2011 Honors and 2012 Captains are Announced (12/6/11)
Awards to members of the 2011 Flying Dutchmen team have been announced by coach Mark Northuis.
Individual Honors
Most Valuable Runner - Nate Love, senior from Midland (Midland HS)
Most Improved Runner - Jesse Henkle, sophomore from Mason (Mason HS)
Best Newcomer - Ben Zank, freshman from Midland (Midland HS)
2012 Captains-Elect
Will Hewitt, junior from Grand Haven (Grand Haven HS)
Blake Rottschafer, junior from Spring Lake (Spring Lake HS)
Chris Ryan, junior from Vicksburg (Vicksburg HS)

Hope Harriers Compete at NCAA Championships (11/19/11)
Men's Results
Senior Nate Love of Midland (Midland HS) concluded his collegiate cross country career finishing 81st among 279 runners with a career-best 8K time of 25:09.5. It was nearly five second faster than his 2010 nationals time (25:13.2) when he placed 61st. Co-captain of the team, Love was a three-time All-MIAA runner. He was a second team honoree as a sophomore and on the first team as both a junior and senior.

Nationals Await Hope Runners (11/12/11)
Women's Results / Men's Results
For the second straight year, the Flying Dutch as a team and senior Nate Love as an individual are headed to the NCAA Division III cross country championships. They have qualified after competing at the Great Lakes Regionals on Saturday. The national meet will be held in Oshkosh, Wisc. next Saturday.

Women: Sophomore Sheri McCormack (pictured) led the Flying Dutch with a fourth place finish among 251 runners at the regional. The Flying Dutch finished third as a team behind rival Calvin and Ohio Northern. The Flying Dutch will be competing at nationals for the fifth time in school history. Rounding out Hope's top five finishers at Regionals were sophomore Meredith Busman, 17th; sophomore Camille Borst, 26th; senior Kate Nelson, 27th; and senior Kelly Lufkin, 29th.

Men: Senior Nate Love placed 13th among 243 runners at the regional meet. A year ago he was 61st at the national meet. Hope as a team just missed consideration for an at-large bid to nationals finishing only two points behind the fifth place team. Meet winner Calvin and runnerup Wabash received automatic bids to nationals. Rounding out Hope's top five finishers were junior Blake Rottschafer, 28th; freshman Ben Zank, 39th; senior Andrew McKeachie, 56th; and junior Chris Ryan, 93rd.

Flying Dutchmen Finish Second at MIAA Championships (10/29/11)
Results
Featuring outstanding team balance, the Flying Dutchmen finished second at the MIAA championships on Saturday. Calvin repeated as champions while the Flying Dutchmen of coach Mark Northuis finished third points ahead of Albion to take the seasonal runnerup spot. Hope top five runners were within 47 seconds of each other. Senior Nathan Love finished sixth in the field with an 8K time of 25:28 and his teammates were right behind -- junior Blake Rottschafer, 11th (25:40); freshman Ben Zank, 12th (25:44); senior Brian Hernandez, 19th (26:14); and sophomore Tom Smeltzer, 20th (26:15).

Hope Teams Compete at Site of Future Nationals (10/15/11)
Men's Results / Women's Results
Hope's cross country teams had an opportunity on Saturday to compete on the course of next month's NCAA Division III national championship meet in Oshkosh, Wisc.
Women: The Flying Dutch were seventh in a field of 43 teams. Washington-St. Louis won the meet with 61 points. Hope totaled 250 points. Sheri McCormack led Hope's finishers in 12th place among the 395 runners with a 6K time of 22:24.
Men: The Flying Dutchmen placed 17th in a field of 47 teams. North Central, Ill. won the meet with 49 points. Hope totaled 530 points. Nate Love led Hope's finishers in 31st place among 434 runners with an 8K time of 25:50.
Jayhawk Invitational: A split squad competed in the Jayhawk Invitational hosted by Muskegon Community College on Friday. The Flying Dutch won the women's meet while the Flying Dutchmen were second. Leading the Flying Dutch was Taylor Mattarella who was the third collegiate finisher in the women's 6K while topping the men was William HeWitt who was sixth in the 8K.

