD) in 86th (25:12) and freshman Bethany Hofman (Holland Christian HS) in 110th (25:38).
Lair and Hastings both landed spots on the Great Lakes All-Region team for the fourth straight year.
"Jessie ran a great race and Sarah was very tough today as well," said Calvin women's cross country coach Nancy Meyer. "The thing that we struggled with today was our time spread from one-to-five. It was over two minutes and we need to do a better job of shrinking that time gap. We are disappointed not to win the regional but at the same time, we advanced to run next week which is the most important thing. We have room for improvement and I think we will next Saturday."
The NCAA III Championships are scheduled for next Saturday with the women's race slated to start at 11:00 a.m. (EST) with the men's race scheduled for noon.
Calvin Men's Cross Country Great Lakes Regional Individual Champions
Adam Suarez, 1988 & 1989
John Lumkes, 1990
Thad Karnehm, 1991
Ray VanArragon, 1994
Dan Hoekstra, 2000 & 2001
Hendrik Kok 2002 & 2003
Calvin Women's Cross Country Great Lakes Regional Individual Champions
Laura Vroon, 1983
Renea Bluekamp, 1993
Betsy Haverkamp, 1996
Amy Mizzone, 1998 & 1999
Jessie Lair, 2003
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
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