Calvin Cross Country at Parkside Invitational

September 21, 2002

KENOSHA, WI – The nationally-ranked Calvin men’s and women’s cross country teams came up with excellent performances in their season debuts Saturday afternoon at the Midwest Collegiate Cross Country Meet hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

In the men’s competition, eighth-ranked (NCAA III) Calvin finished second with 86 points, 43 points behind second-ranked (NCAA III) Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Defending NCAA III national champion Wisconsin-LaCrosse took third with 95 points. Calvin also finished ahead of ninth-ranked Wayne State of Michigan (NCAA II) which finished fifth with 136 points.

In the women’s competition, third-ranked Calvin (NCAA III) took fourth with 127 points, finishing only behind nationally-ranked teams from Northern Michigan (6th in NCAA II), Cedarville of Ohio (#1 in NAIA and defending NAIA National Champions) and Wayne State of Michigan (14th in NCAA II). Calvin also finished ahead of 16th-ranked Wisconsin-Parkside (16th in NCAA II), Indiana Wesleyan (5th in NAIA), Roberts Wesleyan (10th in NAIA) and Wisconsin-Oshkosh (17th in NCAA III).

In the men’s race, only 14 seconds separated Calvin’s top five runners and only 16 seconds separated its top six. Sophomore David Haagsma (South Christian HS) stepped to the forefront to lead the Calvin pack as he finished 15th with a time of 26:17. He was followed by junior Tim Avery (Rochester, NY) who was 16th (26:19), junior Kris Koster (Grand Rapids Christian HS) who was 22nd (26:29); sophomore Kyle Carrick (Snohomish, WA) who was 23rd (26:30) and sophomore Hendrik Kok (Lynden, WA) who was 25th (26:31).

Rounding out Calvin’s top-seven were sophomore Brian Maat (Holland Christian) in 27th place (26:33) and junior Matt Edwards (Grand Blanc HS) in 32nd (26:42). Junior Brian Paff (National City, CA) finished just behind Edwards in 33rd place with a time of 26:42. Other Calvin finishers in the top-50 included senior Josh Vanderwiele (Midland Park. NJ) in 36th (26:49), sophomore Andy Yazzie (Rehobath, NM) in 39th (26:54), sophomore Jeff Engbers (Whitinsville, MA) in 46th (27:01) and freshman Jesse Kleinjan (Chino, CA) in 50th (27:08).

Sergio Reyes of Cedarville claimed first place honors with a time of 25:21.

In the women’s race, Calvin 53 seconds separated Calvin’s top-five . The Knights were paced by the one-two punch of juniors Jessie Lair (Southfield Christian HS) and Sarah Hastings (Traverse City Central HS) as Lair was ninth (18:49) and Hastings 11th (18:57). Senior Rachel Baber (Brandon, WI) was Calvin’s third finisher, placing 32nd in 19:24 while senior Jodi VerMeulen (Holland Christian HS) was 40th (19:37). Freshmen Rachel Reed Oak Park, IL) and Camille Medema (Grand Rapids Christian HS) also contributed with strong debuts as Reed was 45th in 19:42 and Medema 47th in 19:43. Senior Katie Van Beek (Grand Rapids Christian HS) rounded out Calvin’s top-seven with a time of 20:03 that was good for 60th place.

Both teams will now prepare for the MIAA Jamboree next Saturday at St. Mary’s College.

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