On a historic day for the Hope College cross country program, the nationally-ranked Flying Dutch rose to the occasion on the 6,000-meter stage and captured the women's Great Lakes Regional championship in a one-point thriller over Calvin University on Saturday in East Lansing.
Topping a 35-team field with 84 points to Calvin's 85, the women's squad paired with the men's team's victory to achieve a feat never before seen in program history: a sweep of both Great Lakes Regional titles in the same season.
The women's regional title also was Hope's eighth, joining teams from 2021, 2017, 2015, 2012, 1987, 1986, and 1985.
"All you have to do is look at the score and you can see it was an exciting race," head coach Mark Northuis said. "Our women came through. They battled, and it just shows again that it's definitely a team race and our top five really came through only 15 seconds separating our top five. That's an amazing feat and made the difference for us today."
Depth and discipline defined Hope's path to the podium, as all five scoring runners finished inside the Top 23.
Sophomore Anna Sybenga (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Forest Hills Central HS) set the pace for the Flying Dutch, breaking into the top 10 in 10th place at 22:20.0.
Senior Mary England (Kalamazoo, Michigan / Kalamazoo Central) was right on her heels in 13th at 22:24.4, while freshman Ruth Miller (Indianapolis, Indiana / Herron) kept the momentum rolling with a 16th-place finish in 22:29.4.
Senior Olivia Ippel (St. Joseph, Michigan / St. Joseph) and sophomore Miranda Sawvel (Blaine, Minnesota / Centennial) closed out Hope's scoring pack by crossing the finish line just two-tenths of a second apart.
Ippel secured 22nd place in 22:34.6, immediately followed by Sawvel in 23rd at 22:34.8 to lock down the team's 84-point total.
Freshman Abby Lewis (Barrington, Illinois / Barrington Community) and freshman Marie Gates (Hudsonville, Michigan / Unity Christian) capped off the historic afternoon for the Flying Dutch, finishing 41st (23:06.4) and 48th (23:09.9), respectively.
"They ran great as a group," Northuis said. "We put three freshmen out there, and they performed phenomenally. Ruthie Miller just came through running third for us on this team and that's just amazing for someone who wasn't even in our Top 12 a couple weeks ago. It's been fun to watch her develop and the other ladies who are right with them."
Hope now looks towards the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Northfield, Minnesota at the Bill Huyck Championship Course.
