Division III cross country

[Ralph Turner]

Texas D-III State Championship Meet in Abilene, Texas;  Hosted by McMurry University.

News article in the Abilene Reporter-News

Congratulations to the McMurry Men and the Trinity Women, the Winners of the Texas State D-III Cross Country Championships.

[mybleedinghands]

Two head coaches, an assistant coach and a jv coach for CROSS COUNTRY!?  Who else has that kind of staffing?

who the hell needs more than one cross country coach. all they do is run long distances, its not like they gotta dribble a ball, shot a ball into a hoop, and pass a ball! all they do is run, thats it. i would think one coach would be able to handle telling their kids to run long distances.

[Grutte Dirk]

Two head coaches, an assistant coach and a jv coach for CROSS COUNTRY!?  Who else has that kind of staff?

who the hell needs more than one cross country coach. all they do is run long distances, its not like they gotta dribble a ball, shoot a ball into a hoop, and pass a ball! all they do is run, thats it. i would think one coach would be able to handle telling their kids to run long distances.

Your logic is impeccable . . . are you at one of those great schools where the basketball team has a dribbling coach, and a shooting coach, and a passing coach?  WOW!

Plus, you must be at a school where the coach only tells the athletes what to do, no relationships, no teaching, no community . . . are you hanging banners for every recruit that shows up on campus?   'cause your approach is not going to bring many wins, let alone championships.

[Grutte Dirk]

Who the heck needs more than one cross country coach?

edited for grammar

A better question may be .... What do all those coaches do? or Why don't more schools have a complete staff like Calvin College?

But I don't know too much.

[Grutte Dirk]

Two head coaches, an assistant coach and a jv coach for CROSS COUNTRY!?  Who else has that kind of staffing?

who the hell needs more than one cross country coach.

Calvin College XC recent results - -

            women     men
1998        1st         2nd
1999        1st         4th
2000                     1st
2001                     2nd
2002                     2nd
2003                     1st
2004                     1st
2005                     2nd
2006       #6           #1

women .... Runner-up (1992, 1993, 1994)  4th Place (1995, 1996)

                 women                           men
1987                                    Regional Champions 
1988                                    Regional Champions 
1989    Regional Champions     Regional Champions 
1990    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
1991    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
1992    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
1993    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
1994    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
1995    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
1996    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
1997    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
1998    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
1999    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
2000    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
2001    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
2002    Regional Champions     Regional Champions
2003                                    Regional Champions
2004                                    Regional Champions
2005                                    Regional Champions

Maybe, just maybe, they know better than you.

[Cowman]

edited for grammar

But I don't know too much.

Maybe, just maybe, they know better than you.

Is there a limit to the amount of smartass comments that can be written made in one day?

[NMKnights]

edited for grammar

But I don't know too much.

Maybe, just maybe, they know better than you.

Is there a limit to the amount of smartass comments that can be written made in one day?

I think one thing the coaches do really well at Calvin is to mentor their athletes.  They seem to come beside them, not just as runners, but as people, and help them learn how to be fine adults.  They emphasize getting outside of themselves and thinking about their teammates.  That sets them apart from other teams in many ways.  And while there are tensions at times, like on any team, they work at resolving them and working together.   You can get a good picture of the inner working of the team in this interview with Finnegan:  http://www.dcrunner.org/finneganinterview.htm

[Bushop]

Two head coaches, an assistant coach and a jv coach for CROSS COUNTRY!?  Who else has that kind of staffing?

who the hell needs more than one cross country coach. all they do is run long distances, its not like they gotta dribble a ball, shot a ball into a hoop, and pass a ball! all they do is run, thats it. i would think one coach would be able to handle telling their kids to run long distances.

Scottie, where have you gone?

[Harrier]

I think one thing the coaches do really well at Calvin is to mentor their athlete.....

NMKnights, you seem to know some of the Calvin folks.  Could you post of list of coaches and what they coach?  I can't figure out who does what from the website information.

[Dark Knight]

I wonder to what extent Finnegan sacrifices his own possible time by sticking with the pack longer to improve the team score.

IMO, unless things have been ironed-out at Calvin I doubt Finnegan was waiting for anyone.  If Finnigan and his team mates are together watchout.

I'm not entirely crazy after all. I found this quote from the recap of the 2004 national championship race:

Pack running was another key to Calvin's championship performance according to Diemer and Hoekstra. "Our guys could have run as a bunch of individuals and sought their own glory," said Hoekstra. "But if we had done that, there is no way we would have won the national championship. Some of our guys would have fallen out the back door if they had run like that but by focusing on each other, it gave them the encouragement to keep pressing on."

