SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Forty four Grand Valley State athletes took the turf this morning at the annual Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational. The first race of the day saw nine personal-best times for a fourth-place team finish with (161 points) in the Women's Blue Division 5k. The men snagged a fifth-place team finish in the Men's Blue Division 8k with a team score of 158. Both women's and men's open divisions kicked off at 11:10 a.m. At 13 Lakers apiece, the squad recorded 11 personal-best times through the two races.
 
Results
 
Nine women kicked things off at 9:50 a.m. in the Women's Blue Division 5k. Lauren Kiley, Abigail VanderKooi and Allie Arnsman led the Lakers, taking 15th (16:30.3), 28th (16:48.6) and 30th (16:49.5), respectively. Maggie O'Malley (52nd,17:09.7), Natalie Mello (53rd, 17:09.9), Cara Newman (74th, 17:21.6), Landyn Howell (79th, 17:23.1), Megan Postma (82nd, 17:25.9) and Annika Sandman (123rd, 17:50.5) rounded out the lineup for the Laker ladies. All nine women finished at a personal-best time.
 
Burke Golf Course welcomed nine Lakers to the Men's Blue Division 5k next, seven of which recorded personal-bests. Báhozhóni Church led the squad, finishing 20th at a personal-best time of 23:22.8. 
 
"It felt good. I saw my sister at the 1k mark," said Church. "It was the push I needed." 
 
Koby Fraaza finished next, crossing the finish line 22nd at 23:31.0. Owen Westerkamp, Conor Somers and Noah Selveraj rounded out the Lakers top five, finishing at 27th (23:36.2), 44th (23:51.3) and 47th (23:52.4), respectively, all recording personal-best finishes. Nathan Riddering (23:56.5), Sebastian Ramirez (24:08.4), Brock Wooderson (24:15.5) and Bentley Alderson (24:24.5) were the other Lakers to compete in the Blue Division; three of the four recorded new PRs. 
 
Five women notched personal-best finishes in the Open Division of the 5k race. Karen Kiratu led the team, finishing eighth at a personal-best 17:39.9. Violet Hrabovsky followed with a 17:45.5 finish for 12th place in her collegiate debut. Madelyn Frens (19th, 17:57.1), Mea D'Agostino (20th, 17:57.5; collegiate debut) and Maria Widmann (23rd, 18:00.2) rounded out the top five for the Laker ladies. Abby Young (18:17.7), Addison Washler (18:28.5), Madeleine Hill (18:31.8) and Katrina Sandman (18:41.5) all finished at personal-best 5000m times.
 
The men's team saw six personal-best times, three of which landed in the top five Lakers finishes. Andre Richmond led the way, crossing the finish line ninth at 24:26.8. Iain Forrest followed with a 14th place finish at a personal-best 24:38.2. In his collegiate debut, Connor Nolan grabbed 17^th at 24:46.1. Kyler Dean and Connor Reed filled out the top five with personal-best finishes, crossing the finish line 19th and 20th at 24:47.0 and 24:50.4, respectively. Three other Lakers notched new PRs in the open: Gavin Borger (24:57.1), Gabe Connelly (24:57.1) and Colin Vanderschaaf (25:20.4).
 
Several other Grand Valley State Lakers will compete at tomorrow's Knight Invite hosted by Calvin University. The women's 6k race is slated for 10 a.m. and the men will follow in an 8k race at 10:45 a.m.