Oct. 25, 2008

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Complete Results

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. - The Grand Valley State men's cross country team took home a first-place finish at the GLIAC Championships on Saturday (Oct. 25) in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. GVSU places all seven runners in the top-15, including four runners tallying top-10 finishes. The Lakers had a team score of 31 points, finishing well ahead of Wayne State (69) and Ashland (90).

The Lakers totaled their seventh consecutive GLIAC title and it is the fourth year in a row that GVSU has earned the individual title, as Chris Hammer secured a first-place finish with a time of 25:00. Hammer was also named the GLIAC Runner of the Year. For GVSU, the future also looks bright, as eight of the top 10 runners have freshman eligibility.

Grand Valley State's average time was 25:09, which was 15 seconds faster than Wayne State. Hillsdale (95 points), Saginaw Valley State (166), and Tiffin (183) filled out spots four through six.

Tyler Emmorey notched a third-place finish at 25:03 for GVSU, as Ryan Toth came in sixth at 25:09.

Four more Lakers controlled spots 10-13. Jeff Nordquist (10th) finished with a time of 25:17, Ross Faasse (11th) was right behind at 25:18, Paul Zielinski (12th) finished at 25:22, and Nathan Knisely (13th) crossed the line at 25:23.

Head coach Jerry Baltes was very happy with his team's performance. "This was a great team effort and we are very pleased with how we finished," Baltes said. "We have a very young squad with a big group of freshmen. They showed a lot of poise to come out here and put together the effort that they did. We are excited about the opportunity to defend our regional title in two weeks."