Calvin Sports Report for July 29, 2006
BRIAN DIEMER NAMED CALVIN WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY COACH - CALVIN ADDS JV CROSS COUNTRY PROGRAM
GRAND RAPIDS * Brian Diemer has doubled his cross country coaching responsibilities at Calvin College.
Diemer, who recently completed his 20th year as Calvin’s men’s cross country coach, will also take over the head coaching duties of the Calvin women’s cross country team this fall. Diemer replaces Dr. Nancy Meyer as women’s coach who has elected to step down from the position after 20 years. Meyer will continue to serve as women’s athletics director at Calvin and will also remain with the cross country program as a part-time assistant coach, focusing on administrative duties for both the men’s and women’s teams.
During her 20-year tenure as head women’s cross country coach, Meyer led Calvin to 17 MIAA championships, 14 Great Lakes Regional crowns, seven top four-national finishes, three national runner-up berths and two national titles (1998 & 1999).
When Meyer took over as coach in 1986, her team did not have the necessary five runners to compete in its first race of the year. Meyer then went into the Calvin dorms to enlist the services of four raw recruits. Her 1986 squad went on to finish in a respectable third place in the final league standings. In 1988, she led the Knights to their first-ever MIAA title which ignited a string of 16 consecutive league crowns that was not broken until 2004. In 1992, Meyer led Calvin to the first of three successive national runner-up finishes. Her 1993 runner-up team featured an individual national title by Renea Bluekamp. Her national title teams in 1998 and 1999 were the second and third national crowns respectively in Calvin athletics history. Meyer was named the Division III National Coach of the Year in both 1998 and 1999.
“I’ve been very blessed to have had the opportunity to coach some very talented runners,” said Meyer. “We’ve worked hard at building strong relationships with our runners and they in turn have gone on to influence other runners in a positive way. That’s where success breeds success.”
Meyer’s growing demands as Calvin’s women’s athletics director played a key role in her decision to step down as head coach. “The demands of the position have grown to the point where it is difficult to juggle both positions,” said Meyer who along with her husband Roy, have two children, Ally, 16 and Ben, 13. “My children are also now involved in sports and I’ve wanted some time to follow them as well.”
Meyer believes that the timing of the move is the correct one. “We’ve been discussing this change for a few years but I think now is finally the right time,” said Meyer. “The women’s program is on solid footing and Brian has a very solid base of runners to work with. I feel very confident that he will do an outstanding job as head coach of both of our teams. This move is not only good for me, but it is also good for the entire cross country program.”
During his 20 years as Calvin men’s cross country coach, Diemer has led the Knights to 19 MIAA titles, 17 Great Lakes Regional crowns, nine top-four national finishes, four national runner-up berths and three national championships (2000, 2003 & 2004). He has been named National Coach of the Year three times * an award he has shared with co-head men’s coach Al Hoekstra who has been with Diemer since he began coaching at Calvin. Along with Hoekstra, Diemer has also served as the Calvin distance coach for Calvin’s men’s and women’s track and field teams.
Having worked with Calvin’s women’s distance runners in the spring will make for a smoother transition said Diemer. “They (women’s runners) know my coaching style and I have a good idea of what kind of runners they are,” said Diemer. “I think that provides a good comfort level for them and for me.”
Diemer will head up an expanded cross country coaching staff. In addition to Hoekstra and Meyer remaining on board, Calvin will officially add Rick Otte and Robert Hyde to the men’s and women’s coaching staff. A 1989 Calvin graduate, Otte recently completed his second year as the men’s and women’s middle-distance coach for Calvin’s track program. Also a graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School, Otte will serve as a part-time assistant coach for both teams. Hyde is a 1997 Calvin graduate and also a graduate of Wyoming Godwin Heights High School. While at Calvin, Hyde was a four-time All-MIAA selection in cross country and gained All-America honors at the 1994 NCAA III Championships. Hyde will head up a Calvin men’s and women’s junior varsity program that will officially be implemented this fall.
“I am so pleased to have a junior varsity team,” said Diemer. “We have been working at getting this set-up for twenty years. Developing men and women who normally would not have been with us will strengthen our team as a whole and develop runners for the future.”
Laura Scholma will also continue to serve as an assistant women’s coach. A 2003 Calvin graduate, Scholma was a two-time All-MIAA cross country runner and recently completed her first Boston Marathon. Jeff Engbers will also serve as a student intern to fulfill part of his graduate program responsibilities at Western Michigan University. A 2005 Calvin graduate, Engbers was a member of two national championship cross country teams at Calvin and an All-American in both cross country and track and field.
“I’ve got a tremendous staff of coaches around me,” said Diemer. “There is no way that I could accept both (head coaching) roles without them. Every coach has special gifts and together, that will benefit all of our runners on our men’s and women’s teams. It’s an exciting time to be a Calvin cross country runner and as a coach. ”
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Diemer was a state champion in the mile as a high school runner at South Christian. He competed in the cross country, indoor track and outdoor track seasons as a scholarship runner at Michigan. As a senior he was the Big Ten and NCAA I steeplechase champion, the event which propelled him to the 1984 Olympics and a bronze medal. Diemer finished fourth in the steeplechase at the 1987 World Championships and qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 1988 and 1992, but did not medal at either Olympics. In 1989 he won the Glen Cunningham Award, presented annually to the top distance runner in the U.S.
In 1992, he captained the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team. Diemer was the gold medalist in the steeplechase at the 1990 Goodwill Games and won the silver medal in the steeplechase in the 1995 Pan American games in Argentina. Diemer also won the silver medal at the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1995 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Diemer is a member of the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame and this spring was inducted into the University of Michigan Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Jul 29 00:17:57 2006
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