Calvin Men's Cross Country Team Captures NCAA III Championship

NOVEMBER 22, 2003

NCAA III CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS REPORT

(Calvin men capture 2nd national title behind second-lowest team score in NCAA
III history)

HANOVER, IN - The Calvin men's cross country team came up with a race for
the history books on Saturday as the Knights captured their second-ever
national title Saturday afternoon at the NCAA III Cross Country Championships,
hosted by Hanover College.

The top-ranked Knights lived up to their billing as they posted a dominating
first place team score of 48 points - the second-lowest team score in NCAA III
Championship history in men's cross country, surpassed only by the 32 point
score turned in by North Central's 1993 national championship team.

Calvin finished 80 points ahead of runner-up Wisconsin-Stevens Point (128
points) with North Central placing third (155 points) and Wisconsin-LaCrosse
fourth (163 points).

Calvin's score of 48 points was built on the strength of six individual
All-America performances as the Knights placed six runners in the top-30 to
become the first team in NCAA III men's cross country history to have six
All-Americans in the same year.

The national title joins the title won by Calvin's 2000 team when it posted
a first place score of 65 points at the national meet held in Spokane,
Washington. The national crown is also the sixth NCAA III title in Calvin
men's athletic history with the women's cross country team winning in
1998 and 1999 and the men's basketball team in 1992 and 2000.

"To win a national championship as a team is one of the most incredible
accomplishments you can experience in athletics," said Calvin men's cross
country coach Brian Diemer, a three-time U.S. Olympian in track and field. "To
win a national title, it takes everyone to do their part and make it happen.
The teamwork that this team had this afternoon and throughout the entire season
has been truly remarkable."

Calvin was led by up front in the 8K race by senior David Haagsma (South
Christian HS) and junior Hendrik Kok (Lynden, WA) as Haagsma placed seventh
(25:21) and Kok eighth (25:24) individually on a warm afternoon that saw
temperatures rise above 70 degrees.

The time spread between Calvin's first and fifth runner was only 21 seconds
with its spread between its first and sixth runner just 24 seconds as senior
Tim Avery (Rochester, NY) took 15th (25:35), freshman Tim Finnegan (Los Alamos,
NM) 16th (25:35), senior Kris Koster (Grand Rapids Christian HS) 27th (25:42)
and senior Matt Edwards (Grand Blanc HS) 30th (25:44). The top-35 finishers at
the national meet are All-Americans.

Rounding out Calvin's finishers was junior Jeff Engbers (Whitinsville, MA)
who placed 131st in 27:03.

According to Haagsma, giving up was not an option despite the warm
temperatures Saturday afternoon. "This race hurt more than any other race in
my life but there was no way I was going to fall back or give up," said Haagsma
who wobbled in the last 10 yards but managed to cross the finish line standing.
 "When you're running in a pack like we did today, you get an extra surge of
energy and there's no way you want to let your teammates down. We found each
other early in the race and once we knew that we were doing it (winning), we
weren't going to back down."

Pack running was a key said Calvin coach Al Hoekstra who shares the men's
coaching duties with Diemer. "The running conditions were warm today and some
of the teams that were expected to contend for the title had their runners
separated," said Hoekstra. "Our guys were able to keep in sight of each other
and at times, they ran as a group. That allowed them to hang on and keep from
falling back. It's (pack running) the way this team has run all year and
that game plan didn't change today."

A week ago, Calvin took first place at the Great Lakes Regional, also hosted
by Hanover College. Having the experience of running on the course the week
before gave the Knights a home-field advantage said Hoekstra. "Even though we
were 6-and-a-half hours away from home, we were still running in our own region
so we kind of felt like we were the home team today which was a big
psychological advantage," said Hoekstra. "It also gave a lot of our fans the
chance to drive down and support us and they were amazing today. I can't
ever remember seeing such a big crowd of supporters at a race we have been in,
let alone a national meet."

With his eighth place individual finish, Kok captured All-America honors for
the second consecutive year after finishing ninth the year before. It also
completed an amazing comeback for the Lynden, Washington native after battling
asthma difficulties throughout the season that kept him from finishing an 8K
race until November. "It's been an up-and-down year but it could not have
finished any better," said Kok. "Back in October, I wasn't sure if I would
be able to help our team at nationals. I definitely feel blessed to have the
opportunity to race today. Individual accomplishments are great but nothing
compares to winning a championship as a team."

