No. 10 ranked women’s lacrosse gets out to a hot start
The 2023 season was one of major successes for the Grand Valley State University Lakers women’s lacrosse team, who went undefeated in conference play (6-0) and reached the NCAA Division II National Semifinals after winning the Midwest Regional Championship. The Lakers finished 16-5 and are now off to another blazing start in 2024.
After winning their first four games, No. 10 GVSU has started 7-1, with their only loss coming to the undefeated No. 3 Maryville University by a narrow score of 7-6.
The Lakers are on the road this week, facing Indianapolis University on Thursday, March 28 at 3 p.m. Following their matchup with Indianapolis, GVSU will begin Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference (GLIAC) play the ensuing week.
GV swim and dive men finish 6th, women place 16th, as Maddie Kooistra wins national championship
The GVSU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams competed at the NCAA DII National Championships in Geneva, Ohio from March 12 through 16. Although the men’s team placed higher at No. 6 overall, the No. 16 placed women’s team brought home a national champion.
Junior diver Maddie Kooistra came home as a national champion after earning first place in the 1-meter-board dive. Kooistra tallied a score of 463.95, which was good enough for the Lakers’ sole national championship.
Kooistra previously won the consolation final in 2023 for the 1-meter-dive with a score of 446.40 points, a 17.55 point improvement. She had previously also finished with a bronze medal in the 3-meter-dive with a score of 475.90 in 2023.
GV Track and Field continue outdoor season after winning indoor GLIAC Championships, earning 4 NCAA Indoor Championships
After both GVSU men’s and women’s track and field placed first in the GLIAC Championships, winning 17 of 34 titles in the events, both teams finished top five in the NCAA Indoor Championships.
With three men’s athletes winning a national championship, one player from the women’s team earned one. Junior thrower Erika Beistle, who has previously been named an All-American in the discus throw, tossed a 16.37 meter shot put to win the women’s team’s championship.
The national champions for the Lakers men’s squad were senior thrower Myles Kerner, senior distance runner Caleb Futter and freshman high jumper Jaivon Harrison.
Futter ran a 4:18:02 mile time to win the individual title, while Kerner is now the reigning back-to-back national champion in shot put, after winning his second straight title with a 19.31 meter throw. Harrison, who won a high jump national championship in 2021 at the junior college level for the Bryant & Stratton College Bobcats, garnered his first NCAA DII National Championship in year one with GVSU.
The GVSU men’s squad placed second at indoor nationals, while the women’s team placed fourth. The Lakers began outdoor competition on Friday, March 15. They will continue competing outdoors with the men’s team heading to the Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State University starting on Thursday, March 28. The women’s team will head to the University of Texas for the Texas Relays during the same time.
The Lakers’ first home outdoor competition will be the GVSU Early Meet on Friday, April 5.
