Oct. 21, 2006

Results

Grand Valley State's men's cross country team claimed its fifth consecutive GLIAC Championship Saturday at Sycamore Springs Golf Course in Arlington, Ohio. The Lakers posted 24 points, while Wayne State finished in a distant second place with 66 points. Head Coach Jerry Baltes was named the GLIAC Men's Coach of the Year.

Junior Nate Peck won the 8,000-meter race for the second straight year as he finished in a time of 24:19.5. He was named GLIAC Runner of the Year for the second consecutive season and improved on his time from last year's meet by over two minutes (26:23).

Senior Ryan Holm tallied a fourth place finish in a time of 24:44.2, junior James Gale took fifth place (24:49.9), and senior Nic Gatlin finished in sixth place as he ran a 24:50.6. Sophomore Chris Hammer finished eighth in a time of 24:55.8 to round out the scoring for the Lakers.

Junior Robbie Young ran a time of 24:59.2 for and 11th place finish, junior Grant Fall finished 12th with a time of 25:02.0, while senior Chris Pabst recorded a time of 25:03.2 for a 13th place finish.

Nate Peck, Ryan Holm, James Gale, and Nic Gatlin were named All-GLIAC First-Team, while Chris Hammer, Robbie Young, Grant Fall, and Chris Pabst earned All-GLIAC Second-Team honors.

Peck's winning time marked the third straight 8,000 meter race in which he has broken his school record this year. The fast course also allowed the men to rewrite the GVSU 8,000 meter record books. Coming into the meet, Peck had the fastest time in school history with a time of 24:22 and Ryan Holm had the second fastest time of 25:06. In today's meet, eight Laker men ran under the time of 25:06.

"This was a great team effort from our men. I am very proud of the race these men put together," said head coach Jerry Baltes. "To be able to put nine men in the top 15 of the meet is a very good accomplishment."

"I am excited for our seniors that have been a huge part of starting the streak of five straight GLIAC Championships," added Baltes. "We are looking forward to getting back to training and being ready to defend our regional title. We will need to get a little bit better the rest of the way to be able to reach our goals we set at the beginning of the year."

Grand Valley State will look to defend its Great Lakes Regional Championship title on Nov. 4 in Kenosha, Wis. The Laker men have won the regional title four straight times.