Sept. 30, 2006

Results

Grand Valley State's women's cross country team won the Collegiate Women's Gold Division of the 34th Annual Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, Ill. on Saturday. The Lakers tallied 38 points, 77 points lower than second place Southern Illinois. The race consisted of teams from both Division I and Division II schools. GVSU will run in the Michigan Intercollegiate in Big Rapids on Friday, Oct. 6 at 3:00 p.m.

Finishing first for the Lakers and capturing the top collegiate runner title was sophomore Laura Aderman who ran a time of 17:40. Her time was a lifetine best and the second fastest time in school history. Laura's time was 32 seconds faster than her 18:12 she ran a year ago on the same course. Graduate student Stacey Kandas finished in fifth place overall, running an 18:11, while junior Suzie Rivard placed sixth with a time of 18:14. Freshman Leah Borns took 11th (18:24) and junior Ashley Wharton finished 15th in a time of 18:40. Freshman Lori Burgess ran a time of 18:41 for 17th place and freshman Jessica Koster placed 32nd as she ran an 18:55.

Mandi Zemba ran the course as an unattached runner and took first place as an individual in a time of 16:52. She improve on her lifetime best, 17:16, which was on the same course a year ago.

"This was a very solid team win for the ladies," said head coach Jerry Baltes. "We did a great job of being patient early on in the race and then moving up over the entire race. It was great to see our women move to the front of the race as it unfolded."

"Mandi's (Zemba) fitness is very good right now, and it was great to see her pick up from where she was last year," added Baltes. "We are excited to get her back in a GV uniform come indoor and outdoor track."

"I was very pleased with Laura Aderman and the gutsy race she put together. She beat some very good runners in the field," said Baltes. "Stacey Kandas did a nice job of moving up over the course of the race. She will be much stronger over 6k."

"Susie Rivard did an outstanding job of leading our freshman through the race today," Baltes said. "She was in charge of bringing the freshmen through the first half of the race. She and the freshmen did a great job of sticking to the game plan and following through with it."

"We will look to get a little better at each spot, knowing we will need to do this in order to accomplish our goals at the end of the season," concluded Baltes.

Grand Valley State is ranked #2 in the nation and #1 in the Great Lakes Region.