Hope College’s Connor Vachon ended one long run in MIAA men’s cross country. He and his Flying Dutchmen teammates nearly stopped another.
Vachon clocked a winning 8K time at the MIAA Championships of 24 minutes, 21.2 seconds on Saturday at Shepherd High School in Shepherd, Michigan.
The sophomore from Jenison, Michigan (Jenison HS) is Hope’s first MIAA men’s cross country champion in 36 years. Calvin University runners had finished first in the previous 34 races. There was no MIAA championship held in 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Led by Vachon, Hope challenged Calvin for the team title before finishing four points behind the Knights with 27 points. It was the closest MIAA men’s championship since the Flying Dutchmen beat Calvin by eight points in 1986. The Knights extended their string of MIAA championships to 34.
“The guys gave a great effort,” head coach Mark Northuis said. “It was probably the best conference race in a long, long time. Some of our guys were freshmen in 2019 when we tied for third. Today we challenged one of the perennially best teams in the nation and lost by a couple of points.”
No MIAA team had been closer than 18 points to Calvin since the Knights’ run started in 1987. Hope finished 18 points behind Calvin in 2014. Kalamazoo trailed the Knights by 19 points in 1999.
On Saturday, the Flying Dutchmen posted four of the eight fastest runs just like the Knights did. Calvin posted one more Top 10 performance to secure the victory.
Vachon outkicked Calvin’s Brandan Knepper, the 2021 MIAA champion, at the finish line and finished ahead by 6.6 seconds.
Senior Anders Bogard (Kalamazoo, Michigan / Mattawan) crossed the finish line next for the Flying Dutchmen in fourth at 24:52.3.
Sophomore Cole Jensen (Montague, Michigan / Montague) followed in sixth at 25:00.3.
Freshman Carston Cole (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) placed eighth at 25:05.9.
Senior Gabe DeYoung (Saegertown, Pennsylvania / Saegertown) capped Hope’s scoring with a 12th-place time of 25:26.1.
The Flying Dutchmen had two more runners finish in the Top 20: sophomore Lucas Guidone (Chicago, Illinois / Home School) in 14th at 25:28.9 and senior Eli Meder (Williamston, Michigan / Lansing Catholic) in 19th at 25:56.4.
“The guys came to race,” Northuis said. “They raced with confidence and determination. It shows we’re trending in the right direction.”
Vachon joined an elite group of Flying Dutchmen MIAA men’s champions in cross country. Eleven other Hope runners, including Northuis, had been individual league champs a total of 13 times.
The Flying Dutchmen’s next race is the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships Hope College is hosting on Saturday, Nov. 12, at Three Fires Golf Club in Holland.
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