Nov. 5, 2005

Results

Grand Valley State's men's cross country team won its fourth straight Great Lakes Regional Championship on Saturday at Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids, Mich. The Lakers tallied 43 points, edging out second place Wayne State (54). Grand Valley advances to the the 2005 Division II Cross Country National Championships on Nov. 19 in Pomona, Calif.

Sophomore Nate Peck captured his second straight Great Lakes Regional individual title as he finished the 10K course in a school record time of 31:28.1. Senior Nic Gatlin placed seventh as he ran a 31:58.5, senior Chris Pabst took eighth, running a 32:00.5, and senior Blake Terhune recorded a 10th place finish as he ran a 32:05.0. Junior Ryan Holm rounded out the scoring for the Lakers, finishing in 17th place with a time of 32:21.3.

Sophomore Chris Hammer took 23rd place (32.45.0) and sophomore Grant Fall ran a 32:53.1 for a 25th place finish.

Peck, Gatlin, Pabst, and Terhune all earned NCAA Great Lakes All-Region honors for finishing in the top 15 spots.

The top four teams, Grand Valley State, Wayne State, Southern Indiana, and Saginaw Valley State all earned bids to the National Championships for finishing in the top four slots. The two individual qualifiers were SIUE's Brian Taghon and Andy Tremble from Lewis University.

"Our men accomplished our number one goal of advancing to the National Championships and in the process we were able to beat two very strong teams, Wayne State and Southern Indiana," said head coach Jerry Baltes. "We did a great job of racing as a team early on and stayed focused over the second half of the race."

"We will be ready in two weeks at the NCAA National Championships to make a run at what would be the first trophy in the school's history on the men's side," added Baltes.