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Hosted by Kalamazoo College November 10, 2001 |
| Contact Information | Preview courtesy of Jeff Febus,
SID, Calvin College
Introduction Teams from the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan gather this Saturday with the hopes of qualifying for the NCAA III Championships next Saturday in Rock Island, Illinois. In the men’s race, the top three teams will advance to the NCAA III Championships along with the six best individuals not on a qualifying team. In the women’s race, the top three teams will also earn trips to the NCAA III Championships with five additional individual spots also up for grabs. The top-35 finishers in the men’s and women’s races will also earn Great Lakes All-Region honors. Men's Preview Calvin enters the race as the favorite to claim the Great Lakes Regional team crown. Ranked sixth nationally heading into the week, the Knights have captured the last five Great Lakes Regional crowns including 12 of the last 14. Wabash College is the last school other than Calvin to have won the Great Lakes crown as the Little Giants achieved the feat in 1995 when Alma served as regional host. A year ago, Calvin captured the Great Lakes Regional title with a total of 22 points, placing five runners in the top nine. A week later at the NCAA III Championships in Spokane, Washington, Calvin captured its first-ever national title with a team score of 65 points. Calvin senior Dan Hoekstra of Kalamazoo, Michigan is the defending Great Lakes Regional champion as he took first place at the regional meet hosted by Hanover College last year with a time of 25:25. Other returning Calvin runners who cracked the top-10 at the regional last year include seniors Justin Pfruender and Joel Klooster. Klooster finished second and Pfruender third. All three individuals have earned Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Most Valuable Runner accolades in their collegiate career with Pfruender earning the award with a first place time of 25:42 at the MIAA Championships two weeks ago. Pfruender’s first place finish helped Calvin capture its 15th consecutive MIAA title. In addition, all three were All-Americans at the NCAA III Championships last November with Hoekstra taking second, Klooster 10th, and Pfruender 14th. Calvin is one of three nationally-ranked teams in the Great Lakes Regional men’s field as Kenyon is ranked 11th and DePauw 17th. Kenyon captured its third consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference title two weeks ago with junior Ben Hildebrand leading the Lords with a first place time of 26:00. Hildebrand was part of a 1-2-3-4 finish for Kenyon at the NCAC championships as junior Michael Baird was second, senior Cary Snyder third and junior Matt Cabrera fourth. All four individuals were named to the All-NCAC first team. At the 2000 Great Lakes Regional, Hildebrand took sixth with a time of 25:51 as the Lords took second as a team with 76 points. DePauw captured the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference title two weeks ago with a near perfect score of 16 points. The SCAC title was the second in a row for the Tigers who were led by senior Eric Fruth who won with a time of 26:06, marking the second straight SCAC individual title for Fruth. Anderson was third at last year’s Great Lakes Regional with 182 points to earn the final team berth to the NCAA III Championships. Junior Michael Watts is the top man for the Ravens as he earned All-America honors at the national meet last year with a 20th place individual finish. At the regional meet in Hanover last year, Watts was fifth with a time of 25:51. Watts was second at the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships two weeks ago with a time of 27:06. Anderson sophomore Jason Parks was the top finisher at the HCAC Championships with a time of 26:30. The 1-2 Anderson finish helped the Ravens capture the HCAC team title with 22 points. Mount Union captured the Ohio Athletic Conference title two weeks ago with 38 points. The 1997 national runner-up, Mount Union was led by senior Mark Prejsnar and sophomore Bryan Less who took second and fourth respectively at the OAC Championships. Heidelberg junior Aaron Hay was the OAC individual champion with a time of 25:56. Another individual face to watch is Wabash senior Jared Smith who was eighth at the Great Lakes Regional last year with a time of 26:07 and fifth two weeks ago at the NCAC Championships. Women's Preview Calvin also enters today’s race as the favorite to claim the Great Lakes Regional team crown. Ranked third nationally heading into the week, the Knights have captured the last 12 Great Lakes Regional crowns including national championships in 1998 and 1999 as well as national runner-up berths in 1992, 1993, and 1994. A year ago, Calvin took first place at the Great Lakes Regional hosted by Hanover College with a team score of 41 points. Baldwin-Wallace pushed the Knights at the regional however, finishing second with 74 points. A week later at the NCAA III Championships, the Yellow Jackets finished ahead of the Knights with a 12th place team finish while Calvin was 14th. Calvin placed six runners in the top-15 at last year’s regional and return four of last year’s top-six. Senior Erinn Boot of Kalamazoo, Michigan is the top returner for Calvin as she took sixth at the Great Lakes Regional and 61st at the NCAA III Championships last year. At the MIAA Championships two weeks ago, Boot helped lead Calvin to its 14th straight MIAA title as she took first place with a time of 18:38 and was named the MIAA’s Most Valuable Runner. Senior Lindsay Carrier is another top returner for Calvin as she was 10th at the Great Lakes Regional last fall. Sophomores Jessie Lair and Sarah Hastings were also in the top-15 at the regional meet for Calvin last year as Lair was 14th and Hastings 15th. Baldwin-Wallace remains a challenger for the Great Lakes Regional title. Ranked 14th nationally heading into the week, Baldwin-Wallace captured its 13th OAC title including its ninth in the last 10 years with a first place score of 25 points at the OAC Championships October 27. Baldwin-Wallace took three of the top five spots at the OAC Championships with senior Hannah Purdy leading the charge with a first place time of 18:57. Baldwin-Wallace junior Nicole Drouhard was close behind, taking second in 19:03 while junior Jessica Textoris was fifth in 19:21. Purdy is one of the individual favorites for today’s regional meet as she took seventh at the Great Lakes Regional and 39th at the NCAA III Championships last year. DePauw was third at the Great Lakes Regional last year with a team score of 145 points. The Tigers were second at the SCAC Championships two weeks ago with a score of 42 points. Freshman Natalie Shaffer was the top finisher for DePauw, taking second place individually with a time of 19:43. Hanover was the Heartland Conference champion as the Tigers produced a first place team score of 48 points at the HCAC Championships. Junior Erin Matson was the top finisher for Hanover with a second place time of 19:11. Matson was 11th at the Great Lakes Regional last year. Anderson sophomore Lisa Nicholson is the defending Great Lakes Regional individual champion as she took first place at the 2000 Great Lakes Regional with a time of 18:28, finishing 15 seconds ahead of her nearest pursuer. Nicholson then ran to All-America honors at the NCAA III Championships as she placed 12th individually. Junior Amber Sigler is another face to watch for the Ravens as she finished fifth at the regional meet and 80th at the NCAA III Championships last year. At the HCAC Championships two weeks ago, Sigler was fourth individually. As a team, Anderson was second at the HCAC Championships with a score of 57 points. Kenyon captured the NCAC team title two weeks ago with a score of 56 points. The Ladies were led by sophomore Laura Koss who was sixth with a time of 19:35. Wittenberg junior Abi Gerstle was the NCAC individual winner with a time of 19:09. Gerstle is one of six returning top-10 runners from last year’s Great Lakes Regional as she was eighth a year ago. |