By JEFF FEBUS

Mark Christner is proof that you can indeed go home again. Now in his seventh year as Calvin head women's basketball coach, Christner recorded his 100^th victory at the helm of the Knights in an 82-51 win at Wilmington College Tuesday night.
 
A 1999 Calvin graduate, Christner spent 11 years as a Calvin assistant basketball coach - eight years with the Calvin men's program – and three years with the women's basketball program. He played a key role in Calvin basketball success, helping the 2000 women's basketball team reach the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA III Tournament while helping the men's program reach the NCAA III Final Four in 2005.

In the spring of 2010, he departed to take his first head coaching job, assuming duties as head men's basketball coach at Waynesburg University in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He remained at Waynesburg over the next nine years, winning 88 games and posting five seasons of double-digit wins.

In the summer of 2019, he returned to his alma mater to serve as its head women's basketball coach.

"To be honest, I never thought I would have a chance to go back to Calvin," said Christner, a native of Big Rapids, Michigan. "When the position opened, I felt a calling to apply for it. It's been a great move. Calvin is a place that has molded me as a student and as a coach and certainly in my faith. Calvin is a place you can do everything well, from academics to athletics to faith formation. To be able to give back and serve this institution is an honor."

He has led the Calvin women's basketball team to the MIAA Tournament semifinals six times. Last year, he led the Knights to the MIAA Tournament title, upsetting nationally-ranked Hope and Trine on back-to-back nights. The MIAA Tournament crown propelled Calvin into its first NCAA III Tournament appearance since 2017.

He has a career won-loss record of 100-52 at Calvin including 59-26 against MIAA competition.

"I realize that this is a game where you are recognized by numbers, but you don't achieve things without players or assistant coaches," said Christner.  "I've been blessed to have many great assistant coaches and players that have helped me during my time as (women's) coach. I think of assistant coaches like Heather DeKleine-Hilbrands. Heather Swierenga and Anna Drews who were players in this program and have chosen to reinvest in it as coaches. And now to have John Ross back on staff as an assistant after all of the blood, sweat and tears he poured into this program as its head coach is special. I wouldn't be where I am today without them. I am also grateful to have players that have chosen us and continue to choose us to pursue their goals as student-athletes."  

The women's basketball program has a core tenant says Christner. "It's about serving our players, pouring into them and building them into the best young Christian student-athletes they can be," he says. "I was able to experience that as a student and now it's our turn to give back."

Christner has a team to coach, but he also is a part of team within the Calvin Athletics Department. "We have amazing coaches at Calvin and I'm grateful to be part of their team," he says. "I lean on my coaching colleagues every day. They lift me up, filling me with advice and encouragement."

One colleague who has been particularly meaningful to Christner is Calvin men's basketball coach emeritus Kevin Vande Streek. Christner played for Vande Streek and served as his lead assistant coach for seven years. "He's been a great friend," said Christner. "His mentorship has been very meaningful. We still go out for breakfast and he offers his insights. I try to emulate the way he mentored me as an assistant coach with the way I mentor my own assistant coaches."

There is a growing Christner coaching tree. Two of his former men's basketball players from Waynesburg are now head coaches with 2017 Waynesburg alum Tim Kaiser the head men's basketball coach at Adrian College and 2015 Waynesburg graduate Jacob Fleegle now the head men's basketball coach at Messiah University.

The bedrock behind Christner is his family. His wife Sara (Plasman) Christner is a 2000 graduate and a former Calvin softball and women's basketball player. Son Leo is a rising sophomore at Calvin University while daughters Elin and Nora are students at Hudsonville Unity Christian High School.

"I've been blessed to have a supporting wife who loves Calvin and loves athletics," says Christner. "She helps foster the family atmosphere with our women's basketball program. I'm also blessed to have three children that are all on board with what I do as a vocation. I would not be here today without them."