Women's Cross Country Ties for MIAA Title, League Champs for 8th Season in a Row

A rare first-place tie at the MIAA Championships did not damper the celebration for the Hope College women's cross country team.

The 18th-ranked Flying Dutch claimed their eighth consecutive league title on Saturday at Three Fires Golf Club in Holland after equaling Calvin University's total of 33 points. It was the first tie at the MIAA Championships since 1989.

"We came, we believed we could [win the conference title], and our job's not finished yet this year," head coach Mark Northuis said.

Senior Rebecca Markham (Hoffman Estates, Illinois / William Fremd HS) claimed the individual MIAA title with a first-place finish and a huge personal record of 21 minutes, 3.8 seconds for the 6,000-meter course.

Northuis said that she even set a PR in the 5K within the 6K race, noting that her performance was "just phenomenal."

"With my previous times this season, I went into the conference meet knowing that I had a chance to win the race," Markham said. "I went into it with the mindset that I would have to push myself, but I made sure that I had stuck towards the front and put myself in the right position to be able to win it in the end."

Markham earned MIAA Most Valuable Runner and All-MIAA honors for the second time.

Junior Maddy Struck (Hainesville, Illinois / Grayslake Central) was the second Hope finisher, in fifth overall place with a time of 21:36.7.

Senior Olivia Quillan (Grandville, Michigan / Calvin Christian) clocked a 21:40.5 for sixth place, and senior Libby Gorman (Traverse City, Michigan / St. Francis) was 10th in 22:01.7.

Sophomore Molly Durow (Glenview, Illinois / Glenbrook South) was the fifth and final point-scoring Dutch runner, in 11th place with a time of 22:11.8.

"Our depth really showed today," Gorman said. "All of our girls stepped up and were able to push each other, working together. … We hadn't raced Calvin all year, so going up against them and trying to get in front of them and staying with them – that pushed us."

Quillan said that the atmosphere was great and "having several Hope fans around really helped."

Struck and Quillan made it on the All-MIAA First Team. Gorman and Durow received All-MIAA Second Team honors.

Joining Gorman and Durow on the second team was junior Janie DeGroot (Northville, Michigan / Northville), who finished in 15th place on Saturday in 22:25.1.

Freshman Mary England (Kalamazoo, Michigan / Kalamazoo Central) posted a 20th-place finish as Hope's seventh runner, in 22:53.6.

"Working together as a team has definitely helped all of us to push ourselves to run for each other," Markham said. "I am so proud of all of the girls that raced today, and it was amazing to see so many PRs and a conference title. It's going to be a challenging race at regionals but looking ahead, I think we have a great shot at doing well."

The Flying Dutch wanted to win the outright title on Saturday. They are using the shared championship as motivation going into the Great Lakes Regional.

"All of us were talking during the cooldown, and we all have goals for ourselves and using each other on the team to get in front of Calvin for regionals," Gorman said.

Quillian added: "We need to continuously remind ourselves of our goals. We need to keep pushing and need to keep moving forward. It's not going to be easy, but we can do it."

That is, win regionals in two weeks in Ohio.

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

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