RALEIGH, N.C. – After three days of competition, Grand Valley State track and field has officially closed out their weekend on the road. Twenty three marks or times were added to GVSU's top 10 record book and several Lakers took the lead in NCAA Division II.
 
adidas Raleigh Relays – Results
ESU Spring Open – Results
adidas Trojan Challenge – Results
 
Thursday, March 26
Competition began Thursday afternoon as women's throwers took the circle. Paige Westra placed fifth overall, throwing for a personal-best 15.02m (49-3.5) on her fifth attempt of the day. Her mark trailed four Division I athletes and led 43 other competitors.
 
Emily Stinson notched a PR in shot put, too, throwing for 13.47m (44-2.5) on her third and final attempt of the day. Avery Lahti threw slightly further, ranking six spots ahead of her teammate with a 13.83m (45-4.5) throw.
 
During women's shot, Will Gaston threw javelin The senior ranked 16th with a 57.09m (187-3) throw, which he landed on his first attempt.
 
Colin Vanderschaaf and Tyler Heath were the next two to compete, racing in the men's 1500m. Vanderschaaf led the duo, clocking a personal-best finish at 3:50.32 while Heath finished at 3:54.37.
 
Owen Westerkamp and Flynn Pumpa flew through the men's 3000m steeplechase, becoming the new number one and two in NCAA Division II with their finishes. Westerkamp placed 14th of 75 athletes with a personal-best 8:46.22 finish and Pumpa finished 17th at a personal-best time of 8:47.85.
 
Five Lakers raced in the men's 5000m, led by redshirt-junior Conor Somers. The only GVSU athlete to place in the top 75, Somers crossed the finish line 65th overall at 14:16.33.
 
The final event of the day was the men's 10000m. Koby Fraaza and John Nice ran new personal-best times in the event. Fraaza finished 10th overall at 28:52.63 and Nice ranked 60th with a finish at 30:01.12. The times put Fraaza as No. 1 in NCAA DII and Nice No. 4.
 
Friday, March 27
The day began at 10:45 a.m. for the Lakers as Mia Barnett took the track for the women's 100m hurdles. The true freshman flew through the race, completing the contest in 14.44. The finish was just 0.01 seconds shy of making GVSU's all-time top 10 record book.
 
Following Barnett, Dominic Downes impressed in the 110m hurdles. The sophomore placed second overall with a personal-best 14.02 time in the event, trailing first place by 0.04 and leading third by 0.05. He now ranks third all-time at Grand Valley in the men's event and qualifies for competition at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships.
 
Braden Prielipp was the next to put on a show, competing in flight two of men's high jump. Prielipp cleared a new personal-best bar on his fourth attempt of the day with a 2.01m (6-7) mark. He moved onto 2.06m (6-9), which took him three attempts to complete. With a double-PR down, he decided to continue the trend. It took the sophomore just one attempt to clear 2.11m (6-11), which ranked him third at the Raleigh Relays, ties him for eighth in program history and punches his ticket to the 2026 national championships.
 
Freshman Gianni Harris was next to fill a spot in the record book. With a finish at 11.84 in the 100m dash, Harris ranked 25th in Raleigh and eighth all-time at Grand Valley State.
 
Four Lakers raced in the men's 400m. Joshua Page led the way, placing second overall with a finish at 46.61 to also rank second in program history. Desmond Chapa and Trannon Aylor had matching finishes at 48.18, which was a personal-best for Chapa. Demarcus Chapa rounded out the quad with a finish at 50.24.
 
Redshirt sophomore Cara Newman was the next to shine. Newman crossed the finish line in the 1500m at a personal-best 4:27.13 to place fourth in her heat.
 
Sam Paeth and Brock Byrant put on a show in men's pole vault at the Emporia State Spring Open. The freshman duo went 1-2 in the event; Paeth cleared a 5.15m (16-10.75) bar to place first and Bryant cleared 5.05m (16-6.75) to place second. The two rank seventh and ninth in program history.
 
Brandon Schirck and Lucas Lesher were the stars of men's hammer at Mount Olive's Trojan Challenge. Schirck placed first in the event with a 65.69m (215-6) season-opening throw that ranks him number four all-time. Lesher followed suit, becoming No. 10 in program history with a 61.85m (202-11) throw.
 
Abigail VanderKooi closed out the day with the women's 10000m. The redshirt-junior ran a personal-best 34:08.50 in the event, placing 19th of 70 to move to No. 4 in program history.
 
Saturday, March 28
The men's and women's relays began and ended the day for GVSU. The women's 4x100m (46.04) finished sixth at Raleigh and the men's squad (40.81) finished eighth. In the 4x400m, Claire Neumann, Catherine Guckenberger, Addison Washler and Alaina Diaz crossed the finish line at 3:43.41, ranking ninth in program history and seventh at Raleigh. Desmond Chapa, Demarcus Chapa, Trannon Aylor and Joshua Page combined for a 3:11.12 finish in the 4x400m relay, ranking No. 9 in program history and fifth at the Raleigh Relays.
 
Sebastian Tesch was the first to kick off individual competition in men's hammer for the Lakers. He trailed three power four, Division I athletes with a personal-best 65.96m (216-5) mark on his sixth and final throw of the day. His throw ranks him No. 3 in program history, just behind 2023 national champion Jacob Urban.
 
Daisy Speet was the next to find a top 10 program mark in the women's 800m. Placing 29th of 180, Speet ranks No. 10 in program history with a finish at 2:09.32.
 
Grand Valley State's hurdles crew put on a show at Mount Olive's Trojan Challenge. Joshua Hurt (13.93), Dominic Downes (13.98) and Parker Campbell (14.17) ran GVSU top-10 times, ranking No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 all-time. Mia Barnett found her own place in the record books, ranking eighth in the 110m hurdles with a finish at 13.93.
 
Unsurprisingly, Joshua Page also impressed. He finished third overall, sandwiched in between several Division I athletes, with a 200m finish at 20.79. His season opener ranks third in program history and leads NCAA DII.
 
Luke Jelderks closed out the individual events at the Raleigh Relays. He placed second in long jump, debuting at a best mark of 7.39m (24-3)., ranking in the top five of DII.
 
The Lakers are back in action next weekend as they host the first home meet of the 2026 outdoor season. The GVSU Early Meet begins Friday, April 3rd and will continue through Saturday, April 4^th. Several athletes will also compete at the Spartan Invitational in East Lansing, Mich. on Friday, April 3rd.
 
More information regarding who is competing, when and where will be available on gvsulakers.com this week.