Grand Valley State University’s men’s and women’s cross country teams returned to Romeoville, Illinois, on Saturday, Nov. 9 for the 2024 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championship. For their 23rd and 22nd respective seasons, the Lakers’ cross country squads dominated the competition, claiming the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championship titles.
Entering the NCAA Midwest Regionals, both of the cross country teams were only allowed to bring seven runners. To compare, a country team is usually composed of more than 20 runners. GVSU has a total of 53 men and 22 women on its teams. On the men’s team, the runners honored were senior Caleb Futter, redshirt junior Koby Fraaza, senior Scott Spaanstra, senior Daniel Lambert, senior Samuel Martens, redshirt junior Brock Wooderson and sophomore Owen Westerkamp. Of the lady Lakers, the seven runners given a spot were junior Lauren Kiley, sophomore Allie Arnsman, redshirt junior Maggie O’Malley, junior Abby VanderKooi, senior Maria Mitchell, senior Abby Olson and redshirt freshman Annika Sandman.
To start off the day, the men’s 10k took place at 10 a.m. All seven of GVSU’s men finished in the top 20, with a total of 40 points. The score was calculated based on the position of each teams’ top five runners. Leading the Lakers was Futter, finishing in second place at 30:54.34. Close behind Futter was Fraaza, who finished in third place at 30:54.87, just 53 seconds behind. Futter and Fraaza recieved All-Region honors for their top 25 finishes, which contributed to GVSU’s overall win. Spaanstra finished 10th at 31:16.53, Lambert finished 11th at 31:16.62 and Martens finished 14th at 31:19.74. Spaanstra, Lambert and Martens received All-Region honors as well.
Following the men, the women’s leg of the race began at 11:15 a.m. The lady Lakers pushed through the crowds, and ended up on top with six of their seven runners in the top 10. Leading the Lakers for her second consecutive post-season win was Kiley, who crossed the finish line at 20:57.78. Kiley was honored with the Women’s Individual title for her accomplishment.
Kiley’s leadership doesn’t go unnoticed, but without the rest of the lady Lakers, 20-point score wouldn’t have been possible. Arnsman finished in second place at 21:16.21, O’Malley finished fourth at 21:34.21, VanderKooi finished sixth at 21:35.73 and Mitchell finished seventh at 21:36.01. All seven runners earned All-Region honors for their top 25 finishes.
“The people before me have left a successful history and created a winning culture at Grand Valley that I feel obligated and honored to be a part of,” said Fraaza. “It is a big motivation. The goal is to extend that legacy for (the next) Lakers to come.”
Since the GVSU men’s and women’s cross country teams won the Midwest Regional titles, they are automatically qualified to compete at the highest level of competition, the NCAA Division II National Championships in Sacramento, California on Nov. 23. In 2023, the Lakers took home the Division II Women’s Cross Country Championship and they are certainly looking to win again this year.
