Regionally-Ranked Men's Cross Country Dominates at Olivet Invitational

The regionally-ranked Hope College men's cross country team enjoyed a rousing start to the 2024 season.

The Flying Dutchmen recorded eight of the top 10 times during the non-scoring The University of Olivet Comet Invitational on Friday in Charlotte.

Junior Ian Petruska (Fort Collins, Colorado / Fort Collins HS) topped the Flying Dutchmen with a first-place run of 14 minutes, 12.5 seconds at Broadway Acres Golf Course.

Men's and women's runners raced simultaneously on a modified course of less than 3.1 miles due to rain that caused the original course to become unsafe.

Freshman Elias Kretchmar (Granville, Ohio / Granville) posted the second-fastest time for Hope with a fourth-place run of 14:49.7.

Kretchmar was followed by:

5. Senior Tyler King (Villa Park, Illinois / Willowbrook) at 14:51.2;
6. Freshman Cooper Jacobsen (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Forest Hills Eastern) at 14:57.5;
7. Freshman Max Lewis (Barrington, Illinois / Barrington) at 15:03.0;
8. Sophomore Carter Dean (Traverse City, Michigan / Traverse City West) at 15:04.4;
9. Sophomore Tim Peterson (Portage, Michigan / Portage Northern) at 15:07.1; and
10. Junior Erickson Kunzler (Marne, Michigan / Grand Rapids Catholic Central) at 10:10.9.

Six more Hope runners finished in the Top 20 of the 65-runner field.

The Flying Dutchmen's next meet is Friday, Sept. 13, at 11 a.m. at the Grand Rapids Community College/Calvin University Invitational at the Gainey Athletic Complex.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Tyler King: Junior; Biochemistry & Molecular Biol

Erickson Kunzler: Sophomore; Exercise Science

Carter Dean: Sophomore

Tim Peterson: Freshman; Nursing

Ian Petruska: Freshman

Cooper Jacobsen: Freshman

Elias Kretchmar: Freshman

Max Lewis: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Tyler King
: Junior; Biochemistry & Molecular Biol

Erickson Kunzler
: Sophomore; Exercise Science

Carter Dean
: Sophomore

Tim Peterson
: Freshman; Nursing

Ian Petruska
: Freshman

Cooper Jacobsen
: Freshman

Elias Kretchmar
: Freshman

Max Lewis
: Freshman