Mark Northuis has guided the cross country fortunes of his alma mater since 1988. Over 24 seasons, the Flying Dutch have finished third or higher in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) standings every year. 

The 2012 Flying Dutch placed second in the MIAA standings. Hope has won the league championship in 2004 and 2011. The Flying Dutch have qualified for the NCAA Division III national championships six times, most recently in 2012 when they finished 10th.

A professor of kinesiology and chair of the department, Northuis is also the head coach of the men's cross country team. He is active in the College Cross Country Coaches Association and has served on the NCAA Division III advisory committee for cross country and track & field.

A 1982 Hope graduate, Northuis won the 1979 Hope Cross Country Invitational and the 1980 MIAA cross country championship. He finished in the top five at the MIAA meet each of his four years. He was among the nation's top small college cross country runners, finishing 27th as both a junior and senior at the NCAA Division III national championship meet. Northuis is a five-time MIAA, all-conference cross country and track runner at Hope.

In track, Northuis won the 5,000 meter run at the 1980 MIAA Field Day. He is still the Hope record holder in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and six-mile run.

Northuis earned the Masters degree in exercise physiology at the University of Michigan and received the Ph.D. in exercise science from the University of Minnesota.

He and his wife, Pam Bulthouse, a 1981 Hope College graduate, have five children, Anders, Elizabeth, Klare, Madalyn, and Michaela.