Results
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The 15th-ranked Calvin University men's cross country team finished eighth against a loaded field at the Interregional Invitational hosted by Augustana College on Saturday.
The Knights were among eight ranked teams competing at the event, including three teams ranked inside of the top five in the nation, and finished with a total team score of 297 points.
Luke Witvliet (Grandville, Mich./Calvin Christian) was the first Calvin runner to cross the finish line in a time of 24:36.2 for 11th place in the official results.
Eric Swinson (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) finished 36th with a time of 25:11.2, followed by
Thaine Nederveld (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus Alternative) in 53rd place with a time of 25:26.2.
Caleb Gaffner (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) was the fourth Calvin runner to finish and took 67th place with a time of 25:32.6, and
Vaughn Meyer (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) rounded out the top five for the Knights with a time of 26:16.7 in 130th place.
Jacob Buit (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) and
Brandan Knepper were the next two Calvin runners. Buit (26:30.9) finished 148th, while Knepper (26:32.8) took 152nd.
Wartburg College, which entered the day ranked second in the nation, won the event with 41 total points, followed by fifth-ranked North Central College (144) and fourth-ranked UW-Whitewater (160).
COACH'S COMMENT: "We were looking to place in the top five as a team today, so to finish in eighth is not where we wanted to be," Calvin head cross country coach
Nicole Kramer said. "A few programs put themselves in the mix to race exceptionally and it panned out, while we had an average day overall with too much of a gap between our fourth and fifth runners."
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Luke Witvliet had a very good race today, along with plenty of individual bright spots. We have been putting in great work as a team, and plan to have that translate better onto the course as we enter the championship portion of the season. We have no shortage of ability or desire, and will be hungry to put all our key pieces together from here."
NEXT UP: Calvin cross country will return to action on Saturday, November 2, when it hosts the MIAA Cross Country Championships. The race is scheduled to start at 12:00 PM.
