Hope College

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Geoff Henson/The University of Olivet

Pictured, Aiden Moore

Men's Cross Country 8/30/2025 12:36:00 PM Alan Babbitt

No. 23 Men's Cross Country Excels in Two States

Two states, two strong runs for the nationally ranked Hope College men's cross country teamson Friday.

The Flying Dutchmen posted the highest NCAA Division III finish at the 12-team Eye Opener X-C Meet hosted at the Roger Milliken Center in Spartanburg, S.C., site of this season's NCAA Division III Championships.

Hope, No. 23 in the USTFCCCA preseason poll, also topped the five-team field at the Comet Open hosted by The University of Olivet.

Eye Opener Meet

The Flying Dutchmen totaled 83 points down south, trailing only two NCAA Division I programs: Furman University (15) and Clemson University (57).

Sophomore Logan Begeman (Portage, Michigan / Portage Central HS) led Hope by posting a 14th-place, 8K run of 25 minutes, 6.5 seconds. Furman's Christopher Knight won the race in 24:44.9.

Begeman was followed by four scoring teammates:

19. Junior Ian Petruska (Fort Collins, Colorado / Fort Collins), 25:19.2;
20. Sophomore Elias Kretchmar (Granville, Ohio / Granville), 25:19.8;
22. Senior Carston Cole (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa), 25:27.2;
27. Senior Lucas Guidone (Chicago, Illinois / Taft), 25:46.5.

Comet Open

At Olivet, Hope won at Broadway Acres Golf Course with 24 points — 17 ahead of Calvin.

Freshman Aiden Moore (Battle Creek, Michigan / Lakeview) clocked a runner-up 5K time of 15:20.6. Adrian College's Wil Houvener topped the field of 84 runners with a run of 15:14.8.

Moore was joined by four scoring teammates:

6. Senior Jonathan Harlow (Holland, Michigan / Home School), 15.35.4;
11. Senior Carter Dean (Traverse City, Michigan / Traverse City West), 15:43.4;
17. Freshman Elijah Forbord (Howell, Michigan / Brighton), 15:43.5;
24. Sophomore Joe Waalkes (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Grand Rapids Christian), 15:45.2.

Adrian (82) placed third, finishing ahead of Olivet (114) and Albion College (127).

Hope's next meet is Friday, Sept. 19, at 11 a.m. at Western Michigan University's George Dales Invitational.

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Players Mentioned

Logan Begeman: Sophomore

Carston Cole: Senior; Exercise Science

Carter Dean: Junior; Environmental Science

Elias Kretchmar: Sophomore; Engineering

Ian Petruska: Junior

Joe Waalkes: Sophomore

Jonathan Harlow: Senior; Engineering

Lucas Guidone: Senior; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Elijah Forbord: Freshman

Aiden Moore: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Logan Begeman
: Sophomore

Carston Cole
: Senior; Exercise Science

Carter Dean
: Junior; Environmental Science

Elias Kretchmar
: Sophomore; Engineering

Ian Petruska
: Junior

Joe Waalkes
: Sophomore

Jonathan Harlow
: Senior; Engineering

Lucas Guidone
: Senior; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Elijah Forbord
: Freshman

Aiden Moore
: Freshman