Sept. 10, 2004

Grand Valley State's men's and women's cross country teams got off to a great start as both teams took first place at the Aquinas Invite Friday. The men won with a total of 21 points and the women tallied 19.

"This meet was exactly what we needed to see where our fitness level was at," said head coach Jerry Baltes. "Both teams followed the race plan very well and showed that we are in a pretty good spot."

Winning the 5k race on the women's side was junior Krista O'Dell with a time of 18:18. Seven Lakers finished in the top eight spots. Sophomore Sarah Jaquith finished third (18:41), freshman Karlie Singleton took fourth (18:45), senior Steph Kuhlman placed fifth (18:47), and senior Diana Painter finished in six place with a time of 18:51. Freshman Bridgette Beeny tallied a time of 19:25 for seventh place, while junior Megan Doerr took eighth place (19:43).

"Krista O"Dell was very solid again, and Sarah Jaquith and Karlie SIngleton both had a very nice openers," said Baltes. "It was awesome to see Steph Kuhlman in her first cross country race of her career at GVSU. She is only going to get better and run with more confidence each step of the way."

"Diana Painter (formerly Martin) had a great first race back after a couple of season's battling the injury bug," said Baltes. "She will be very key to our overall success."

"The day's biggest surprise was probably Bridgette Beeny who had a great breakthrough race. I am very excited to see these two individuals back on track for big results," added Baltes.

On the men's side, freshman Nate Peck finished in second place overall and first for the Lakers with a time of 25:31. Senior Ryan Cole took fourth place (25:53), sophomore Ryan Holm finished in fifth with a time of 25:54, freshman Robbie Young placed ninth (26:00), and freshman Mark VanderMeer took 10th with a time of 26:06.

"Nate Peck ran a very controlled and even race for the second place finish," said Baltes. "He showed that his fitness is in a great spot at this point in the season."

"Ryan Cole did a very nice job throughout the race working with Nate," Baltes added. "He is going to a key figure in the leadership of this squad."

"After that more of the young guys took over," stated Baltes. "Second year man Ryan Holm closed the gap on Cole. Holm just seems to get better and better each race. He is gaining experience with each race."

Redshirt freshman Mark Vandermeer and Robby Young ran great opening races," said Baltes. "Both represented GVSU in the USA junior track and field championships in Texas.

"There is no doubt that they gained some great experience racing against some of the best young american athletes in the country," added Baltes.

"This gets us headed in the right direction. There is much more work to be done before November 20th comes around, but I am confident our student athletes are very focused on getting the job done," said Baltes.

The Lakers will ran at Pre-Nationals in Evansville, Ind. on Sept. 25 at 9:00 a.m.