April 27, 2008

Hillsdale, Mich. - Ryan Rademacher and Heather VanderSlik highlighted a strong weekend by Grand Valley State University's men's and women's track teams, as both set a school record. Rademacher's long jump of 23'7.25" and VanderSlik's high jump of 5'8.75" were both the best marks in GVSU history. VanderSlik's jump was also the best in Division II so far this year, and is an automatic qualifying mark. 13 other Lakers also hit qualifying marks over the weekend.

VanderSlik was joined by Maegan Doyen in qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the high jump. Doyen cleared 5'7" to qualify. Three members of the women's track team qualified in the 5000-meter run: Megan Maceratini (17:20.73), Lynsey Ardingo (17:31.68) and Amy Kolin (17:40.41). Kirsten Nozime hit the mark in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:03 flat. Three more Lakers qualified in the 1500-meter run: Katie Alfredson (4:34.76), Rebecca Winchester (4:36.71) and Susie Rivard (4:38.10).

On the men's side, Rademacher led six GVSU qualifiers. Nick Polk's time of 3:52.26 in the 1500-meter run hit the qualifying mark, and so did Bill Makela's time of 53.09 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles. In the 5000-meter run, both Ryan Holm (14:36.12) and Grant Fall (14:41.30) qualified. Tyler Emmorey closed out the list of qualifiers with a time of 9:20.53 in the steeple chase.