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Men's Results
Women's Results
The Grand Valley State men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Chicago, Ill., for the 41st Loyola Lakefront Invitational at Montrose Beach on Saturday (Sept. 29) and saw strong performances from both squads. The women finished as the top Division II team and second overall with 79 points, while the men claimed the team title as they recorded 59 points.
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"We took great steps forward and had some great efforts across the board today," said head coach
Jerry Baltes. "This race will help us prepare for our races down the road as we need to stay focused on getting a bit better each week, so we can be in a good spot when the championship season comes around."
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Women's 5K Race
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The women competed first on Saturday in the 5K race and finished as the top Division II team and second overall with 79 points, second only to Princeton, who scored 65 points. Leading the way for GVSU was
Sarah Berger and
Allie Ludge as they ran two of the fastest times in school history.
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Berger finished as the top collegiate runner and second overall with a time of 16:56.16, while Ludge was right behind her and crossed the finish line at 16:57.63 for third place.
Gina Patterson was the next Laker to cross the finish line with a time of 17:33.99 for 20th place, while
Madison Goen finished 29th with a time of 17:39.68.
Hanna Groeber was the fifth GVSU athlete that scored after she placed 36th overall with a time of 17:52.37.
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The Lakers had two more athletes place in the top-60 with
Jessica Gockley and
Stacey Metzger. Gockley crossed the finish line at 18:00.10 for 45th place, as Metzger finished in 18:09.96 for 57th. In addition,
Abby Crouch (73rd; 18:18.54),
Olivia Brian (87th; 18:28.12) and
Malea Teerman (95th; 18:32.85) all finished in the top-100.
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Also racing for Grand Valley State was
Rachael Walters (18:48.68),
Molly Schmidt (19:01.06),
Emma Gustafsson (19:28.59) and
Jeannee Hill (20:35.62), respectively.
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Men's 8K Race
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On the men's side, the Lakers had all five of their scoring runners finish in the top-25 as the team won the race with 59 points, which was 55 points more than McMaster University who finished second with 114 points.
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Panning claimed the individual title after he crossed the finish line at 23:47.03, while Woldemichael was right behind him with a time of 23:50.34. The duo's times are now among the fastest in school history as well.
Joe Renner was the next Laker to cross the finish line with a time of 24:41.23 for 19th place while
Josh Steible finished 20th at 24:42.61, and scoring the finial points for GVSU was transfer
Brian Masayesva, who competed in his first race as a Laker and placed 23rd with a time of 24:49.40.
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Grand Valley State had two more athletes finish in the top-35 with
Tanner Chada and
Jacob Domagalski. Chada crossed the finish line at 24:51.76 for 26th place, while Domagalski finished 31st after he finished with a time of 24:59.13.
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The team also had six more Lakers place in the top-100 that includes
Connor Schwartz (51st; 25:16.22),
Jesse Becker (59th; 25:22.96),
Dennis Mbuta (66th; 25:29.70),
Colin Herrmann (75th; 25:32.45),
Ben Zaremba (83rd; 25:34.72) and
Bennett Peterson (96th; 25:43.01).
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Also racing for GVSU was
Alex Sanford (25:49.97),
Garrett White (25:59.74),
Noah Steffen (26:10.68),
Dave Jones (26:12.94),
Tyler Walters (26:25.19),
Job Togom (26:32.92),
Derrick Egli (26:34.00) and
John Groendyk (26:51.94), respectively.
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Grand Valley State's next full team race will be the Bradley Pink Classic on October 12, in Peoria, Illinois.
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