CKSR (Calvin Alum Qualifies for U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 11, 2011
Jed Christian Qualifies for U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials With Race at Chicago
Marathon
CROSS COUNTRY/TRACK AND FIELD

Jed Christiansen, a 2010 Calvin College graduate, had the finest marathon
performance of his running career this past weekend at the Chicago Marathon. A
native of Greenville, Pennsylvania, Christiansen took 14th at the 2011 Chicago
Marathon with a career-best time of 2:18.31, a pace of 5:18 per mile. Not only
was Christiansen the 14th individual finisher at the Chicago Marathon, but he
was also the third American finisher.

His time was also a qualifying time for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon trials
- scheduled for January 14 in Houston, Texas. A graduate of Greenville High
School in Pennsylvania, Christiansen is the second Calvin alum to qualify for
the upcoming U.S. Olympic trials as 2001 Calvin graduate Paul Petersen also
qualified with a time of 2:17.35 at the Boston Marathon this past April.
At Calvin, Christiansen was a four-time cross country All-American and a
four-time track and field All-American. In 2009, he was the recipient of
Calvin’s Bere’ Memorial Award and also the MIAA’s Al Deal Scholar-Athlete
Award. At Calvin, Christiansen majored in physical education along with a
health education minor.
Christiansen is currently an assistant cross country coach at Thiel College in
Greenville, Pennsylvania. He is one of three Christiansen brothers that have
run at Calvin as younger brothers Jake and Job Christiansen have also been
members of the Calvin cross country and track and field programs.
Also of note, 2008 Calvin graduate Christina Overbeck was the 24th individual
finisher on the women’s side with a time of 2:47.07. She was also the 10th
American woman to finish the race. Her time was just shy of the “B” standard
for the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials. At Calvin, Overbeck was an NCAA III
All-American in both cross country and track and field. Overbeck originally
hails from the state of Washington but now resides in Chicago.
Received on Tue Oct 11 14:05:55 2011