The Hope College men's cross country team is ready to make another run at dethroning the Knights.
Led by returning MIAA Most Valuable Runner Connor Vachon, the Flying Dutchmen bring back five of their top seven runners from a group that scored only four points behind Calvin University at the MIAA Championships last fall. It was the MIAA's closest men's finish since an eight-point Hope win in 1986.
Vachon (Jenison, Michigan / Jenison HS) looks to repeat after becoming the Flying Dutchmen's first MIAA champion in 36 years.
Hope also aims to build on a seventh-place effort at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional last season — the Flying Dutchmen's best finish since a sixth-place effort in 2014.Â
The Flying Dutchmen begin the season on Friday, Sept. 1, at the Comet Open hosted by the University of Olivet at Broadway Acres Golf Club in Charlotte.
Hope will travel to five more regular-season meets, including the Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday, Sept. 30, at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Kentucky and the Pre-National Invitational hosted by Dickinson College on Saturday, Oct. 7, at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pennsylvania.
The MIAA Championships will be hosted by Hope on Saturday, Oct. 28, at Three Fires Golf Club in Holland.
The Flying Dutchmen will head to Norton, Ohio, for the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional on Saturday, Nov. 11, at Silver Creek Metro Park.
If Hope qualifies, the NCAA Championships are held on Saturday, Nov. 18, at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pennsylvania.
Now a junior, Vachon eyes back-to-back trips to the NCAA Division III Championships. The computer science and mathematics education major placed 215th at nationals in 2022.
The Flying Dutchmen also are counting on top returning runners such as sophomore Carston Cole (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa), who placed eighth at the MIAA Championships, and fifth-year senior Gabe DeYoung (Saegertown, Pennsylvania / Saegertown), who was 12th at the meet. Cole is an exercise science major. DeYoung is a mathematics major.
Two more runners who finished in the Top 20 at the conference meet return as well: junior Lucas Guidone (Chicago, Illinois / Home School) and senior business and economics major Eli Meder (Williamston, Michigan / Lansing Catholic).
Head coach
Mark Northuis '82 leads the Flying Dutchmen for the 35th season. He has guided Hope to top 10 finishes at NCAA regionals 22 times and finished in second or third place in the MIAA standings 30 times.Â
As a student-athlete, Northuis was a five-time, All-MIAA cross country and track runner at Hope. He won the 1980 MIAA Cross Country Championships. He finished in the top five at the MIAA meet each of his four years. He finished 27th as both a junior and senior at the NCAA Division III national championship meet. In track, Northuis won the 5,000-meter run at the 1980 MIAA Field Day. He is still the Hope record holder in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and six-mile run.
The Hope coaching staff features two returners: associate head coach Brian VanZanten '95 and assistant coach Avery Lowe '19. There are two new assistant coaches: Mike Northuis, Mark's brother and a long-time high school cross country coach, and James Rogers '14.
Coach's Outlook
"The men are a great group. They're pretty focused and coming back with a strong nucleus. We have Connor, Eli and Dan Campbell. We have Gabe coming back for a fifth year. We're excited about our future. There is a good group of freshmen. I like the future for this year and what's coming up. We've become much deeper. Connor knows more about what to expect. He was a middle-distance runner in track and was making the adjustment to running five miles, or 8K, in cross country. He's running more miles than he has in the past. He's got a better base. He's set up for a good fall." — Mark Northuis