"There were some guys on our team who made individual sacrifices so that this championship could be possible," said Diemer. "They stayed together in a pack and that made all the difference in the world. Because of the large crowd today, it was very difficult for runners to see up ahead. The crowd kind of acted as a canopy over the course and unless you were in a pack, there was no way you could see your teammates up ahead."

Making sacrifices for the good of the team is nothing new for the Knights said Haagsma. "We don't care about individual awards," said Haagsma. "We care about each other and we care about this team. That's why this championship is so satisfying because it's not a collection of individuals, it's a team that works for a common purpose.

[Dark Knight]

Calvin men and women took second at the Michigan Intercollegiates 4k race, behind Grand Valley (men D-II #4, women D-II #2). Last year Calvin's men edged out Grand Valley in this event.

Also, it looks as though there will be more competition for the Calvin Men's team top seven, as senior Tyler Zwagerman is back from injury and ran a 25:28 in the 8k race. Last year he was Calvin's #6 runner at the MIAA meets. And junior Dan Vanden Akker ran a strong 25:19.

[hawk'ster]

MEN's POLL

Cross Country Week 2 (10/03/06)

1. Calvin College (280)
2. Wisconsin La Crosse (272)
3. Wisconsin Oshkosh (259)
4. SUNY Cortland (257)
5. SUNY Geneseo (249)
6. New York University (232)
7. Wisconsin Platteville (230)
8. Haverford College (224)
9. Wartburg College (222)
10. North Central College (210)
11. Nebraska Wesleyan (202)
12. Wheaton College (193)
13. Hamline University (180)
14. Wesleyan University (173)
15. Willamette University (159)
16. College of New Jersey (154)
17. Wisconsin Stevens Point (151)
18. RIT (147)
19. Anderson University (134)
20. St. John's University (124)
21. DePauw University (123)
22. Williams College (113)
23. Carnegie Mellon (101)
24. Mount Union College (92)
25. Augustana College (IL) (83)
26. Trinity College (CT) (78)
27. Colorado College (67)
28. Allegheny College (65)
29. Bowdoin College (49)
30. Elizabethtown College (45)
31. Occidental College (39)
32. Luther College (39)
33. University of Chicago (25)
34. Centre College (21)
35. Carleton College (13)
35. Saint Lawrence University (13)

[hawk'ster]

WOMEN's POLL

Cross Country Week 2 (10/03/06)

1. SUNY Geneseo (280)
2. Amherst College (271)
3. Washington University (265)
4. Wisconsin La Crosse (255)
5. Tufts University (249)
6. Calvin College (232)
7. Colby College (231)
8. College of New Jersey (213)
9. Williams College (212)
9. Carleton College (212)
11. Dickinson College (205)
12. Willamette University (194)
13. Middlebury College (189)
14. North Central (IL) (158)
15. St. Thomas (MN) (157)
16. DePauw University (144)
17. Nebraska Wesleyan (139)
18. Emory University (132)
19. Ithaca College (130)
20. MIT (127)
20. Case Western (127)
22. Wisconsin Platteville (112)
23. Haverford College (111)
24. Luther College (104)
25. Puget Sound (92)
26. Ohio Northern (78)
27. Wisconsin Oshkosh (63)
28. Grinell College (61)
28. Wheaton College (IL) (61)
30. St. Lawrence (56)
31. Colorado College (34)
32. Messiah (31)
33. St. Olaf College (27)
33. Wisconsin Eau Claire (18)
35. Anderson (IN) (17)

[Harrier]

MEN's POLL

Cross Country Week 2 (10/03/06)

1. Calvin College (280)
2. Wisconsin La Crosse (272)
3. Wisconsin Oshkosh (259)
4. SUNY Cortland (257)

The Red Dragons are looking scarier every weekend.

4. Cortland St.
    8  James Nally, So             26:02    5:00
   11  Andy Cloke, Sr              26:05    5:01
   25  Seth Dubois, Fr             26:30    5:06
   26  Josh Henry, So              26:31    5:06
   41  Kenneth Little, So          27:05    5:12
   42  Jerry Greenlaw, Fr          27:07    5:13
   60  Kyle O'Brien, Fr            27:30    5:17
Time = 2:12:12     Places = 111



Cortland's on a Knight hunt

[Oval]

4. SUNY Cortland (257)

The Red Dragons are looking scarier every weekend.

4. Cortland St.
    8  James Nally, So             26:02    5:00
   11  Andy Cloke, Sr              26:05    5:01
   25  Seth Dubois, Fr             26:30    5:06
   26  Josh Henry, So              26:31    5:06
   41  Kenneth Little, So          27:05    5:12
   42  Jerry Greenlaw, Fr          27:07    5:13
   60  Kyle O'Brien, Fr            27:30    5:17

One senior?  And I thought Wheaton's men were young.  Any HS times for these younsters?