OSHKOSH, WI -- The Calvin women's cross country team could not have picked a better time to run its best race of the season. In a dominating performance, Calvin claimed its second consecutive national title with a first place total of 85 points at the NCAA III Championships Saturday afternoon in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Calvin's point total was 39 points better than its national championship score of a year ago and was 34 points better than second place Middlebury of Vermont Saturday afternoon. With Saturday's national championship, Calvin becomes the third team in MIAA history to repeat as national champion as Kalamazoo accomplished the feat in men's tennis in 1986 & 1987 and in 1992 & 1993.

Ranked number-one in the country heading into Saturday's race, the Knights were paced by three All-America performances as senior Amy Mizzone (Wayne, NJ) was sixth with a time of 17:11; senior Lisa Timmer (Ann Arbor) 12th in 17:20 and senior Liz Kuipers (Sarnia, ON) 29th in 17:37. The top-35 finishers at nationals are All-Americans. Mizzone's All-America performance was the second of her career and her sixth place finish Saturday was the fourth-best in MIAA and the third-best in Calvin women's cross country history. Timmer earned All-America accolades in cross country for the third time in her career with Saturday's performance while Kuipers received All-America citations for the first time in her career. Calvin has now posted 19 All-America performances in the history of its women's cross country program.

The Calvin women placed five of its runners in the top-50 as senior Sarah Gritter (Wauwatosa, WI) was 49th in 17:48 and sophomore Erinn Boot of Kalamazoo Christian High School 50th in 17:49. Junior Rashel Bayes of Sparta High School was Calvin's sixth runner as she was 97th in 18:18 while sophomore Lindsay Carrier of Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian High School rounded out Calvin's finishers as she was 135th in 18:38.

"Our team ran beyond my expectations today. They had a phenomenal performance," said Calvin women's cross country coach Nancy Meyer who was named National Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year. "I can't say enough about the leadership of our seniors. They had been there before, knew what they needed to do to prepare for a national race and I think that experience paid off." Heading into Saturday's competition, Calvin knew that the competition would be stiffer than the year before said Meyer. "Our runners were physically and mentally prepared for stiffer competition," said Meyer. "The race was taken out very fast and the fact that our runners were prepared to step it up another notch was a key to our performance."

Another key to Calvin's performance all year was its spiritual emphasis said Kuipers. "Our spiritual focus was such a huge part of our season," she said. "We focused completely on God and having him as the captain of our team. He led us to victory and we give all the glory to him."

For Timmer, closing out her collegiate cross country career with a national championship was a dream come true after struggling through mononucleosis during the track and field season last spring. "It's been a long hard journey but it's also a dream come true," said Timmer. "This season has been amazing not only for myself but for the entire team. To go out this way as seniors is incredible."

A fifth-year senior, Mizzone has also struggled through injuries during her collegiate career including a stress fracture during her junior season that caused her to miss the entire 1997 cross country season. Her injury would turn out to be a blessing in disguise. "It was so disappointing to sit out the season with a stress fracture," said Mizzone. "When I think back on it now I am so thankful because I got to come back this year and be a part of this team."

On the men's side, Calvin posted its third top-four national finish including its second in a row with by finsihing fourth with 164 points. Top-ranked North Central of Illinois captured first place to pick up its 12th national championship in men's cross country, more than any other NCAA III member school.

The Calvin men had one All-America performance as sophomore Justin Momany-Pfruender of Midland was 23rd in 24:24. Momany-Pfruender's finish marked the 20th All-America performance in Calvin men's cross country history. Ranked number-two in the final Division III poll of the year, the Knights were hoping to make a push for Saturday's national title but a season's worth of injuries and illness partly took its toll as some of their top runners were unable to keep up with a furious pace set by individual winner Dave Davis from the University of Puget Sound.

Davis won Saturday's race in a scorching time of 23:42 with North Central senior Colin Young placing second in 23:51 and North Central junior Tim McKoskey finishing second in 23:53.

The conditions for a fast race were ideal this afternoon," said Al Hoekstra, who shares men's coaching responsibilities with head coach Brian Diemer. "The temperatures were cool, the ground was firm and there was a large crowd to cheer the runners on. This was a great spectator course and it allowed fans to follow the runners throughout the entire race. With the noise the crowd was making along with the rest of the conditions, the top runners were able to get into an incredible rhythm and pump out some very fast times."

Junior Dan Hoekstra of Kalamazoo Christian High School ran as Calvin's second man on Saturday as he was 41st in 24:40 while sophomore Joel Klooster (Chatham, ON) was 51st (24:47) and senior Scott Westhouse (South Christian) 59th (24:52). Rounding out Calvin's finishers were junior Paul Petersen (Crawfordsville, IN) in 61st (24:53); freshman Michael Richardson (Godwin Heights) in 183rd (26:07) and senior Kent Frens (Fremont) in 185th (26:10). "Our guys were hoping to make a run for the top spot but I am extremely proud of their performance today because they gave it everything they had," said Diemer. "Give a lot of credit to North Central for a tremendous performance. Some of the injuries and illness we have had this year took something out of us and did not allow us to step up to the level that North Central performed at today."

Saturday's performance marked the first time in Calvin men's cross country history that the Knights have posted back-to-back top-four national finishes. Calvin's fourth place performance on Saturday was just as satifisfying if not more so than last year's national runner-up berth according to Hoekstra. "With all of the adversity this team has been through this season, to finish fourth in the country is truly remarkable," said Hoekstra. "I am just as proud of this finish as I am with finishing second last year because we had to battle so hard just to get to this point today."

Through the adversity faced, Calvin developed character and spiritual growth according to Diemer. "The guys have been out running for joy and praising God," said Diemer. "They realized that running was truly a gift and that it can be taken away in a hurry. From that vantage point alone, this team has had an incredibly successful season."