Aug. 30, 2008

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State University started the cross country season with the 2008 Laker Kick-Off Classic on Thursday, Aug. 28. The Lakers took on Indiana Tech in a non-scoring meet at the Tower Trails on the GVSU campus.

Lynsey Ardingo was the top finisher for the GVSU women's cross country team, which is ranked third in the nation. She crossed the finish line in 18:41. Sam Gordon placed seventh at 19:04, while Kelly Gibbons and Katie Alfredson came in ninth and 10th, respectively, with times of 19:16.

"The ladies performed well from top to bottom and it was a good first step toward our goals for the season," said assistant coach Joe Lynn.

On the men's side, Tyler Emmorey took third place for Grand Valley State with a time of 26:45 on the five-mile course. Jeff Nordquist was fourth at 26:49 and Ryan Toth finished eighth at 27:33. Nate Knisely took ninth at 27:45 and Ross Faasse was right behind him in 10th with the same time.

"We are very, very young on the men's side, so it was great to get that first race experience in for most of our team," Lynn said. "We got what we were looking for out of tonight's meet. We're now looking forward to getting back to work and continuing toward our goals."