Saturday, November 12, 2011, Grace Bible College cross-country runners ran in the NCCAA Division II finals.  There were six full teams with their results as follows:  North Central University 32, Toccoa Falls College 79, Manhattan Christian College 83, Baptist Bible College 86, Maranatha Baptist Bible College 91, and Ohio Christian University 137.  Grace did not have a full team, but their two women runners did a fine job individually.  Erin Willis placed 19th out of 44 with a time of 23:49 and Danielle Davies placed 37 with a time of 28:34.  Nice job to both women.

So what fun things can you do at Grace Bible College?  Well, there are many fun people you can hang out with and get creative with.  Maybe you want to go to Target with Grace’s own Tommee Profitt and be part of a music video.  See if you can spot last year’s team members Joel Schmuland and Colton Townley in this video, just click on the link that follows.The Taget Song by Tommee Profitt

The Grace team ran in a local 5k race which wound its way through the quaint neighborhood of Alger Heights.  The local residents were out cheering and the race was full of costumed runners.  There were pirates, smurfs, an eight person centipede, a newlywed couple, crayons, and so much more.  The Grace team wore matching Captain America t-shirts.  Brandon VanderWeide and Erin Willis both placed 1st in their age groups.  Danielle placed 8th in hers.  Brandon was 11th finisher overall of 826 finishers.  Erin was the 21st woman finisher.  After threats of rain, it turned out to be a perfect day for a race.  The team is looking forward to their last race in two weeks at Nationals in Cedarville, Ohio.

Brandon Vander Weide was awarded an annual family membership for his victory at the Raptor Run.  He and his family will be able to visit the Creation Museum this year free of charge.  They will be able to revisit the many venues the team visited recently after their race: including Noah’s ark, Garden of Eden, a dinosaur dig, Six Days of Creation Theater, and the Gardens and Petting Zoo.  Hopefully they will also get to visit some things the team did not have time to see including: the Star Gazers Planetarium, the Dragon Theater and the special effects theater staring the Men in White.  Maybe they will even choose to ride a camel like Coach Stowers did.

Saturday, October 15th, Grace runners ran in the 41st annual Run Thru the Rapids.  It was a very windy day with gusts of 35 to 50 miles per hour.  The course ran along the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids.  Brandon VanderWeide ran the 10k and finished 8th overall with a time of 43:43.  This placed him 1st in his age group.  This was Brandon’s first ever 10k.  Great job!

What an exciting weekend!  Brandon Vander Weide won the entire 5k race at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky.  There were 41 men and 54 women and Brandon won the whole race!  After the race the team visited the museum and toured it and the surrounding gardens.  Coach Stowers even road a camel near the petting zoo area.  Another highlight was the food, Coach Stowers likes to bring her team to new restaurants, so for dinner the night before, the team enjoyed Cincinnati Skyline Chili, and for lunch after they refueled at Waffle House.  Brandon won out for dinner and the team went to his one true love Subway.

September 30th, Grace joined seventeen other schools at Grand Wood Park for the Lansing Community Cross-Country Invitational.  Grand Woods is a beautiful park with a wooded course, and the weather was cool and crisp.  The top three teams and scores for the men were Siena Heights 41, Saginaw Valley 53, and Lansing Community 64.  Other teams participating in this race were: Northwood University, Hope College, Madonna College, Macomb Community College, Muskegon Community College, Alma, Kirtland Community, Jackson Community, U of M Dearborn, Concordia University, Marygrove, Glen Oaks, Schoolcraft Community, and Owens.  Brandon Vander Weide represented Grace and placed 113 out of 161 with an 8k time of 29:43.  This was 1 minute and 7 seconds off his pr 8k.  Nice job Brandon!

If you are a high school cross-country coach or runner, I would love to talk to you.  I would like to invite you to strongly consider attending Grace Bible College and running for the Tigers!  We are in the process of building a great cross-country program.  We have a solid educational program with a great atmosphere for young people.  If you are considering a Christian education and like to run, Grace is the place for you!  There are many factors to consider when choosing a college, and I would like to address a few.  The most important choice may be whether to go to a Christian or secular school.  Grace Bible College is a great Christian college choice.  Attending Grace means surrounding yourself with like minded peers and professors.  Everyone is involved not only in learning and growing, but in serving and giving back too.   Another factor of course is finances.  Grace’s tuition is comparable to the local public universities, and all financial aide from the government is useable at Grace.  There are no athletic scholarships, but there are academic scholarships and great financial aide packages.  Because the tuition is so reasonable, your costs are a benefit when considering Grace compared to other schools.  The best thing to do is to come for a visit and apply.  You can find out what is available and what your costs would be.  Just like test driving a new car and getting the financial information.  If you have any questions please contact the college or Coach Stowers at lstowers@gbcol.edu.  Have a great season and stop by for a visit.

Brandon VanderWeide ran his personal best 8k with a time of 30:50.  He placed 185th among 201 runners.  Attending the race were: Calvin, Allegheny, Baldwin-Wallace, Spring Arbor, Ohio Northern, Case Western, Alma, Thiel, Cornerstone, Heidelberg, Mount Union, Aquinas, Bethel (Ind.), Adrian, Davenport, Valparaiso, Concordia (Mich.) and Grace Bible College.  Calvin won the mens race with a combined team score of 37, and Allegheny took 2nd with a score of 81. Grace currently does not have a full team, so they did not receive a team score, but they are looking forward to building their team and competing with these teams in the years to come.

Brandon joins Grace from Hudsonville High School where he ran cross-country and track for four years.  In high school his fastest mile time was 4:43, fastest 2 mile was 10:34 and fastest 5k was 16:48.  He is majoring in youth ministries at Grace.  His parents are Jim and Dawn VanderWeide.  He is a freshmen this year.  He chose Grace because he knows that God called him here.  He visited only one college campus, Grace.  Since moving on campus this fall, he has decided this is the best place to live.  He loves the atmosphere.  He appreciates it that everyone is always greeting people, even if they don’t know them, and looking to reach out to anyone who might look like they are alone.  He is looking forward to making many friends at Grace and his goal this year in cross-country is to improve his times.