From: Jeff Febus (jfebus@calvin.edu)
Date: Tue Nov 18 2003 - 18:05:13 EST
November 18, 2003
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONALS PREVIEW
The Calvin men's and women's cross country teams will travel down a
familiar road this week as they head to the NCAA III Championships, hosted by
Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana. Both teams qualified for Saturday's
national meet with top-three finishes this past Saturday at the NCAA III Great
Lakes Regional meet which also was hosted by Hanover College.
Ranked first in the latest NCAA III Top-25 Men's Cross Country poll, the
Calvin men will be making their 19th team appearance at nationals which ranks
seventh on the all-time NCAA III men's cross country list. Calvin gained the
number-one ranking Monday afternoon when the final national poll of the year
was released.
Over the last five years, Calvin has recorded the best set of national team
finishes (2nd in 1998, 4th in 1999, 1st in 2000, 2nd in 2001, 2nd in 2002) than
any Division III school in the country. The Knights are considered one of the
challengers for Saturday's national title. Other key challengers include
second-ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh, third-ranked North Central (IL), fourth-ranked
Wisconsin-Stevens Point and fifth-ranked Willamette (OR).
This past Saturday, Calvin captured its eighth straight Great Lakes Regional
crown with a perfect score of 15 points, becoming just the second school in
NCAA III Great Lakes Regional history to accomplish the task with Wabash also
sweeping the top five spots at the 1995 regional meet hosted by Alma College.
In addition to sweeping the top five spots last Saturday, Calvin's spread
between its top five runners was just nine seconds while its spread among its
six was just 17 seconds.
Earlier this fall, Calvin served notice that it would be a team to contend
with when it battled Wisconsin-Oshkosh to a first place tie of 36 points at the
Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational October 18. Since then Knights have been
strengthened by the resurgence of junior Hendrik Kok of Lynden, Washington who
posted All-America honors a year ago with a ninth place individual finish at
the NCAA III Championships. Kok has battled health problems this fall but has
come on strong in the month of November, taking first place at the MIAA and
Great Lakes Regional Championships to repeat as individual champion in both
races. Kok will be joined on Saturday by teammates Kris Koster, Tim Avery,
Dave Haagsma, Jeff Engbers, Matt Edwards, Tim Finnegan and Brian Paff.
Seniors Koster and Avery will both be making their fourth straight trip to the
NCAA III Championships as they both ran in the top-seven of Calvin's 2000
national championship team. A year ago, Koster and Avery both produced their
best individual efforts at the national meet with Koster placing 43rd and Avery
60th. Koster is from Grand Rapids and is a graduate of Grand Rapids Christian
High School. This fall, Koster shared the MIAA MVP award with Haagsma. Avery
is from Rochester, New York and a graduate of Gates-Chili High School.
A senior with junior eligibility, Haagsma is also from Grand Rapids and is a
graduate of South Christian High School. Haagsma is also making his second
trip to the national meet as he finished 49th a year ago. He also finished
10th in the 10,000 meters at the 2003 NCAA III Track and Field Championships.
Edwards is also a senior and is a native of Grand Blanc and a graduate of Grand
Blanc High School. Edwards is making his first-ever trip to the national meet.
Engbers and Finnegan are also making their first trips to the NCAA III
Championships. Engbers is from Whitinsville, Massachusetts and is a graduate
of Whitinsville Christian High School. Finnegan is from Los Alamos, New Mexico
and was home schooled before attending Calvin. A native of the San Diego
suburb of National City, California, Paff will serve as Calvin's alternate on
Saturday. A graduate of Bonita Vista High School, Paff was a member of
Calvin's top-seven at nationals last fall and finished 78th individually.
Wisconsin-Oshkosh is the defending NCAA III Champion. The 2002 national title
was the fourth in school history and the first since 1990 for Oshkosh. The
Titans return a pair of All-Americans from a year ago in senior David Cisewski
and junior Nick Boehlke who finished fifth and seventh respectively at the 2002
national meet. Wisconsin-Oshkosh captured the rugged Midwest Regional this
past Saturday with a team score of 35 points, finishing 62 points ahead of
second place North Central.
Ranked third nationally, North Central is no stranger to the NCAA III Cross
Country Championships as the Cardinals under legendary head coach Al Carius
have captured an NCAA III leading 12 national titles and have finished in the
top four an amazing 29 out of the last 30 years. A year ago, North Central
took third at the NCAA III Championships and returns one All-American in Tim
Nelson who placed 21st at last year's national meet.
Wisconsin-Stevens Point is another team to watch as the Pointers took first
place in the Gold Division of the Notre Dame Invitational October 3, 14 points
ahead of third place Calvin.
Willamette (OR) took fifth at the 2002 NCAA III Championships and returns a
pair of All-Americans in seniors Aaron Young (15th) and Jacob Stout (35th).
Ranked 11th in the final NCAA III Women's Cross Country (Top 25) poll of the
year, the Calvin women will be making their 15th consecutive appearance at the
national meet which now ranks as the fourth-best in NCAA III Women's Cross
Country History.
This past Saturday, Calvin took second at the Great Lakes Regional hosted by
Hanover College with a team score of 120 points, eight points behind first
place Mount Union (OH). The second place finish by the Knights snapped a
string of 14 consecutive regional titles by Calvin.
The Knights will look for leadership from seniors Jessie Lair and Sarah
Hastings who both captured All-American honors at the 2002 NCAA III
Championships with Lair finishing 13th and Hastings 25th. Both individuals
appeared primed for strong performances this Saturday as Lair ran away with the
Great Lakes Regional individual title this past weekend with a first place time
of 22:13 while Hastings was fifth in 22:43. Lair finished more than 10
seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.
The individual regional title by Lair was the first by a Calvin runner since
Amy Mizzone won it in back-to-back years in 1998 and 1999. Lair is from West
Bloomfield and is a graduate of Southfield Christian High School. Hastings is
from Traverse City and is a graduate of Traverse City Central High School.
Filling out Calvin's top seven will be senior Tami VerMeulen, sophomore
Camille Medema, sophomore Jen Walter and freshmen Laura Holtrop and Bethany
Hofman. Serving as alternate will be freshman Melissa VandenBerg.
VerMeulen and Medema will both be making their second trips to the national
meets. A native of Holland and a graduate of Holland Christian High School,
VerMeulen took 77th at the national meet last fall. Medema is from Grand Rapids
and is a graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School. She took 117th at the
2002 national meet.
A native of Sharon, Massachusetts and a graduate of Sharon High School.
Walter will be making her first tripto the NCAA III Cross Country
Championships. Holtrop is from Rockville, Maryland and is a graduate of
Chapelgate Christian Academy. Hofman is from Holland and is a graduate of
Holland Christian High School. VandenBerg is from Grand Rapids and is a
graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School. Like Walter, Holtrop, Hofman
and VandenBerg will be making their first trips to the NCAA III Championships.
Top-ranked Middlebury (VT) is expected to battle defending national champion
Williams (MA) for the women's team championship while Wartburg junior Missy
Buttry is considered the runaway favorite for the individual title. The
defending individual champion in the event, Buttry is considered a potential
candidate for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team someday. Buttry captured
the 2002 individual national title by nearly a full minute. At Saturday's
NCAA III Central Regional in Grinnell, Iowa, Buttry took first place with a
time of 19:28, nearly four minutes ahead of her nearest competitor.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
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