Sept. 9, 2005

Results

Grand Valley State's women's cross country team got the 2005 season off to an outstanding start as they won the Aquinas Invite by a 55-point margin. The Lakers tallied just 16 points, while second-place Hope College totaled 71 points. Eight Lakers finished in the top ten spots and thirteen finished in the top 23.

Senior Mandi Zemba won the race and broke a GVSU record with her time of 17:56. The previous record of 18:00 was set by senior Melissa Smith in 1998. Senior Adrian Chouinard finished in second place in a time of 18:32, while junior Stacey Kandas placed third (18:41), and freshman Laura Aderman tallied a fourth place finish in 18:56.

Freshman Kelly Gibbons finished in sixth place (19:12), freshman Lynsey Ardingo placed seventh in a time of 19:18, sophomore Susie Rivard finished eighth (19:23), and junior Stephanie Kandas followed in ninth place (19:33).

Junior Lauren Bader placed 11th in a time of 19:35, sophomore Ashley Wharton finished in 19:39 for 13th place, and sophomore Rosanna Chapman ran the race in 19:42 for 15th place. Freshman Meghan Soltis ran a 19:53 for 18th place and sophomore Meggie Grube placed 23rd, running a 20:04.

"This was a great start for our team as we were able to see where our runners were at," said head coach Jerry Baltes. "Mandi Zemba was very impressive, breaking the school record on a hot day this early in the season. She looks very strong right now and should be able to do some big things for us this season."

"We had some nice surprises for us up and down the line. Kelly Gibbons ran a great race in her debut as a Laker," added Baltes. "We feel we have the potential to do some very good things this year. We will need to continue to make small improvements along the way and be ready for the big meets up ahead."

GVSU will run in the Ferris State Open on Sept. 23 at 5:00 p.m.