June 21, 2006

Grand Valley State will have three Laker student-athletes competing at the USA Track and Field Championships held at the IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium on the campus of IUPUI in Indianapolis, Ind. This marks the seventh consecutive year GVSU has had a participant competing as a junior or senior at the USA Championships. Competition will begin on Wednesday, June 21 and end on Sunday, June 25.

On the women's side, Mandi Zemba will compete in the 5,000 meter run, marking the fourth female student-athlete to participate in the senior USA Track and Field Championships for the Lakers. Zemba tallied her qualifying mark of 15:48.62 at the Stanford Invite on April 30th and is one of only three college athletes that qualified with the automatic standard in the 5,000 meter run. She will run the 5,000 on Friday, June 23 at 8:00 p.m.

In 2000, Melissa Smith Richardson ran in the 800 at the Olympics Trials, Laura Kruis competed in the steeplechase in 2001, and in 2003, Steph Kuhlman participated in the 800.

"We are excited to see what Mandi can do against the best in the United State," said head coach Jerry Baltes. "She has been training very well and is excited to represent Grand Valley State this weekend. This will be a great learning experience for her as she continues to build on her career here at GVSU."

On the men's side, two former Hale High School alumni will represent GVSU at the USA Championships. Freshman Chris Barclay will participate in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, while freshman Bryant Wilson will compete in the pole vault. Both student-athletes are coming off very successful seasons in their first year for the Lakers.

Barclay earned a qualifying mark of 9:36.16 at the Hillsdale Gina Relays. Wilson posted his best mark of the season at the NCAA National Championships in Emporia, Kan. where he tallied a mark of 16-6.75, earning a third place finish. Both marks are the best ever by a freshman at Grand Valley State.

A future Laker will be competing in the Junior Championships in the steeplechase. Mike Segal from Warwick Valley qualified by running a time of 9:30.50. Segal will attend and compete for GVSU in the fall.

"This is a great opportunity for our young student-athletes to get some great experience in the National Championship event," said Baltes. "We feel all three of these young men have an opportunity to continue to do great things for Laker track and field in the years to come."

A complete schedule of events and results can be found at: USA Championships Information