SEATTLE, WASH. – The Grand Valley State Lakers conclude the 2022 cross country season at the NCAA Division II National Championships in Seattle, Washington, claiming a second place (women) and fourth place (men) finish overall.
The Laker women clinched their seventh Division II National Runner-Up finish with a team score of 126 points on the day, trailing Adams State (75 pts). All-American
Klaudia O'Malley led the way with a third-place finish in a time of 20:43.0, followed by
Lauren Kiley who crossed the finish line seventh with a new personal-best time of 20:51.8. In addition, Kiley was the first freshman to cross the finish line and the only freshman to place in the Top 30.
Rounding out the Lakers team score was
Natalie Graber (30
th) with a time of 21:17.9,
Kayce Rypma (40
th) in a time of 21:29.9 and
Abby Vanderkooi (46
th) with a personal-best time of 21:34.0. The Grand Valley State women's team closed the 2022 season as GLIAC Champions, Midwest Regionals Champions and NCAA Division II National Runner-Up.
"Though things did not go as well as we hoped today, we had some incredible performances with three individual All-American performances and both squads earning a podium finish" stated Head Coach
Jerry Baltes.
On the men's side,
Tanner Chada led the Lakers to a top four finish with his second consecutive National Runner-Up finish. In addition, Chada recorded a new personal-best 10k time of 29:47.1. The Lakers finished with three runners in the top 40 including Chada,
Caleb Futter finished 12
th with a time of 30:11.8 and
Brock Wooderson placed 34
th in a time of 30:30.0.
Koby Fraaza (58
th) and
Andrew Hylen (103
rd) completed the Lakers score crossing the line in a personal-best time of 30:55.5 (Fraaza) and a time of 31:34.7 (Hylen). The GVSU men end their 2022 season as GLIAC Champions, Midwest Regional Champions and fourth at the NCAA DII National Championships.
Jerry Baltes stated, "We are proud of how our student athletes battled through adversity throughout the season and through both races today."
