By Tom Renner
Hope's men's cross country runners competed in two invitationals on Saturday: an all-Division III competition hosted by Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., and another consisting of two-year and four-year programs at Muskegon Community College.
At the inaugural Augustana Interregional Invitational, the Flying Dutchmen finished 11th in a field of 24 NCAA Division III teams from across the country with 326 points. Wartburg, Iowa, topped the standings with 39 points.
"This is our best men's team race in a long time," head coach Mark Northuis said. "Our No. 2 runner did not race today and we still closed the gap on several nationally and regionally ranked teams. Nick Hoffman mixed it up with the top pack for most of the race, but our pack of four runners behind him moved well together and closed hard. It was a good bus ride home."
Hope's first finisher was senior Nick Hoffman (Holland, Michigan / Holland High School) in 21st place among 225 runners (24:52.7). The 8K race at the Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill., was won by Joe Freiburger of Wartburg, Iowa (24:16.8).
Junior Anders Bogard (Mattawan, Michigan / Kalamazoo Christian High School), pictured, was next for Hope in 70th place (25:44.6).
Junior Gabriel DeYoung (Saegertown, Pennsylvania / Saegertown High School) followed in 76th place (:25:49.6).
Junior Luke Shoemaker (Elkhart, Indiana / Concord High School) finished in 94th place (26:03.5).
Rounding out the team scoring was senior Evan Bleitz (Saline, Michigan / Saline High School) in 121st place (26:30.8).
Other Hope competitors were freshman Ryan Allspach (Lansing, Michigan / Home School) in 141st place (26:57.4) and sophomore Eli Meder (Lansing, Michigan / Lansing Catholic High School) in 153rd place (27:21.5).
The Jayhawk Invitational was hosted by Muskegon Community College at the Oak Ridge Golf Course. There were 141 runners in the 8K race.
Grand Valley State topped the 16-team field with a perfect score (15 points). The Flying Dutchmen finished ninth with 263 points.
The first Hope finisher was freshman Tyler King (Villa Park, Ill. / Willowbrook High School), pictured, in 46th place (28:10.2).
Next was sophomore Jack Tamlyn (Grand Rapids, Michigan / West Michigan Aviation Academy) in 53rd place (28:17.9).
Freshman Zane Bannink (Shorewood, Wis. / Shorewood High School) ended in 66th place (28:40.9).
Junior Peter Ruffolo (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton-Warrenville South High School) finished in 85th place (29:22.43).
Freshman Zealand Tarrant (Traverse City, Michigan / St. Francis High School) rounded out the team scoring in 86th place (29:24.8).
Also competing was freshman Sam Aylward (Dewitt, Michigan / Dewitt High School), who placed 109th place (31:19.20).
The next competition will be the MIAA Championships hosted by Saint Mary's College in South Bend, Ind., on Friday, Oct. 29.
