Holland Reporter

For the first time in a decade, Grand Valley's cross country teams participated in the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational held in South Bend, Indiana. The event featured 45 women's teams and 38 men's teams from across the United States, including several top-ranked Division I programs. The Lakers competed in four out of six races.

In the Women's Blue 5,000-meter race and Men's Blue 8,000-meter race, which included 22 and 19 teams respectively, the Grand Valley women secured a 14th place finish, surpassing seven Division I programs. Abby Olson led the team with a personal-best time of 16:59.2, placing her 49th out of 191 runners. All eight other Grand Valley participants also achieved personal-best times.

The men's team finished eighth overall, ahead of notable schools such as Purdue, Washington State, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma. Caleb Futter was the leading runner for the Lakers in the Men's Blue 8k race with a personal-best time of 22:58.7, securing the 17th position. Koby Fraaza and Brock Wooderson followed with times of 23:26.5 and 23:34.3 respectively. Scott Spaanstra and Sam Martens completed the top five for Grand Valley with times just under 24 minutes.

In addition to these races, several Lakers competed in both Men's and Women's Open races. The four women who participated all set personal records with Madison Ebright finishing first among them at a time of 17:57.8 and placing 24th overall.

Similarly, all seven men in their Open race achieved personal bests as well; Pat Lyell led his teammates by finishing first for Grand Valley and securing the 22nd spot overall with a time of 24:21.1.

"This [was] a great opportunity for our squads to get tested against some high-level competition," stated Head Coach Jerry Baltes. "It is our hope that an experience like today will help us down the road during the championship season."

The Lakers are scheduled to compete again on Saturday, October 12th at the Lewis Crossover in Romeoville, Illinois.