Harriers Compete in Louisville, Ky. Classic (10/1/11)
Men's Results / Women's Gold Results / Women's Silver Results
Hope's cross country teams participated in the Louisville Classic on Saturday. The meet attracted more than 100 teams from every NCAA Division. In the men's blue division, the Flying Dutchmen finished 10th led by senior Nathan Love who was third in the field of 285 runners. The Flying Dutch had runners compete in two divisions, finishing 23rd in the mostly Division I gold field and third in the silver division.

Harriers Compete in Lansing Invitational (9/30/11)
It's a busy weekend for member of the Hope cross country teams with athletes competing in two invitationals. On Friday teams comprised mostly of underclassmen competed at the Lansing Invitational hosted by Lansing Community College. On Saturday another contingent of runners will be competing in an invitational in Louisville, Ky.

Men: With five runners finishing within a minute of one another, the Flying Dutchmen finished fifth in a field of 15 teams. Siena Heights won the meet with 41 points. Hope ended with 143 points. Leading Hope in the field of 161 runners over the 8K race was sophomore Tom Smeltzer in 19th place (26:39). Other Hope runners were sophomore James Rogers, 27th (26:50); sophomore Jesse Henkel, 41st (27:19); freshman Zack Zandbergen, 42nd (27:19); and sophomore Daniel Schriemer, 50th (27:25).

Women: The Flying Dutch finished ninth in a field of 15 teams. Saginaw Valley won the meet with 25 points. Hope ended with 252 points. Leading Hope in the field of 140 runners over the 5K race was sophomore Julia Windom in 33rd place (19:51). Other Hope runners were sophomore Catie Gammon, 60th (20:41); sophomore Julia Slesinski, 62nd (20:42); sophomore Hannah Nyboer, 74th (21:09); and freshman Katherine Hauge, 88th (21:45).

Flying Dutchmen Third at MIAA Jamboree (9/24/11)
The Flying Dutchmen finished third at the MIAA Jamboree hosted by Trine on Saturday. Calvin led the eight-team field with 16 points while Albion edged Hope 61-62 for second place. Rounding out the scored were Adrian 132, Alma 159, Trine 170, Kalamazoo 187 and Olivet 233. Hope had two runners in the top ten of the 8K race -- #5 Nathan Love and #10 Blake Rottschafer. Results

Senior Nate Love Wins Vanderbilt Invitational
Results
MIAA rival Albion edged the host Flying Dutchmen for the second year in-a-row and claimed the Vanderbilt prize for the sixth time since 2001. The Britons had 24 points while Hope had 37 followed by Cornerstone 74 and Muskegon CC 103. Hope senior Nathan Love led the field over the 8K course in 26:14. Other Hope finishers were Ben Zank, 5th-26:47; Kyle Gibson, 9th-27:04; Andrew McKeachie, 10th-27:06; and Will Hewitt, 12th-27:33.

With a pre-season roster that includes 22 returning letterwinners, the Flying Dutchmen look to build on a successful 2010 season in which they finished third in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and sixth among 33 teams in the Great Lakes Region of NCAA Division III.

Hope has a long history of competitiveness in the MIAA and NCAA. Under coach Mark Northuis the past 22 seasons, the team has finished third or higher every year in the conference standings and has been in the top ten in the Great Lakes NCAA Division III Region eight of the last 10 seasons.

The pre-season roster of returning letterwinners is one of the largest in recent years and consists of 11 sophomores, six juniors and eight seniors. There are also six freshman prospects.

The co-captains of the team are senior Nathan Love of Midland (Midland HS) and Andrew McKeachie of Milford (Milford HS).

A year ago Love qualified for the Division III national championships by finishing eighth in a field of 240 runners at the Great Lakes championships which were hosted by Hope. He finished 61st among 279 runners at nationals with a career best time over the 8K course. McKeachie received All-MIAA honors in track and field after finishing second in the 1,500 meter run at the conference championships.

Senior Kyle Gibson of Alma (Alma HS) was voted the team's most improved runner in 2010 while sophomore Sam Pederson of Mt. Prospect, Ill. (Prospect HS) was named rookie of the year. Senior Brian Hernandez of Saline (Saline HS) received All-MIAA honors in 2009.

