by jamie olthoff

Staff Writer

The Calvin cross country teams lived up to their stellar reputations this past Saturday, posting two first place victories in the MIAA Jamboree at Hope College.

The women turned in a particularly impressive performance in the Jamboree, posting a perfect score of 15 points and claiming the top seven spots in the race. The Flying Dutch of Hope College took a distant second to the Knights with 70 points. In what could very well become the norm for this season, the women ran in a tight pack with the top five runners finishing within 22 seconds of each other. Senior Erinn Boot took first place overall in 18:57. Senior Lindsay Carrier (18:59) and junior Rachel Baber (19:02) were right on her heels, finishing second and third overall. Fourth place was claimed by sophomore Jessie Lair (19:16), and senior Laura Medema took fifth (19:19). Finishing sixth and seventh were sophomore Sarah Hastings (19:32) and freshman Mimi Speyer (19:42).

Although Coach Nancy Meyer was not surprised by the win, she was surprised at the total domination Calvin exhibited at the meet. Medema was extremely pleased with the team's performance as well. ``We knew that if we could run with the pack that no one could really break us up,'' she said. A strong pack performance will be crucial to the team's success this season, and according to Meyer, the last two meets have demonstrated that ``the pack is alive and well.''

In order to maintain the team's momentum, Meyer hopes to focus on team cohesiveness and ``mental toughness,'' and to iron out any minor mistakes her runners may be making.

The men's team rebounded nicely from their defeat at the Parkside Invitational last weekend, taking first place at the Jamboree with 21 points, a decisive 30 points ahead of second-place finisher Albion. Senior Dan Hoekstra took first place overall with a time of 25:57, followed by senior Justin Pfruender who placed second in 26:12. Senior Joel Klooster was Calvin's third finisher, placing fifth overall in 26:41. The Calvin pack continued to roll in with senior David Ritsema claiming sixth (26:57), freshman Andy Yazzie claiming seventh (27:00), and sophomore Dave Haagsma claiming eighth (27:10). Sophomores Kris Koster (27:12) and Matt Edwards (27:18) also finished for the Knights, taking 10th and 11th, respectively.

``I pretty much anticipated we would do what we did,'' commented assistant coach Al Hoekstra. ``The league right now has some good individuals, but there's not a really competitive full team.''

``Overall I was pleased [with our performance],'' said Klooster, ``but it's nowhere close to where we need to be at the end of the season.''

Coach Hoekstra agrees. ``We were National Champions, but we no longer are,'' he said. ``If we want to climb that mountain again we are all going to have to get on the same page.''

The men have been working to develop a strong pack performance as well, especially after their loss at Parkside. ``We talked extensively about running with your teammate . . . [and] feeding off each other,'' commented Coach Hoekstra. ``The pack will run as well as the guy who's feeling the best is running. That was the biggest improvement from Parkside to the Jamboree. We've always been known as a team that runs in packs.''

Both teams will face some worthy competitors at the Augustana Invitational on Saturday. The women will be looking to turn in a strong performance at the meet against Luther, who is currently ranked fourth in the nation.