Another remarkable comeback was turned in by Koster. Nicknamed "Seabiscuit"
after the famous race horse of the 1930's, Koster was sidelined for nearly
the entire 2003 track and field season with a severe stress fracture of his
leg. Heading into the summer months, Koster was still unable to run and
gradually worked his way back to form through vigorous cross-training on his
bike while working as a ranch hand in southwest Colorado. "It's been a long
road back," said Koster who made his fourth straight appearance at the national
meet on Saturday. "At times I had some doubts but this team is what kept me
going. I knew the rest of the guys wanted it (a national title) bad and were
putting in the work to win it this summer. That kept me going. My teammates
refused to let me give up."

Also making his fourth straight appearance at nationals on Saturday was Avery
who improved 45 spots over his 60th place finish at the 2002 national meet.
Engbers and Finnegan were both making their national debuts on Saturday.

When asked to compare this year's team to Calvin's 2000 national
championship squad, Diemer said that the 2000 team paved the way for future
success. "Each team has its own identity and personality and that has been the
case with both our national championship teams," said Diemer. "The unique
thing about the 2000 team was that they were the ones that got a huge monkey
off our backs by winning a national title after we had been so close so many
times before. The 2000 team won the title not just by talent, but also by
supporting one another and this year's team caught that same attitude and ran
with it."

When citing an example of Calvin's selfless attitude, he referred to
fifth-year senior Brian Paff of National City, California. A member of
Calvin's top-seven a year ago, Paff finished 78th at the 2002 national meet
and ran as Calvin's sixth man. Heading into his final year of collegiate
competition, Paff could have sought individual glory but instead sought out the
greater good of the team as he willingly accepted a role as Calvin's
alternate runner as its eighth man the past two weeks. "Brian has been the
glue behind this team. He has always had this team in his heart," said Diemer.
 "He has organized Bible studies, encourage his teammates and never let anyone
give up hope. He has the kind of talent where he could have been an
All-American this year but he willingly sacrificed his spot for someone else.
I can't say enough about that young man. He was a team leader in every way
possible this year."

In the women's competition, Calvin placed tied for 15th with a team score of
341 points. The Knights garnered a pair of All-America performances in the
race as senior Sarah Hastings (Traverse City Central HS) took 13th individually
in 22:21 in the 6K race while senior teammate Jessie Lair (Southfield Christian
HS) was 15th in 22:24.

"Sarah and Jessie were terrific today," said Calvin women's cross country
coach Nancy Meyer. "To close out their cross country careers as All-Americans
was very satisfying for them and for me as a coach. They have been such a big
part of our program over the last four years and to see them perform well was
very exciting. They have become very good friends during their time at Calvin
and the neat thing about today is that they worked together to finish where
they did. Jessie went out very hard and Sarah had to move up to catch her.
When Jessie started falling back late in the race, Sarah wouldn't let her go
and kept her up near the top of the pack."

Rounding out Calvin's finishers were sophomore Camille Medema (Grand Rapids
Christian HS) in 83rd (23:41) with senior Tami VerMeulen (Holland Christian HS)
finishing 170th (24:45) and freshman Laura Holtrop (Derwood, MD) finishing
191st (25:29). Sophomore Jen Walter (Sharon, WA) also placed 201st (26:05).
Freshman Bethany Hofman (Holland Christian HS) also ran for the Knights but did
not finish the race.

"Camille ran one of her best races of the season but our time gap after our
third runner was what kept us from a top-10 finish," said Meyer. "At the same
time, I'm very proud of my runners for battling in warm conditions. For our
younger runners, it was a great experience for them to run at nationals that
should help them down the road."

Middlebury (VT) captured the women's team national title with a team score
of 135 points, 39 points ahead of defending national champion Williams (MA).

Wartburg (IA) claimed both individual national titles as junior Missy Buttry
won the women's race with a time of 20:00.2 while junior Josh Moen won the
men's race in 23:44.

Albion of the MIAA also competed in the men's race as a team and finished
18th with a team score of 393. The finisher for the Britons was senior Nick
Mockeridge who finished 52nd in 26:09.

FINAL NOTES:

*Brian Diemer and Al Hoekstra were named NCAA Division III National Co-Coaches
of the Year by the United States Track and Field Coaches Association at the
conclusion of the meet, marking the second time the duo has been so honored as
they also received the award in 2000.

*Diemer was also named Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year for the ninth
time in the last 10 years.

*Hendrik Kok was named Great Lakes Regional Men's Athlete of the Year for the
second straight year while Jessie Lair was named Great Lakes Regional Female
Athlete of the Year for the first time.

*With six national titles to its credit, Calvin College is now second among
MIAA schools for national team titles won with Kalamazoo leading the pack with
seven national crowns.

*Calvin athletic teams have now posted 27 top-four national team finishes with
six first place finishes, nine national runner-up finishes, two third place
finishes and 10 fourth place finishes.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Nov 22 22:10:23 2003