by Dena Meiste
The Hope College men's track and field team competed at Grand Valley State University for the Al Owens Classic on Friday and Saturday.
Nick Hoffman and Dan Campbell both earned a runner-up finish in their respective races to lead the Flying Dutchmen.
In a stacked field of 58 runners, Hoffman (Holland, Michigan / Holland HS), pictured right, emerged as the top attached competitor in the 1,500 meters and second overall. The junior obliterated his previous career-best time in the event by more than 10 seconds, crossing the finish line at the 3:49.48 mark.
Hoffman edged Brock Eves of NCAA Division II Wisconsin Parkside) by a mere .14 second margin for second place. In turn, Adam Rzentkowski, a member of the Central Michigan University program but running unattached, beat Hoffman to the line by just half a second to take the win.
Campbell's runner-up finish in the 3,000 meter steeplechase also came in photo-finish fashion. The freshman from Brighton, Michigan (Brighton), pictured left, ultimately had to settle for second place after Michael Allen, a junior out of Northwood University, beat him to the line by a miniscule five one-hundredths of a second. Campbell still walked away with a new career-best time of 9:46.32.
Hope landed three runners in the top-10 of the 400 meters, led by a fourth-place effort (50.61) by Nathan Woolum (Mattawan, Michigan / Mattawan).
Benjamin Lentz (Charlevoix, Michigan / Charlevoix) lowered his season best to 51.69, finishing in seventh as a result, while Tyler Arntz (Traverse City, Michigan ? Saint Francis High School) rounded out the top-10 (53.07).
Woolum went on to finish in seventh in the 400-meter hurdles behind a PR time of 57.37.
Junior David McHugh (Whitehall, Michigan / Reeths Puffer) paced the Flying Dutchmen in the field events, tallying two top-10 finishes. He traveled a career-best distance of 6.11m (20 feet, 1/2 inch) in the long jump for sixth overall, while taking fourth in the triple jump with a final mark of 12.23m (40-1 1/2).
Chris Stamatopoulos (Wheaton, Illinois / Wheaton-Warrenville South) earned new career-best marks on both the track and in the field. The senior placed fourth in the javelin throw with a toss of 41.62 meters (136-6). He also raced in the 100 meters, crossing the line at 11.84.
Hoffman had another solid effort in the 800 meters, along with junior Drew Dow (Bridgman, Michigan / Bridgman). Both came in under the two-minute mark, with times of 1:59.22 and 1:59.69, respectively.
With programs from across several divisions in attendance, no team scores were tallied.
Next week, the Dutch compete at the GINA Relays, hosted by Hillsdale College, on April 22-23, and conclude the week at the Davenport Invitational on April 24.
