by Alan Babbitt
Nick Hoffman and Connor Vachon led the Hope College men's cross country team with top-50 performances at the Michigan State University Spartan Invitational on Friday.
Hoffman clocked an 8K time of 25 minutes, 53.8 seconds. The senior from Holland, Michigan (Holland HS) finished 27th in a field of 266 that included runners from all three NCAA divisions.
Vachon, a freshman from Jenison, Michigan (Jenison), went 26.28.4 for 49th place.
The Flying Dutchmen took 15th place out of 22 teams with 389 points.
Junior Gabriel DeYoung (Saegertown, Pennsylvania / Saegertown) crossed the finish line at 28:14.8 for 146th place.
Junior Anders Bogard (Mattawan, Michigan / Kalamazoo Christian) recorded a time of 28.28.0 for 157th place.
Freshman Ryan Allspach (Lansing, Michigan / Home School) clocked a run of 27:38.0 for 166th place and rounded out the Flying Dutchmen's scoring.
Sophomore Elijah Meder (Lansing, Michigan / Lansing Catholic) finished in 28.42.1 for 170th place. Freshman Jimmy Alford (Chelsea, Michigan / Chelsea) went 29.01.8 for 183rd place.
Hope's next meet is Friday, Oct. 1, at the Lansing Community College Invitational.
