Written by Calvin Sports Information Director Jeff Febus

CALVIN CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS CAPTURE REGIONAL TITLES

GRAND RAPIDS – The nationally-ranked Calvin men’s and women’s cross country teams once again used home course advantage to their advantage. On Saturday, both teams captured Great Lakes Regional titles on their home course to punch their tickets to next weeks’s NCAA III Championships at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

Competing at the four-year old Gainey Cross Country Course, the top-ranked Calvin men’s team took first place with a team score of 27 points while the second-ranked Calvin women’s team recorded a first place score of 46 points. The top two teams in the men’s race and the top two teams in the women’s race earned automatic qualifying berths to next week’s national meet. The 11th-ranked Polar Bears of Ohio Northern earned the second men’s berth with a second place score of 114 points. Anderson was third (125 points), Heidelberg fourth (128 points) and Mount Union fifth (143 points). By placing in the top five, all three schools are eligible for at-large berths to the NCAA III Championships.

On the women’s side, seventh-ranked Case Western Reserve held off 13th-ranked DePauw for the second qualifying spot with the Spartans scoring 73 points and the Tigers 80 points. Along with Kenyon (4th place) and Oberlin (5th place), DePauw is now eligible for an at-large berth to the NCAA III Championships.

The NCAA National Cross Country committee will award 16 at-large berths to the national meet. Teams must finish in the top five at a regional meet in order to be considered.

In the men’s race, junior Jed Christiansen led a 1-2-3 Calvin finish as he clocked in with a first place time of 24:51 while senior Tad Hulst was second (24:54) and senior Jon Gries third (24:58). Christiansen is the eighth individual in Calvin men’s cross country history to capture a regional individual title, joining Tim Finnegan (2006 & 2005), Hendrik Kok (2003 & 2002), Dan Hoekstra (2000 & 2001), Ray VanArragon (1994), Thad Karnehm (1991), John Lumkes (1990) and Adam Suarez (1988 & 1989) to have previously done so. Junior Erik VanKampen also took sixth place for Calvin, recording a time of 25:06 while junior teammate Nate DeHaan was 15th in 25:27 as just 36 seconds separated Calvin’s top five. Rounding out Calvin’s finishers were senior Dan VandenAkker in 23rd place (25:42) and junior Tim Langenberg in 30th place (25:48). The regional title was Calvin’s 11th in a row.

Sean Hudson of Anderson made a bid for a top three individual finish, running with Calvin’s pack of three for most of the race before settling for a fourth place time of 25:02. Ohio Northern senior Jimmy O’Brien, a two-time 800 meter national champion in track and field, flashed his speed over the final mile, moving up to a fifth place time of 25:04. Rounding out the top 10 were Joel Bendtsen of Denison in seventh (25:09), Dominic Smith of Case Western Reserve in eighth (25:12), Dusty Kime of DePauw in ninth (25:14) and Kyle Basista of Mount Union in 10th (25:15).

In the women’s race, Case Western Reserve senior Esther Erb turned in a superb effort, leading from start-to-finish to win with a time of 21:13, just a second off the course record of 21:12 set by Anderson’s Gwen Kemple earlier this year. Kemple ran up front with Erb for the first two miles before settling back into a comfortable second place position, finishing with a time of 21:31, 14 seconds ahead of Calvin senior Christina Overbeck who was third. Saint Mary’s senior Megan Gray grabbed an individual qualifying berth with a fourth place time of 21:48.

Calvin placed five runners in the top 13 including seven in the top 25 to win by a comfortable margin. Junior Lauren Bergstrom was Calvin’s second finisher, placing eighth with a time of 22:02. Sophomore Jessica Koster also had a big effort for the Knights, finishing 10th in a time of 22:05 while senior teammate Lynn Marsh was 12th (22:08) and junior Calah Schlabach 13th (22:11). Rounding out Calvin’s finishers were junior Jesi Hale in 18th place (22:20) and sophomore Elizabeth Smit in 25th place place (22:45).  Calvin’s regional title was its first since 2002.

Case Western Reserve was able to hold off DePauw for the second qualifying berth behind a late charge from its fifth runner Joy Zhu who made up several spots in the final 200 meters to place 31st with a time of 23:00. In addition to Erb, Kristen Bowhers grabbed a top-10 finish for the Spartans, finishing seventh with a time of 22:01 while Britta Kumley was 16th (22:13) and Andrea Fischione 20th (22:23) to complete Case Western’s top five.

DePauw was led by Lauren Reich who was fifth (21:55). Taylor Penrod was also 15th (22:12), Laura Ardington 18th, (22:19) Alison Case 21st (22:24) and Julie Theibert 25th (22:36) for the Tigers.

Filling out the top 10 individual finishers were Lauren Brady of Kenyon who was sixth (22:01) and Joanna Johnson of Oberlin who was ninth (22:03).

The top 35 finishers in the men’s race and the women’s race were all named to their respective Great Lakes All-Region teams.

The complete field for the NCAA III Championships will be announced Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. at: http://www.ncaasports.com

More information on the upcoming NCAA III Championships at St. Olaf College can be found on-line at: http://www.stolaf.edu/athletics/07ncaaxc/