Seven of Hope's eight entries in the 2010 MIAA and NCAA Regional championships return -- Kyle Gibson, Brian Hernandez, Nathan Love, Samuel Pederson, junior Blake Rottschafer of Spring Lake (Spring Lake HS), junior Chris Ryan of Vicksburg (Vicksburg HS) and sophomore Tom Smeltzer of Frankfort (Benzie Central HS).

Other returning senior letterwinners are Ben Fineout of Zeeland and Bruce Kraay, both from Zeeland (Zeeland East HS). Returning junior letterwinners are Will Hewitt of Grand Haven (Grand Haven HS), Kyle Mireles of Livonia (Churchill HS), and Andrew Wiersum of Minnetonka, Minn. (Minnetonka HS).

Returning sophomores who lettered in their first collegiate season are Alex Brock of Holland (West Ottawa HS), Rollin Cook of Ada (Forest Hills Central HS), Joseph Frakes of Ann Arbor (Pioneer HS), Jesse Henkel of Grand Haven (Grand Haven HS), Josh Kammeraad of Bethel Park, Pa. (Bethel Park HS), Tim Lewis of South Haven (South Haven HS), James Rogers of Saginaw (Valley Lutheran HS), and Daniel Schriemer of Vicksburg (Vicksburg HS).

Post-Season Honors
Awards recognizing outstanding performances and contributions to the 2010 cross country program have been announced by coach Mark Mark Northuis. The honors are as follows:
Most Valuable Runner
Nathan Love, junior from Midland (Midland HS)
Most Improved Runner
Kyle Gibson, junior from Alma (Alma HS)
Rookie of the Year
Sam Pederson, freshman from Mt. Prospect (Mt. Prospect HS)
Dr. Vandervelde Coaches' Award
Jordan Richardson, senior from Reading (Reading HS)

Cross Country Teams Honored for Academics
Both Hope cross country teams have received All-Academic accolades from the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association of America. The recognition is especially significant for the women's cross country program which has been named to the Academic Honor Roll every year since the award was initiated in 1990. The men's program has been recognized every year but one during that time. continue

Hope Runner Competes at Nationals
Results
Hope athletes competed in the NCAA Division III cross country championships in Waverly, Iowa. Competing as an individual, junior Nathan Love of Midland, Mich. (Midland HS) finished 61st among 279 runners over the 8K course with a career best time(25:13.2). The race was won by Anders Hulleberg (24:22.2) of national champion Haverford. MIAA team entrants Calvin and Albion were 8th and 31st respectively.

Hope Teams Excel at NCAA Regional
Regional Results
Junior Nate Love (Midland/Midland HS) qualified for the NCAA Division III national cross country championships after a strong finish at the Great Lakes Regional held in Holland. Love qualified as an individual with an eighth place (25:20.9) finish in the field of 240 runners. A year ago as a sophomore he finished 98th at regionals. Other Hope finishers were sophomore Chris Ryan, 44th (26:11.3), sophomore Blake Rottschafer, 50th (26:16.6), freshman Sam Pederson, 51st (26:17.1), junior Brian Hernandez, 67th (26:32.3), senior Jordan Richardson, 130th (27:18.6), and freshman Tom Smeltzer. 153rd (27:28.2). The Hope men finished sixth in the field of 33 teams. Calvin won the men's regional team title for a 15th consecutive year, led by senior Nick Kramer who repeated as the individual champion.

Dutchmen Third at MIAA Championships
Men's Results
The Flying Dutchmen finished third at the MIAA championships. Calvin repeated as league champions with 19 points followed by Albion 61, Hope 70, Alma 116, Adrian 127, Trine 171 and Kalamazoo 203. Nathan Love, a junior from Midland (Midland HS), led the Dutchmen in fourth place with an 8K time of 25:20.7 and was presented All-MIAA first team honors. Other Hope finishers were Chris Ryan, 15th (26:19.3); Brian Hernandez, 16th (26:26.4); Blake Rottschafer, 17th (26:29.6); Samuel Pederson, 18th (26:33.9); Kyle Gibson, 21st (26:46.6); and Jordan Richardson, 28th (27:06.8).