LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At times on Saturday morning, the men’s cross country Division II National Championship meet resembled a Tough Mudder more than a college sport.

The Grand Valley State men’s cross country team trekked through the waterlogged course en route to a second-place finish at the championship meet. Senior Alan Peterson led GVSU with a ninth-place individual finish (30:42.4) – the second-best in program history – as the Lakers posted 127 points to tie the best finish in men’s team history.

“A year ago we were second and we were jumping up and down an all excited,” said GVSU head coach Jerry Baltes. “Now we’re second and we felt like the world was coming to an end. We had high expectations and we wanted to give Adams State a run but they’re a pretty darn good program.”

Adams State ran away with the competition, finishing with 69 points for its third consecutive Division II Championship. The Grizzlies were paced by senior Tabor Stevens, who won back-to-back individual titles with a time of 30:02.0.

GVSU edged out Augustana (136 points) to claim the runner-up position. Sophomore Bryce Bradley (31:21.7) finished 27th before junior Chad Cini and sophomores Chris May and Brady Selner crossed the finish line at 36th, 37th and 39th, respectively.

“We all came in here trying to challenge for the win,” Cini said. “We knew what we had to do.

“We came up a little short but I’m so proud of this team. We went through a lot but everyone did what they had to do.”

Peterson, GVSU’s lone contributing senior runner, collapsed in a heap after crossing the finish line. Emotion and exhaustion seeped out of the squad’s leader as he waited for his teammates to join him beyond the finish line.

With the conditions, the Lakers knew getting off to a solid start at the gun could dictate the results of the match. The sloppy course made it difficult for the runners to find an opportunity to make a passing move.

“That’s probably what hurt our men a little bit,” Baltes said. “We talked about that, that we really need to get up and establish position. We closed the gap to probably 30 points, but Adams came back to get us in the back loop.”

Adams State, a perennial men’s cross country powerhouse, left no doubts about its dominance, placing three runners in the top five finishers to blow away its competitors.

The race was largely successful for GVSU, but for Baltes and his crew, they still believe there’s work to be done for the program.

“At GV we talk about tradition never graduating,” Baltes said. “We’re going to keep the tradition going… We’ve got a great group of freshmen back home. We’ve got talented people back home.”

The Lakers will look to continue their tradition of success in upcoming years with a strong number of returners, but for Peterson – one of GVSU’s marquee runners in recent years – the end of the road has come.

“I wouldn’t have chose any other school,” Peterson said. “GVSU is a great school…It’s been a great experience and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

“I’m sad I couldn’t go out on top, but these guys are going to win one, I know that for sure.”