Men's Cross Country Earns Second-Place Finish at MIAA Championships

Sophomore Ian Petruska, pictured

The regionally-ranked Hope College men's cross country team finished second at the MIAA Championships on Saturday at Three Fires Golf Club.

Led by four All-MIAA performances, the host Flying Dutchmen totaled 56 points and finished four points ahead of third-place Trine University.

Sophomore Ian Petruska (Fort Collins, Colorado / Fort Collins HS) led Hope with a sixth-place finish of 24 minutes, 46 seconds for the 8K course. Petruska earned a spot on the All-MIAA First Team.

"Ian showed great poise for his first year running collegiately," head coach Mark Northuis said. "Guys stepped up and made it happen so that we could still get second place today."

Despite Petruska's little experience in the sport, he has posted impressive results in his debut season.

"I didn't know what was going to happen going into this season," Petruska said. "I didn't know where I would be. I just knew I needed to trust my training. I have to keep training, keep working hard with the team. I'm really excited for regionals. We need to stay consistent as a team."

Sophomore Carston Cole (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) was just over six seconds behind Petruska with a ninth-place finish in 24:52.7.

Junior Connor Vachon (Jenison, Michigan / Jenison) took 10th in 25:00.6, and fifth-year senior Gabe DeYoung (Saegertown, Pennsylvania / Saegertown) clocked a 25:10.7 for 13th place.

Cole, Vachon, and DeYoung received All-MIAA Second Team honors.

As for Vachon – last season's individual MIAA champion – his body didn't cooperate in the final kilometer of the race. He was in contention for the win at the 7K mark and had been Hope's No. 1 in each of the three meets he raced earlier in the season. Vachon noted that this race at Three Fires was "the most educational" one of his entire life.

"Physically, I just completely shut down and couldn't move," Vachon said. "You can't mentally get over when you physically can't move, so I need to make a tactical adjustment. My mental strength is at its peak right now. I'm very excited to make just a quick tactical adjustment for the next couple of races and get ready for some great performances."

Senior Dan Campbell (Brighton, Michigan / Brighton) rounded out the point-scoring top five for the Flying Dutchmen, in 18th place with a time of 25:30.3.

Sophomore Nile Devers (Gobles, Michigan / Gobles) finished 19th in 25:30.7, and junior Lucas Guidone (Chicago, Illinois / Taft) was the seventh Hope finisher, in 21st overall place with a 25:37.8.

"I felt like the guys came out today ready to leave it all out there," Campbell said. "It obviously wasn't the outcome we wanted, but we gave it everything we had and I'm proud of our boys because of it. Going to use today as motivation moving forward."

Calvin University won its 36th consecutive MIAA title with 17 points. Junior Thaine Nederveld led the Knights with a first-place finish in 24:05.4.

"We came out with the intensity we needed to challenge for the title," Northuis said. "We ran out of gas in that last little bit. We still showed a great competitive spirit."

The Flying Dutchmen will race next at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Saturday, Nov. 11, at Silver Creek Metro Park in Norton, Ohio, hosted by John Carroll University.

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