Men's Cross Country Runs to Highest Finish at NCAA Regionals Since 1991

The Flying Dutchmen place fourth at the 40-team event

The Hope College men's cross country team raced to its highest-regional finish in 32 years on Saturday.

The Flying Dutchmen finished fourth out of 40 teams at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional on Saturday at Silver Creek Metro Park in Norton, Ohio.

With 169 points, Hope posted the best regional effort since finishing third in 1991.

"I'm really proud of our guys," said junior Connor Vachon, the Flying Dutchmen's top individual finisher. "This is a win for Hope cross country, because it shows that we're on the up and up. This is great for the program build. Hopefully, we can get that nationals experience, which is something we haven't tasted for a long time. We're hungry and ready to eat."

The NCAA Division III Championships are Saturday, Nov. 18, at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pennsylvania, hosted by Dickinson College.

The field will be announced during the afternoon on Sunday, Nov. 12.

Head coach Mark Northuis said Hope's runners stayed patient during the 8K regional race and built on what they wanted to do.

"They were really focused and took a mature approach," Northuis said. "All the guys really ran the race strategy we had set out for them."

Vachon (Jenison, Michigan / Jenison HS) led the Flying Dutchmen with an eighth-place finish in 24 minutes, 4.8 seconds. The field was 278 runners. He had a solid bounce-back performance after his body broke down on him with a kilometer to go at the MIAA Championships on October 28.

"It was a really nice adjustment from two weeks ago," Vachon said. "I didn't have to worry about the pressure of leading. I never really had any mental taxing during the race. I let other people do the work for me, so it was nice to sit on the train and go for a ride."

Vachon was in strong contention for a top-five finish with about 400 meters to go.

"I made a final push about 800 meters out and then got into second up the big hill," Vachon said. "At that point, I wanted to save a little bit for nationals and just make sure I got in without blowing up or falling on the downhill [to the finish]. I wanted to avoid the worst-case scenarios. I think I executed a very patient race and trusted my ability to respond to moves."

Sophomore Ian Petruska (Fort Collins, Colorado / Fort Collins) was the second from Hope to cross the finish line on Saturday, finishing 14th in 24:23.7.

Sophomore Carston Cole (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) followed just over four seconds behind Petruska in 17th place with a time of 24:27.9.

Vachon, Petruska, and Cole received All-Region honors for finishing in the top 35.

Junior Lucas Guidone (Chicago, Illinois / Taft) was Hope's fourth runner with a 61st-place finish in 25:05.7.

Senior Dan Campbell (Brighton, Michigan / Brighton) rounded out the scoring five for the Dutchmen with a 25:09.1 for 69th place.

"Dan and Lucas passed 25 guys in the last 400 meters," Northuis said. "That was the difference in finishing fourth place instead of fifth. What they did could send the team to nationals."

Sophomore Nile Devers (Gobles, Michigan / Gobles) finished 114th in 25:49.7, and fifth-year senior Gabe DeYoung (Saegertown, Pennsylvania / Saegertown) was 119th in 25:51.7.

Host John Carroll won the Great Lakes Regional with 69 points. Calvin University and the University of Mount Union were second and third, respectively, with 82 and 97 points.

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Players Mentioned

Dan Campbell: Senior; Physical and Health Education

Carston Cole: Sophomore; Exercise Science

Nile Devers: Sophomore

Lucas Guidone: Junior; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Connor Vachon: Junior; Mathematics Education-Secondary and Computer Science

Ian Petruska: Freshman

Gabe DeYoung: Fifth Year; Mathematics

Players Mentioned

Dan Campbell
: Senior; Physical and Health Education

Carston Cole
: Sophomore; Exercise Science

Nile Devers
: Sophomore

Lucas Guidone
: Junior; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Connor Vachon
: Junior; Mathematics Education-Secondary and Computer Science

Ian Petruska
: Freshman

Gabe DeYoung
: Fifth Year; Mathematics