Today the Calvin men's cross-country team competed in two different meets. One group of runners competed in the Interregional Invitational hosted by Augustana College in Little Rock, Illinois while the other group stayed more local to make an appearance at the Jayhawk Invitational in Muskegon, Michigan.
 
Calvin started its day at the Interregional Invitational where the Knights posted a team score of 357 and finished in ninth place. Top-ranked Wartburg nabbed first place with North Central and Wisconsin La Crosse rounded out the top three.
 
Junior Vaughn Meyer (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) led the way for the Knights when he recorded a time of 24:45.2 and finished in 25th place. Sophomore Ian Reynolds (Littleton, Colo./Denver Christian) was the next Calvin finisher at 25:15.9 while junior Brewer Snay (Macomb, Mich./Lutheran North) crossed the finish line 25:19.6.
 
Junior Pierce Bentley (Kalamazoo, Mich./Otsego) recorded a time of 25:33.1 while freshman Nolan Sarkett (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) wrapped up the Knights scoring when he finished at 25:47.6. Junior duo Justin Vos (Whitinsville, Mass./Whitinsville Christian) (26:03.2) and Jack DeKruyter (Holland, Mich./Zeeland West) (26:12.1) also competed in the field for Calvin as did sophomore Lawrence Cubitt (Traverse City, Mich./Traverse City Central) (26:43.2).
 
Meanwhile, in Muskegon the Knights finished in eighth place with a team score of 234. Grand Valley State claimed the top spot while Lansing Community College took second place. Heartland Community College rounded out the top three.
 
Sophomore Jonas Church (Wabash, Ind./Wabash) was the top finisher for the Knights when he nabbed 37th place with a time of 27:53.9. Freshman Landon Gerritsma (Zeeland, Mich./Holland Christian) was close behind in 41st place at 28:00.5 while junior Caleb Drnek (Hudsonville, Mich./Covenant Christian) crossed the finish line at 28:16.1 to take 48th place.
 
Freshman Kelton Hoover (Grand Rapids, Mich./City High) (28:39.2) and junior Jacob Brouwer (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) (28:46.5) rounded out the scoring for Calvin when they finished in 53rd place and 55th place, respectively.
 
Also competing in the field was freshman duo Rhys Holmes (Cedar Springs, Mich./Northview) (29:20.3) and Luke Smith (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia) (29:41.6) while sophomore Justyn Peterhans (Woodinville, Wash./Bellevue Christian) finished with a time of 29:49.1.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "The men continued to rise up to big challenges following Pre-Nationals," said head coach Nicole Kramer. "They surpassed the expectation of finishing in the top 10-12 of the gold, blue, and MCC races today. The impressive racing across the team sets us up for an even more realistic opportunity to return to Nationals. In the gold race, we narrowly beat two out-of-region teams, and seven more that we needed to out-race to keep building momentum throughout the squad. When you have great conditions, a full slate of career-best performances, and a team that believes and runs for each other, exciting results are most likely to follow!

"Vaughn Meyer had the breakthrough race we believed he was set up for, cracking the top 25 in this elite field and demolishing the 25-minute barrier for the first time. Having Ian, Brewer and Pierce finish well inside the top 100 was confirmation of their hard work coming to fruition. Nolan, Jack, Justin and Lawrence keyed off each other to provide valuable depth, in addition to Jacob, Caden, Abe (blue race), and Jonas, Landon and Caleb (MCC race). All-around the team and department, it's been a great weekend to be a Knight!"
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Saturday, October 31st when they compete in the MIAA Cross Country Championships in Albion, Michigan.