Nov. 17, 2005

Grand Valley State's men's and women's cross country teams will compete at the 2005 Division II Cross Country National Championships on Saturday, Nov. 19 hosted by California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. This marks the fourth straight trip for the men's team and the sixth in seven years for the women's team.

The men's team captured their fourth straight Great Lakes Regional Championship in Big Rapids, Mich. with 43 points as they edged out Wayne State. Sophomore Nate Peck tallied his second straight Great Lakes Region individual title, finishing in a time of 31:28.1.

The women's team won its fifth straight Great Lakes Regional Championship as they tallied just 29 points, winning the meet by an 81-point margin. Senior Mandi Zemba won the women's individual title, finishing in a time of 20:47.0.

In their previous national championship appearances, the men finished in sixth place in 2004, 14th in 2003, and ninth in 2002. The women have finished in the top five spots five times. GVSU tallied a fourth place finish last season, third in 2003 and 2002, and fifth in 2001 and 1999.

"We are very excited to travel out to California and have an opportunity to race the best in the country this weekend," said head coach Jerry Baltes. "We feel if we go out there and race to the best of our ability we will have a good shot of reaching our goal of top four."

"One of our greatest strengths will be our national championship experience our athletes have under their belt," added Baltes. "This will not be a new experience for most of our athletes. They understand that they can compete with the best in the country at this point."