CSR (Calvin Cross Country Teams Capture MIAA Titles)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 28, 2006 (PART ONE)

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS CAPTURE MIAA TITLES

ALMA * The nationally-ranked Calvin men’s and women’s cross country teams continued their dominance of the MIAA by capturing league titles on Saturday at the MIAA Championships hosted by Alma College at the Pine River Country Club. In the men’s race, Calvin posted a first place score of 17 points to wrap up its 20th consecutive league crown and its 33rd overall.

Calvin’s current string of 20 consecutive MIAA titles in the second-longest (active) championship streak in MIAA athletics history. The streak is surpassed only by the 68 consecutive MIAA titles won by the Kalamazoo men’s tennis team. With 33 titles to its credit, Calvin has also won more men’s cross country titles than any other league school.

On the women’s side, Calvin posted a perfect score of 15 points to capture its second straight league title including its 18th in the last 19 years. With 18 titles to its credit, Calvin has won more MIAA women’s cross country titles than any other league school.

Ranked number-one in the latest Division III Coaches’ poll, the Calvin men’s cross country team took six of the top seven spots led by senior Tim Finnegan (Los Alamos, NM) who captured first place individually with a time of 25:01, finishing a half-step ahead of sophomore teammate Jed Christiansen (Greenville, PA) who was second in the same time. Junior Jon Gries (King of Prussia, PA) also ran a strong race, finishing third with a time of 25:14. Gries ran in a pack of three with Finnegan and Christiansen before falling back a bit in the final stages of the 8K race.

Rounding out Calvin’s top seven finishers were junior Tad Hulst (Zeeland HS) in fifth place (25:27), senior Harrison Jorritsma (Beamsville, ON) in sixth place (25:38), sophomore Erik VanKampen (Elmhurst, IL) in seventh place (25:54) and sophomore Nate DeHaan (South Christian HS) in eighth place (26:00).

All seven Calvin finishers were named to the All-MIAA first team with Finnegan receiving MIAA MVP honors for the second straight year and landing a spot on the All-MIAA first team for the fourth consecutive year.

Hope took second place in the men’s race with 57 points. Senior Ryan TerLouw led the Flying Dutchmen with a fourth place individual finish in a time of 25:24.

In the women’s race, sixth-ranked Calvin took eight of the top nine spots and 10 of the top 12. Winning the 6K race was Calvin senior Camille Medema (Grand Rapids Christian HS) in a time of 22:58 while junior teammate Christina Overbeck (Seattle, WA) was second in 23:03. Senior Lydia Singer was next for Calvin in its 1-2-3-4-5 finish as she place third in 23:25. She was followed by sophomore Calah Schlabach (St. Michaels, AZ) in fourth place (23:35) and sophomore Lauren Bergstrom (Century, MN) in fifth place (23:35).

Rounding out Calvin’s top seven were sophomore Kelly Edwards (Grand Blanc HS) in seventh (24:22) and freshman Mary Tolsma (Hawthorn, NJ) in eighth place (24:24). Other Calvin finishers of note included sophomore Anne Fennema (Brookfield, WI) in ninth place (24:31), junior Lynn Marsh (North Vernon, IN) in ninth place (24:38), freshman Elizabeth Smit (Kirkland, WA) in 12th place (24:42), freshman Jessi Hale (Rehoboth, NM) in 14th place (24:47), senior Laura Holtrop (Rockville, MD) in 15th place (24:51) and senior Nikki Reckman (Sarnia, ON) in 16th place (24:53).

Medema was named the MIAA’s Most Valuable Runner for the second straight year and landed a spot on the All-MIAA first team for the fourth straight year. She was joined on the All-MIAA first team from Calvin by Overbeck, Bergstrom, Schlabach, Singer, Tolsma and Marsh.

“Both of our teams had incredible performances,” said Calvin head cross country coach Brian Diemer who has now coached 21 MIAA Championship teams, placing him ninth on the MIAA career list for championships won by a coach including second among active MIAA coaches. “We never take winning our conference championship for granted. It always very special and an accomplishment to be cherished.”

Diemer then broke down both races. “In the women’s race, I thought our team did a wonderful job of working together in packs,” he said. “The teamwork by our women’s team was amazing to see. We had groups of runners working together all the way down our chain. In the men’s race, we had several runners make big jumps, most notably Jon Gries. When Finnegan and Christiansen made a move, Jon went right went them and kept the pace up until the last half-mile or so. If he keeps that pace up, he will make our team that much tougher down the final stretch of the season.”

Both teams will now break until November 11 when they compete at the NCAA III Great Lakes Regional meets hosted by Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Oct 28 18:55:52 2006