ALLENDALE, Mich. – Grand Valley State track and field will honor 28 seniors as they close out the regular season at tomorrow's GVSU Tune-Up. Just 383 athletes will compete beginning at 1 p.m., quite the opposite of last week's Big Meet where more than 3,000 athletes fought for new personal-bests and NCAA qualifying marks.
 
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Grand Valley State's men rank first in the nation headed into the final meet of the regular season. Two Lakers rank first in the nation – the distance medley relay (DMR) squad and Marcus Gelpi in high jump (2.18m (7-1.75)) – while several others find podium-worthy rankings. 
 
Flynn Pumpa, Joshua Page, Sam Allen and Owen Westerkamp placed the men's DMR atop of national rankings at last weekend's GVSU Big Meet. Pumpa led off for the men, completing the first 1200m leg in 2:56.1 before passing the baton to Page, who finished the 400m lap in 45.1. Allen completed the next 800m of the relay in 1:49.9 and Westerkamp finished the final 1600m in 4:07.4 to complete the relay in 9:38.59. The mark not only ranks first in NCAA Division II but lead all collegiate divisions at the time of the race.
 
Page ranks in an individual event, as well, finding third in DII with a 400m finish at 46.57. Multi-event athlete Andrew Kraft also ranks third with 5385 points in the heptathlon and Dolan Gonzales is third in pole vault after clearing a 5.35m (17-6.75) bar in late January. All three also hold the program record in their respective events at Grand Valley State.
 
Sebastian Tesch ranks third in weight throw with a mark of 21.49m (70-6) recorded in early February. The Northwood transfer has consistently updated his PR this season, inching closer to taking possession of GVSU's program record.
 
The Laker ladies are No. 3 in NCAA Division II as they close out the regular season. Erika Beistle ranks first in the nation with the divisional record in shot put. She achieved the feat at last weekend's Big Meet, throwing for 18.26m (59-11) to break the NCAA DII women's indoor shot put record that she had broken just three weeks earlier.
 
The women's DMR team debuted last weekend, too, finishing at a time that ranks them second in DII. Cara Newman led off for the ladies, completing the first 1200m in 3:33.3 before passing the baton to Alaina Diaz, who finished the next 400m in just 54.1. Daisy Speet was responsible for the third leg of the relay, the 800m, which she finished in 2:10.9. Megan Postma anchored the team to a finish at 11:27.88, finishing the final 1600m in 4:49.2.
 
Twenty-eight seniors will be honored at tomorrow's meet. While representing GVSU, the group has earned 18 All-America honors and five individual national championship titles. They have earned team National Championships six times, as well as eight National Runner-Up and 10 Cross Country Midwest Region Championship titles. The group has combined for 32 GLIAC Championship titles.
 
The senior class will receive their honorary batons at approximately 4 p.m. following heat two of the women's and men's 3000m.
 
Fans can watch the Lakers in action in person at the Kelly Family Sports Center by purchasing tickets at the door or in advance at gvsulakers.com. Fans can also tune in on FloCollege or follow along with live results provided by Fairchild Sports Timing on Athletic.net.
 
Be sure to follow @GVSUXCTF on Instagram and X and GVSU CC and TF on Facebook for photos, live updates and more. A story recapping the day's events and final results of the meet will be posted to gvsulakers.com following the conclusion of the meet.