CSR (Calvin Fall Sports Teams Nationally-Ranked/2006 Cross Country Outlooks)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 7, 2006

Men’s Soccer & Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Teams Nationally Ranked; 2006 Calvin Cross Country Outlooks

CALVIN FALL SPORTS TEAMS NATIONALLY-RANKED

The first set of Division III national rankings have been released for men’s and women’s cross country and both Calvin teams are in the national rankings. On the men’s side, Calvin is ranked number-one in the country followed by non-conference rival Wheaton (IL) in the number-two slot. On the women’s side, Calvin is ranked 14th while defending national champion Geneseo State (NY) is ranked number-one. Both Calvin cross country teams will be led by head coach Brian Diemer this year. Diemer will be in his 21st year at the helm of the Calvin men’s cross country team and in his first year as head coach of the women’s team.

Both cross country polls can be found on the United States Track and Field Coaches Association web site at: http://ustfccca.cstv.com/sports/division3/ustca-division3-body.html

The Calvin men’s soccer team also remains nationally-ranked. The Knights are ranked 16th in this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association Division III Top 25 poll and 17th in this week’s D3kicks.com Top-25 poll. The NSCAA poll can be found at: http://www.nscaa.com/seniorRes.php?it=128
While the D3kicks.com poll can be found at: http://www.d3kicks.com/top25.php

2006 CALVIN MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY OUTLOOK
(Editor’s note: Sixth in a Series of Seven Fall Sports Outlooks)

With just over a thousand meters to run in the 2005 NCAA III Cross Country Championships, the Calvin men’s cross country team sat in first place, just minutes away from a third straight national title according to electronic chip readings. But a senior-laden Wisconsin-LaCrosse team surged past Calvin down the stretch to win the title, finishing in first place with 94 points, 23 points ahead of second place Calvin and 24 points ahead of third place Haverford (Pa.).

So will the 2006 Calvin men’s cross country team push forward to complete an unfinished task or will it fade back after falling so short?

“That’s the big question that will have to be answered,” said Calvin men’s cross country coach Brian Diemer who heads into his 21st year at the helm of the Knights. “We return almost all of the same pieces from last year but if we want to finish on top again, we’ll need several individuals to stand up and step forward.”

Calvin returns its entire top seven from last year’s national meet which includes three returning All-Americans in seniors Tim Finnegan (Los Alamos, NM/Home Schooled) and Harrison Jorritsma (Beamsville, ON/Smithville District Christian HS) and sophomore Jed Christiansen (Greenville, PA/Greenville HS).

A three-time NCAA III All-American in cross country, Finnegan took third at last year’s national meet - trailing only Neil Holtschulte of Williams College (MA) and Widener’s Macharia Yuot. During the cross country season, Finnegan was also named the MIAA’s Most Valuable Runner and the Great Lakes Regional Athlete of the Year after taking first place at both the MIAA and Great Lakes Regional Championships. In the spring, Finnegan became a three-time All-American in outdoor track and field, placing sixth in the 10,000 meter run at the NCAA III Championships hosted by Benedictine University (IL).

“Tim has as much individual talent as any runner we’ve had in our program,” said Diemer. “He had a little slump during the track season but our goal is to get him back running to the level where he was at last fall.”

Christiansen and Jorritsma finished 34th and 35th respectively at last year’s 2005 NCAA III Cross Country Championships, gaining All-America accolades along the way. Christiansen and Jorritsma both qualified for the NCAA III Track and Field Championships in the 10,000 meters with Christiansen also running in the 5,000 meters. Jorritsma finished 10th in the 10,000 meters with Christiansen taking 10th in the 5,000 meters. Jorritsma also received a prestigious post-season academic award as he was named a first ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American ®. Jorritsma is an accounting major with a 4.0 grade point average.

Also returning from Calvin’s top seven from a year ago include senior Tyler Zwagerman (Holland/Holland Christian HS) and juniors Jon Gries (King of Prussia, PA/Upper Merion HS), Tad Hulst (Zeeland/Zeeland HS) and Bill Reynolds (Newtown Square, PA/Delaware County Christian HS).

Zwagerman was a first team All-MIAA selection in 2005 and later finished 37th at the Great Lakes Regionals and 82nd at the NCAA III Cross Country Championships. This past July, Zwagerman took second at the Traverse City Cherry Festival 15K run.

