The Flying Dutch return 22 letterwinners from a team that finished second in the 2006 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and had another strong showing at the NCAA Division III track and field championships.
Coach Kevin Cole begins his second season with a squad that includes 22 returning letterwinners. The roster includes 10 freshmen, 20 sophomores, seven juniors and seven seniors. The team returns athletes who had season-best performances in 18 of 20 individual performances in 2006.
Two returnees received NCAA All-America recognition at the 2006 national championships.
Senior Jennifer VanderMeer of Holland, Mich. received the honor for a third consecutive year finishing sixth in the pole vault. This spring she will be seeking to become the third Hope track athletes to achieved NCAA All-America recognition four consecutive years.
Junior Lindsay Lange of Manistee, Mich. (Manistee HS) was the bronze medalist in the multi-event heptathlon with a school-record performance. In 2005 Lange finished seventh at nationals in the 400-meter dash. Lange is also a three-year letterwinner in basketball at Hope.
Sophomore Nora Kuiper of Parchment, Mich. (Parchment HS) is the defending MIAA champion in the 100-meter dash. Senior Leslie Tableman of Lansing, Mich. (Lansing Eastern HS) was the conference champion in the 1,500-meter run in 2004. She also holds the Hope record for the 3000-meter steeplechase (11:46.99). Lange was the MIAA's 200-meter champion last spring and in 2005 won the gold medal in the 100-meter hurdles.
Co-captains of the team are Lindsay Lange, senior Sara Omanson of Naperville, Ill. (Naperville North HS), Leslie Tableman and Jennifer VanderMeer.
Seniors returning as three-year letterwinners include Leah Koopmans of Holland, Mich. (Holland HS), Elizabeth Kreuze of Kalamazoo, Mich. (Otsego HS); Leslie Tableman and Jennifer VanderMeer.
Returning athletes who had season-best performances in 2006 include Nora Kuiper, 100-meter dash (:12.43); Lindsay Lange, 200-meter dash (:25.39), 400-meter dash (:58.68), 100-meter hurdles (:14.53), 400-meter hurdles (1:06.60), long jump (17-5), shot put (36-7 ½), and heptathlon (4,790 points); Sara Omanson, 800-meters (2:18.58); Leslie Tableman, 1,500-meters (4:40.64) and 3,000-meter steeplechase (11:46.99); junior Barbara Schornstein of Shoreview, Minn. (Mounds View HS), 3,000-meters 10:58.49); sophomore Christina Lis of Novi, Mich. (Novi HS), high jump (5-3); Jennifer VanderMeer, pole vault (12-41/2); sophomore Anna Brandes of Hillsdale, Mich. (Hillsdale HS), discus (1-6-0); junior Laura Schaedig of Cedarville, Mich. (Cedarville HS), javelin (15-8); and sophomore Rachel Wendt of Hanover Park, Ill. (Glenbard North HS), hammer (77-10). Three members of the school-record 4x100-meter relay team return - Nora Kuiper, Katelyn Kopke and Lindsay Lange.