Sept. 23, 2004

Grand Valley State's men's and women's cross country teams will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 23 at Pre-Nationals held in Evansville, Ind. The Lakers are coming off solid performances at the Aquinas Invite on Sept. 10 where both squads took first place.

"This will be a great opportunity to race the NCAA Championship course and get a feel for the course," said head coach Jerry Baltes.

"We have really focused on training at a very high level the past 10 days. We have seen some great workouts from our squad now we need to be ready to transfer it into races," he added.

The Lakers will compete in the Loyola-Lakefront Invite on Oct. 2 in Chicago, Ill. and then host the Michigan Intercollegiates on Oct. 8 at Rolling Hills Golf Course in Hudsonville.

"The next three weeks are big for the cross country team," sais Baltes. "Next week we will travel to Loyola of Chicago and compete in an all Division field. This will be a great opportunity to see how we stack up against the some of the best programs in the midwest and nation."

"The Michigan Intercollegiates Championships will be a great opportunity to see all the teams in Michigan compete," said Baltes. "There are some great programs in the state at all levels and it is great to have them all coming to our place to race."

GVSU's women's cross country team is currently ranked third in the nation, while the men are ranked sixth.

Click on the link below for the complete rankings
Cross Country National Rankings