Oct. 2, 2004

Results

Grand Valley State's men's cross country team recorded a strong performance at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational on Saturday. The men finished in second place out of 25 teams, with a total of 112 points. Host Loyola University captured the men's team title with 93 points.

"This was a break through day for our program and many of our athletes," said head coach Jerry Baltes. "We handled the tough competition from the Division I programs very well."

"We are in a great position as we head into the championship season," Baltes added. "We have planned our traning for a tough 10k course in November so we should still continue to improve over the next seven weeks."

Leading the way for the men, was redhisrt freshman Nate Peck who finished in second place overall with a school record time of 24:32.

"Peck put together a fantastic race effort," said Baltes. "We were really impressed with the maturity he showed today racing against some top Division I runners."

"His time broke the school record by 36 seconds. He was in control the entire race, and still has some room for improvement over the next seven weeks," Baltes added.

Senior Ryan Cole posted a time of 25:08, which equaled the previous school record held by Mark Terpstra, as he finished in 16th place overall.

"Ryan has been a great addition to our program," said Baltes. "He has brought a focused business-like leadership that has helped the rest of the team take some great steps forward.

Sophomore Ryan Holm finished in 23rd with a time of 25:08, while freshman Robbie Young took 32nd place, running a 25:29. The two Lakers ran the eighth and ninth fastest times in school history.

"We can not say enough about what these two guys are doing for our program," said Baltes. "They just get in there and battle and are making great improvements at a very quick rate."

Freshman Chris Pabst rounded out the scoring for the Lakers, finishing 39th in a time of 25:36.

Junior Blake Terhune took 42nd place with a time of 25:41, freshman Grant Fall placed 55th (25:52), junior Dan Brown ran a 26:02 for 71st place, freshman Mark VanderMeer finished in 75th with a time of 26:04, and Dave Harvey took 90th place, running a 26:16.

"Our depth really showed today as we put our top seven at 25:52 and faster, which we have never done before, and we have run this course five out of the last 6 years," concluded Baltes.

Grand Valley will host the Michigan Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships at Rolling Hills Golf Course in Hudsonville, Mich. on Friday, Oct. 8 at 3:00 p.m.

For complete results of the Loyola-Lakefront Invitational, please click on the link below:
Results