Grand Valley State University Athletics

The greatness of an offensive lineman is judged in many ways, but most often the dirty work in the trenches goes unnoticed. Soft-spoken left tackle Dale Westrick was a leader by example and made his mark on the gridiron for a Laker football team that began a decade of dominance offensively in 2001. The 2001 Laker football team set NCAA DII records for most points per game (58.4), yards per game (600.8) and is the only team in DII history to average over 266.0 yards per game rushing and 334.0 yards per game passing. Westrick and his fellow starters on the offensive unit rarely played much in the second half because of the lopsided scores, but GVSU still averaged over 46.0 points and 500.0 yards of total offense per game in 2002. Westrick was part of an offensive line that allowed just 29 QB sacks in 734 passing attempts during his final two years. Grand Valley State was 34-1 in the last 35 games that Westrick played with two appearances in the NCAA DII National Championship game (2001 and 2002) and the crowning jewel 2002 NCAA DII Football National Championship. Westerick was a consensus First-Team All-American following the 2001 and 2002 campaigns. by D2Football.com, the Football Gazette, and Daktronics, Inc. In addition, Westrick was the two-time GLIAC Offensive Lineman of the Year, while also being a two-time First-Team All-GLIAC selection.