Gries, Hulst and Reynolds were also members of the 2005 All-MIAA first team and members of the Great Lakes All-Region 35-man squad. Reynolds took fourth at the MIAA Championships, 14th at the Great Lakes Regional, and 73rd at the NCAA III Championships. Gries was fifth at the MIAA Championships, 13th at the Great Lakes Regional and 55th at the NCAA III Championships. Hulst was seventh at the MIAA Championships, 21st at the Great Lakes Regional and 118th at the NCAA III Championships.

“If you look at our returning top seven, we probably have more returning talent than any team in the country on paper,” said Diemer. “But talent on paper doesn’t win championships and I’m sure there are several other teams out there that are convinced that they have the talent to win (a national title). I think the key for our team will be to regain some of the confidence that we seemed to lose at the end of last year. If we can get that confidence back, I think the results will follow.”

Other returning letterwinners include seniors Todd Schuster (Denver, CO/Denver Christian HS) and Jessie Kleijan (Chino, CA/Ontario Christian HS), junior Dan VandenAkker (Grand Rapids/South Christian HS) and sophomores Brett Christians (Northfield, MN/Northfield HS), Nate DeHaan (Byron Center/South Christian HS), Jared Eliason (Shoreview, MN/Concordia Academy), Sawyer Koops (Dolores, CO/Lexington Christian HS), Matt Logan (Fort Wayne, IN/Concordia Lutheran HS), Michael O’Shaughnessy (Elk Rapids/Elk Rapids HS), Kevin Rooney (Centennial, CO/Denver Christian HS), Andrew Stutzman (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown HS) and Erik VanKampen (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS).

Also set to rejoin the team after sitting out the 2005 season because of injuries are sophomores Peter Clemo (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and Brian Odegaard (Afton, MN/Stillwater Area HS). Senior Ben Hammer (Williamsburg HS/Elk Rapids HS) will remain with the team this fall but will not run because of injury.

Schuster is the defending MIAA track and field champion in the 800 meters and was a member of Calvin’s 4x400 meter relay team that advanced to the national meet. At the 2005 MIAA Cross Country Championships Schuster placed 15th. DeHaan and VandenAkker are both coming off of solid track and field campaigns as well. DeHaan was the MIAA’s runner-up in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and later posted an NCAA III provisional qualifying time in the event (9:22.45). He also took 17th at the MIAA Cross Country Championships. VandenAkker took third at the MIAA Track and Field Championships in the 5,000 meters (15:21.38). VanKampen is another face to watch after placing second in the 5,000 meters at the MIAA Track and Field Championships with a time of 15:12.05 and taking 13th at the MIAA Cross Country Championships in the fall.

“We’ve got some quality depth,” said Diemer. “Every year there are some surprises among our younger runners and I have a feeling that we will have a few runners do the same thing again this fall.”

The Calvin men’s cross country program will be able to handle all the depth this year because, for the first time, a junior varsity squad will be kept, allowing Diemer and his staff to keep over twenty runners on the roster.

“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 some women and men who normally would not have been with us will strengthen our team as a whole.”

The 2006 season is a significant one for Diemer as he takes over dual roles as head men’s and women’s cross country coach at Calvin. He will again be joined by longtime coach Al Hoekstra and assisted by former head women’s coach Nancy Meyer. In addition, Rick Otte and Robert Hyde will join the coaching staff with Hyde heading up the junior varsity program. Hyde has served as a volunteer assistant for several years. He is a 1996 Calvin graduate and was a cross country All-American in 1994. Otte also serves as the middle-distance coach on the Calvin track and field team. Jeff Engbers will also serve as a student intern to fulfill part of his graduate program responsibilities at Western Michigan University. 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. ”

Calvin’s season begins September 16th with the inaugural Calvin Invitational held on the college’s three-year-old course which will be the site of the 2007 Great Lakes Regional meet. The Calvin Invitational will include teams from Ohio Northern, Otterbein, Elmhurst, Denison, Baldwin-Wallace, Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Hope.

“It is so nice to run at home in front of so many fans, especially to start the season,” said Diemer. “We have one of the best courses in the nation and we are so grateful for everyone at Calvin who made it happen.”

