CALVIN SPORTS REPORT PART TWO FOR SEPTEMBER 18, 2004
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
SEATTLE, WA * Beware. The Yazzman cometh.
Behind a sterling performance from senior Andy Yazzie, the number-one ranked and defending national champion Calvin men's cross country team took second at the Sundodger Invitational hosted by the University of Washington Saturday with a team score of 78 points.
Saturday's competition at Seattle's Lincoln Park was comprised of six NCAA Division I schools, two professional club teams and two NCAA Division III teams. The host Washington Huskies took first with 29 points as it placed three runners in the top 10.
Calvin placed four runners in the top-25 led by Yazzie as the native of Gallup, New Mexico, cruised through the 8K race in a ninth place time of 24:35, just 30 seconds behind race winner Mark Mandi.
A year ago, Yazzie was not a member of Calvin's top-seven that ran at the NCAA III regional or national meet but on Saturday, the Rehoboth Christian High School graduate ran with fire and passion to establish himself as a runner to watch this fall.
Close behind Yazzie was senior teammate Dave Haagsma (South Christian HS) who took 11th in 24:36. The remainder of Calvin's top five comprised of seniors Jeff Engbers (Whitinsville, MA) and Hendrik Kok (Lynden, WA) and sophomore Tim Finnegan (Los Alamos, NM). Engbers took 24th in 25:00 while Kok was 25th in 25:01. Saturday's race served as a homecoming of sorts for Kok who actually attended the University of Washington for a year-and-a-half and is from nearby Lynden. Finnegan was 30th in 25:06 as just 31 seconds separated Calvin's top five runners.
Rounding out Calvin's top-seven were a pair of freshmen as Dan MacKay (Whitinsville, MA) was 35th (25:13) and Josiah Leuenberger (West Middlesex, PA) 36th (25:14). Other Calvin finishers included sophomore Ben Hammer (Williamsburg, MI) in 46th (25:34), junior Harrison Jorritsma (Beamsville, ON) in 47th (25:36), senior Kyle Carrick (Tokyo, Japan) in 50th (25:40), sophomore Paul Rollett in 60th (25:56) and sophomore Bill Reynolds (Newtown Square, PA) in 73rd (26:21).
Calvin finished nearly 100 points ahead of Saturday's other Division III competitor, 12th-ranked Willamette University (OR) which took sixth as a team with 174 points.
In the women's competition, 24th-ranked Calvin (NCAA III) took 11th in a field of 11 teams with 276 points. Calvin was the only NCAA Division III school in the women's 6K race with the remaining 10 schools NCAA Division I members. The University of Idaho took first place with 40 points, placing three runners in the top 10.
Calvin's top individual finisher was junior Lindsay Kroonenberg (Denver, CO) who took 71st in 23:23 with sophomore teammate Bethany Hofman (Holland Christian HS) right behind in 72nd (23:26). Sophomore Lydia Singer (Wilmington, DE) was 81st (23:52), sophomore Laura Holtrop (Derwood, MD) 82nd (23:53) and freshman Jenny Zylstra (Lombard, IL) 91st (24:10) to round out Calvin's top-five. Saturday's race also proved to be a homecoming for Calvin freshman Christina Overbeck who hails from Seattle. Overbeck was Calvin's sixth runner on Saturday, placing 96th in 24:18 while sophomore Melissa Vandenberg (Grand Rapids Christian HS) was 104th in 24:56.
Other Calvin finishers included junior Tracy Dykstra (Unity Christian HS) in 117th place (27:01) and freshman Laura Sizemore (Sheboygan, WI) in 118th (31:01).
On the men's side, Calvin also sent a full team to the Wisconsin-Parkside Invitational Saturday morning in Kenosha.
Calvin's second team took ninth in a field of 29 teams with 239 points. Calvin's top individual finisher was senior Aaron Iverson (Radnor, OH) who took 42nd in 26:32. He was followed by junior Tyler Zwagerman (Holland Christian HS) in 51st (26:45), freshman Jon Gries (King of Prussia, PA) in 53rd 26:47, junior Jessie Kleinjan (Chino, CA) in 81st (27:19), sophomore Todd Schuster (Denver, CO) in 93rd (27:34) and senior Joel Alberts in 106th (27:49).
Iowa State University took first place with 41 points. Other notable NCAA Division III schools included second-ranked Wisconsin-LaCrosse which placed fourth with 114 points and third-ranked North Central which took second with 108 points.
The Calvin men's and women's cross country teams will now prepare for an MIAA jamboree hosted by Hope next Saturday at VanRaalte Farms in Holland, Michigan.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sun Sep 19 00:06:01 2004
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