Updated through the 2012 season

TRADITION
Track coach Kevin Cole presents jersey
he wore in setting the Hope 800-meter
record in 1988 to new recordholder Joel
Rietsema who set mark and became a
2012 NCAA All-American.
• Men's track and field as it known today became an intercollegiate sport at Hope College in 1916. Hope's first dual meet was a 78.5-25.5 victory over Mount Pleasant Normal (Central Michigan University).
• Hope's track and field complex honors Gordon Brewer '48 whose involvement with Hope College spans seven decades, including 32 years as track coach.
• Rob Appell '86 won the 1985 NCAA Division III national championship in the high jump clearing seven feet. He received MIAA most valuable trackster award three times (1984-86), an accomplishment not repeated since.
• Through the years, the shotput event has been special to the Buys family. Ekdal J. Buys, Sr. '37 was the MIAA shotput conference champion as both a junior and senior. His Hope shotput record stood for 33 years. Grandson Matt Buys '92 won the MIAA shotput championship three consecutive years and the discus crown twice.
• Among Hope's many outstanding sprinters was Cliff Haverdink '72, who was conference champion in three events during his career. He competed in six events at the 1970 MIAA Field Day anchoring the championship mile relay.
• Ron Bos '53 was one of the most versatile and talented athletes to grace the Hope campus. In the winter he starred on the basketball court, leading Hope to MIAA basketball championships in 1952 and 1953. In the spring he competed concurrently in tennis and track. He played number one singles and number two doubles in tennis and was the MIAA champion in the 100 and 200 dash in both 1952 and 1953.
• The MIAA Field Day is one of the oldest intercollegiate athletic events in America dating back to 1888. Hope had its first opportunity to host Field Day in 1966 as part of the college's 100th year commemoration. The Dutchmen used the home track to their advantage, winning the first of three consecutive league championships.
• No MIAA mark in any sport stayed in the record book longer than John Kleinheksel's '60 long jump of 23 feet, 6 1/2 inches at the 1958 league Field Day. The league record withstood all challengers until it was broken in 2002. It remains the oldest mark in Hope's track and field record book.

• Ryan TerLouw became the first Hope male athlete to gain All-America honors three times in the same event when he finished 4th in the 1,500-meter run at the 2007 NCAA Division III championships. He finished 7th as a sophomore (2005) and was 5th as a junior (2006).

• The 2011 Flying Dutchmen ended a 25-year drought by claiming a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) title, albeit a co-championship with rival Calvin. Hope won a mid-season league jamboree while Calvin took first on Field Day to cause the co-championship.

• John Donkersloot also became a three-time All-American in the single event, the high jump, finishing third as both a sophomore (2009) and junior (2010) and fourth as a senior (2011).