Sept. 9, 2005

Results

Grand Valley State's men's cross country team started off the 2005 season with a great performance at the Aquinas Open Friday. The Lakers tallied 24 points, 25 points less than second place Aquinas College. Six Lakers finished in the top 10. Sophomore Nate Peck won the meet by almost a minute, finishing in a time of 24:58.

Senior Nic Gatlin took fourth place (25:51), Chris Pabst placed fifth with a time of 25:52, and sophomore Grant Fall finished in sixth (25:54). Senior Blake Terhune tallied an eighth place finish (25:56) and sophomore Robbie Young finished in 25:59 for 10th place.

Sophomore Nick Polk ran a 26:04 for 13th place, while freshman Chris Hammer (26:28), sophomore Mark VanderMeer (26:29), and junior Casey Abston (26:31) finished in 16th, 17th, and 18th place respectively. Senior Dave Harvey placed 23rd in a time of 26:51 and senior Jason Prowant finished in 26:54. Twelve Lakers finished in the top 25 spots.

"This was a great opener for us," said head coach Jerry Baltes. "Nate Peck ran 33 seconds faster on the same course than a year ago and overall our pack was five to ten seconds faster as well."

"We feel we are right where we need to be and if we continue to work hard, we will make the improvements needed to be stronger later in the season," added Baltes.

GVSU will run in the Ferris State Open on Sept. 23 at 5:00 p.m.