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Coach: Brian Diemer (bkchase@aol.com)
Coach Brian DiemerBrian Diemer has been at Calvin as men's cross country coach since the fall of 1986. In 2006, he added the title as head women's cross country coach. Diemer wasted little time in leading Calvin to lofty heights as the women's cross country team captured an MIAA title in 2006 and later took third at the NCAA III Championships, missing a national title by less than 10 points. At the national meet, three of Diemer's runners achieved NCAA III All-America status.

The University of Michigan graduate 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 medallist 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 continues to organize and Coach Brian Diemercompete in a number of road races in the West Michigan area and competed at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials in the steeplechase.

On the men's side, Diemer has been named Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year numerous times in the last decade.

In 2000, 2003 & 2004, he and Al Hoekstra were named the NCAA D3 National Coaches of the Year in men's cross country after leading the Knights to the 2000 NCAA National Championship. He was then named D3 (men's) National Coach of the Year once again in 2006 after leading the men's team to their fourth national title including their third in the last four years. Diemer also is a member of the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Michigan Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Calvin's teams have also excelled in the classrom during Diemer's tenure, earning team All-Academic honors from the College Cross Country Coaches Associatin of Amercia for the last 14 years. In addition, Diemer has coached 14 (CoSIDA) Academic All-Americans.

With 21 MIAA cross country titles to his credit (20 men's titles and one women's title), Diemer ranks ninth on the all-time MIAA list for most league titles by an MIAA coach.

Diemer and his wife, Kerri, have four childen: Kelsey, Kaitlin, McKenzie and Matthew.