By James Rogers
The 10th-ranked Hope College women's cross country team won the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional on Saturday in Shelbyville, Indiana.
The meet included 37 scoring teams, and Hope was the only squad to score under 100 points. The team title clinched a spot for the Flying Dutch at the NCAA Division III Championships set for Saturday, Nov. 20, in Louisville, Kentucky.
On Saturday at Blue River Memorial Park under overcast skies, junior Ana Tucker led Hope with a second-place finish in a time of 21 minutes, 52.1 seconds for the 6,000-meter course.
Head coach Mark Northuis said maturity and experience made the difference for the Flying Dutch.
"We've been in big meets all year, so it wasn't a surprise for them, it wasn't a shock for them," Northuis said. "They ran like they belonged there. They knew what to expect, what to do."
The regional title is Hope's seventh all-time.
Photo by Franklin College
Tucker and MIAA counterpart Evie Bultemeyer of Trine broke away from the rest of the field early into the race. Bultemeyer then opened a lead on Tucker shortly after halfway and eventually won in 21:16.2. Tucker has grown familiar with Bultemeyer battles.
"I really wanted to stick with Bultemeyer for the first part of the race to get a head start on the rest of the field," Tucker said. "After that, I was going to let it unfold as it would."
Tucker noted it wasn't a necessity to defeat the Trine senior at regionals. While a strong effort was a must, she and the team are really looking toward the national meet to be the best race of the season.
On Friday, Northuis reported a well-marked Blue River course and good footing for the terrain. The temperature on race day hovered around 40 degrees, with 15 mph winds. Part of the message to the team in the days leading up to regionals was to focus on place, not time.
"In larger meets, we believe you need to finish well, so our practices have focused on that plan," Northuis said.
The Dutch indeed finished well en route to the victory on Saturday, as all five scorers finished in the top 36. Hope backed up its No. 1 status in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) Great Lakes Regional Rankings.
Sophomore Rebecca Markham ran 22:15.9 for eighth place, senior Jacinda Cole posted 22:46.9 for 24th, junior Ellie Jankowski clocked a 22:51.8 for 28th and junior Heleyna Tucker rounded out the point-scoring five for Hope with a 36th-place finish in 23:03.4.
Markham, Cole and Jankowski joined runner-up Tucker on the Great Lakes All-Region Team. Sophomore Anna Mason finished 65th in 23:35.9, and sophomore Elizabeth Gorman placed 87th in 23:56.6.
"The whole team worked really hard for this," Tucker said. "To have this championship really solidifies our hard work."
Associate head coach Brian VanZanten said the Dutch feel blessed to be regional champions after really tough showings from other top teams. Hope has three more practices in Holland before leaving on Thursday for nationals, which will take place at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Kentucky.
"Our ladies have a lot of experience in Louisville," VanZanten said. "We joke that E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer is our home course. We race there more than anywhere else. We have to make sure we're taking care of ourselves and trying to recover as best we can. As far as strategy — I don't know if we need to really talk a lot of strategy because we know what we're getting into. They know the course, and it's just a matter of making sure they're ready to race their best race — not anybody else's race, but our own. If we do that, I think we'll be pretty pleased."
Tucker said the Dutch need to stay smart this coming week. While the team is intense about the final stage and wants to perform well, having fun remains an important part of the week's message.
"I view nationals as a gift," Tucker said. "We've made it this far, we've qualified, so let's make the most of this experience that we've earned. The mood heading into [nationals] is really happy, celebratory, and we're still going to try our hardest."
Hope has won three of the last six Great Lakes Regional titles. When asked about what that means to him and what it says about the program, Northuis focused on belief.
"We have kids who continue to believe," Northuis said. "It takes the inner-team leadership, the miles you put in for the summer. They're able to maintain their focus on what they need to be able to do. That tells me the kids are passing down that culture of believing in the program and believing in each other."
