Oct. 24, 2008

Allendale, Mich. - The Grand Valley State men's and women's cross country teams head to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. on Saturday (Oct. 25) for the 2008 GLIAC Cross Country Championships. Lake Superior State will host the event, with the women's 6,000m race beginning at 11:00 a.m. and the men's 8,000m race following at 11:45 a.m. Both the men's and women's teams are ranked first in the latest regional poll.

GVSU also has both teams ranked in the top-10 nationally, as the women's squad is second in the country and the men's unit is 10th in the nation.

Both races should be rather competitive, as six of the top ten teams in the region for both races are GLIAC schools. On the women's side, GVSU is first, while Findlay (third), Wayne State (fourth), Ferris State (sixth), Northwood (ninth), and Northern Michigan (tenth) round out the regional top-10 teams.

In the men's race, the Lakers are first, with Wayne State (third), Ashland (fourth), Hillsdale (seventh), Findlay (ninth), and Saginaw Valley State (tenth) close out the top-10 regionally ranked schools.

Grand Valley State has had two GLIAC runners of the week in 2008, with one runner from each team. On Oct. 8, redshirt freshman Tyler Emmorey took home the award, while a week later on Oct. 15, sophomore Megan Maceratini was the league's runner of the week.

The last time the two teams ran was on Oct. 10 at the Michigan Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship. Both teams finished first at the race in Milford, Mich., with the Laker women placing seven runners in the top-10. Maceratini was the individual champion of the 5K race. On the men's side, GVSU had three runners in the top-5 and seven in the top-15. Chris Hammer, Ryan Toth, and Emmorey finished second, third, and fourth, respectively, at the competition.