MIAA Men's Cross Country Championships Photo Gallery No. 1 / MIAA Men's Cross Country Championships Photo Gallery No. 2

RESULTS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Today the Calvin men's cross country team claimed its 37th consecutive MIAA title as the Knights took the top spot at the MIAA Championship.
 
Finishing with a team score of 36 points the Knights beat the Dutchmen from Hope College by just one point while Trine nabbed the third place spot with a score of 62 points.
 
Senior Luke Witvliet (Grandville, Mich./Grandville Christian) led the way for the Knights as well as the entire field as he was today's MIAA Individual Champion finishing with a time of 24:13.8. Fellow senior Thaine Nederveld (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus Alternative) the second Calvin runner to cross the finish line at 24:44.5 for fifth place while junior Eric Swinson (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) was close behind in seventh place with a time of 24:50.7.
 
Senior duo Caleb Gaffner (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) and Jacob Buit (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) rounded out the scoring for the Knights as Gaffner took tenth place with a time of 25:07.5 and Buit had a time of 25:18.9 as he finished in thirteenth place. 
 
Senior Brandan Knepper (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg Area) and freshman Vaughn Meyer (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) also had solid performances today as they crossed the finish line at 25:36.1 and 26:17.6, respectively.
 
Witvliet, Nederveld, and Swinson were all named to the All-MIAA FirstTeam while Gaffner and Buit were named to the All-MIAA Second Team. Witvliet was named the MIAA's Most Valuable Runner. 
 
COACHES COMMENT: "As anticipated this was a really tight race," said head cross country coach Nicole Kramer. "We knew that it was going to be a really tight battle as Hope in particular always gears up well for this meet and has given us some really tough races these last couple years. Our conference has gotten a lot stronger but it was awesome to see our experience shine through today. Luke [Witvliet] did an amazing job getting a good jump from the gun and not looking back so it was nice having him lead the charge for us. However, a lot of today's race came down to individual battles and being patient. Swinson, Gaffner, and Nederveld each ran as hard and smart of a race as they could have and then Jacob [Buit] man, just so proud of him for his performance today. Really proud of all these guys, excited about the day as a whole and we will be enjoying this one for sure."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Saturday, November 16th when they travel to Shelbyville, Ind. to compete in the NCAA Regionals.