Holland Reporter

Grand Valley State University's cross country teams have once again proven their dominance by securing the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championship titles. The victories mark the 23rd consecutive title for the women's team and the 22nd for the men's team. The championships took place at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, on November 9.

With these wins, both teams have earned automatic qualification to compete in the NCAA DII National Championships scheduled to be held in Sacramento, California.

Head Coach Jerry Baltes praised his athletes' performance: "Both squads executed race plans perfectly, racing controlled early on and progressing over the second half of the race."

In the men's competition, all seven Laker runners finished among the top 20 competitors. Caleb Futter and Koby Fraaza led with second and third-place finishes respectively. Both received USTFCCCA All-Region honors for their achievements. Other top performers included Scott Spaanstra (10th), Dan Lambert (11th), Sam Martens (14th), Brock Wooderson (19th), and GLIAC Freshman of the Year Owen Westerkamp (20th).

The women's team also delivered a strong performance with six of seven runners finishing in the top 10. Junior Lauren Kiley won the individual title, while Allie Arnsman secured second place. Maggie O'Malley achieved fourth place, followed by Abby VanderKooi (6th), Maria Mitchell (7th), Abby Olson (10th), and Annika Sandman (17th). All members earned All-Region honors.

Coach Baltes outlined their objectives: "We always have three goals for the NCAA Regional race: advance to the NCAA Championships, race within ourselves to come out as healthy as possible and compete for a win."

The national championship races will take place on November 23 in Sacramento. The men's team will participate in a 10k race starting at 10 a.m., followed by a women's 6k race at 11:15 a.m.