 This year’s MIAA Jamboree will be held at St. Mary’s College the following week. Calvin will make its annual trips to the Notre Dame and Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitationals during the season. This years MIAA Championships will be held at Alma. Looking ahead to NCAA meets; the Great Lakes Regional will be in Hanover, Indiana and the National Meet in Cincinnati, Ohio.

2006 CALVIN WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY OUTLOOK
(Seventh in a Series of Fall-Sports Outlooks, written by Colin McWhertor ‘08)

The Calvin women’s cross country team has a wealth of experience returning for new head coach Brian Diemer. Diemer takes over a team that returned to the national scene last fall by taking second in the Great Lakes Regional and 17th at the national meet. The team returns all but one of its top ten runners from last season and brings back a host of young runners looking to break into the top spots.

“We are fired up,” said Diemer about his first year at the helm, “The women are something great waiting to happen. We have made a lot of headway in the track season and it will be fun to work with the women in a year-round situation. The women on this team have something special that we can build on, it is what great teams are made of. The experience gained from making nationals last year is huge; it allowed the women to see that the national meet is a race like any other, a realization that is a key to success.”

Leading the returnees for Calvin is senior Lydia Singer (Wilmington, DE), reigning MIAA Most Valuable Runner and winner of the conference championship meet. Singer was Calvin’s top finisher at both the regional and national meets, placing 11th and 68th respectively. Also returning for Calvin is senior Camille Medema (Grand Rapids, MI), who took first place at the MIAA Jamboree to open the season last year. Medema is in her fifth year at Calvin after missing her junior season while studying abroad. Other top runners returning include All-MIAA first team honorees senior Laura Holtrop (Derwood, MD), junior Christina Overbeck (Seattle, WA), and sophomore Calah Schlabach (St. Michaels, AZ). Another sophomore, Anne Fennema (Brookfield, WI), is expected to be in the mix after a strong finish saw her capture 14th place at the MIAA Championships last fall.

Lydia and Camille are our leaders,” said Diemer. “Christina and Anne broke out last year in a big way and I see a bunch of other women ready to do the same this year.”
            
Other names to remember this season include two All-MIAA second team members in sophomores Kelly Edwards (Grand Blanc, MI) and Emily Arkus (Tinley Park, IL) as well as seniors Melissa Vanden Berg (Grand Rapids, MI), Bethany Hofman (Holland, MI), and Nikki Reckman (Sarnia, ON) and juniors Laura Sizemore and Jenny Zylstra.

The incredible depth of this year’s team is shown in the dearth of young runners on the roster, including a strong sophomore class. Included in that class are Kristin Haagsma (Grand Rapids, MI), Laura Jackson (Decatur, IL), Jessi Miller (Colorado Springs, CO), Val Nydam (Uxbridge, MA) and Anna Pranger (Centenniel, CO). In addition, sophomore Lauren Bergstrom (Rochester, MN) joins and team this year after playing soccer her freshman year. Another sophomore of note is Jessi Hale (Rehoboth, NM), who transfers in from Georgetown University, where she was injured last season.

“Lauren Bergstrom is a born runner,” says Diemer. “She did so well in track and we’ll see how she adjusts to the distance. Hale also has major potential if her injury is behind her.”

Women’s cross country will be able to handle all the depth this year because, for the first time, a junior varsity squad will be kept, allowing coach Diemer to keep over twenty runners on the roster.

“I am so pleased to have a JV,” said Diemer. “We have been working at getting this set-up for twenty years. Developing some women and men who normally would not have been with us will strengthen our team as a whole.”

Calvin’s season begins September 16th with the inaugural Calvin Invitational held on the college’s three-year-old course. This year’s MIAA Jamboree will be held at St. Mary’s College the following week.

“It is so nice to run at home in front of so many fans, especially to start the season,” said Diemer. “We have one of the best courses in the nation and we are so grateful for everyone at Calvin who made it happen.”

Calvin will make its annual trips to the Notre Dame and Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitationals during the season. This years MIAA championships will be held at Alma. Looking ahead to NCAA meets; the Great Lakes Regional will be in Hanover, Indiana and the National Meet in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Sep 7 16:03:48 2006