Nov. 23, 2002

Grand Valley State's men's cross country team placed ninth overall at the NCAA Division II National Championships in Ashland, Ohio. GVSU finished with a total of 283 points, while Western State College (CO) won the meet with 35 points. This was the first time the Lakers have been to Nationals since 1983.

GVSU's freshman lead the way, as Mark Terpstra finished 42nd overall with a time of 32:43.5 and Jeff Vyain placed 43rd with a time of 32:45.3. Senior Dave Vandermeer placed 54th overall recording a time of 33:01.9. Rounding out the scoring for the Lakers were seniors Kevin Blacquiere (33:14.4) and Dave Ross (33:30.3), who finished 64th and 80th respectively.

Sophomore Tim Nichols placed 88th overall with a time of 33:41.4 and Ben Watson finished in 102nd place recording a time of 33:53.6.