Running season is under way as the Grand Valley State University men’s and women’s cross country teams competed against several Division I foes last weekend at Michigan State University.

The meet featured Division I schools Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, Central Michigan University and Miami (Ohio) along with GLIAC schools Hillsdale College, Saginaw Valley State University, Wayne State University and GVSU.

The teams came out of the unscored meet with several top finishers. The men’s team had two in the top six, and the women’s team placed six in the top 25. GVSU head coach Jerry Baltes said he was pleased with how the opening meet played out for the most part.

“It was a good start for us, the first meet of the year you never know where people are at,” he said. “It’s really just shaking the rust off and seeing how we do. We had a lot of positive races on our team, but we also have a long way to go.”

Both teams entered the meet ranked in the top-five in Division II.

The men came in at fifth in the nation while the ladies were ranked second behind only Adams State University, who owns the top spot in both the men’s and women’s rankings.

Placing six women in the top 25 was the most of any schools at the meet. Senior Megan Maceratini, who came in 13th place with a time of 21:32 for 6k, said the team was happy, but not too happy, with the race.

“We were excited, we all had good times, but we went in hoping to do even a little better than that,” she said. “We wanted our pack closer together, but we were definitely excited to have that many people up there.”

The men’s day was highlighted by a fourth-place finish from junior Tyler Emmorey, who came across the line in 24:44 for 8k. Sophomore Scott McKeel said the entire Laker lineup ran a good race.

“For this early in the year, I thought everyone was great,” he said. “From the kids in the middle of the pack, the younger runners did a great job stepping up from last year’s performances and improving, and the top guys did well to mix it up a little with Michigan State runners.”

Both teams are off until the first weekend in October when they travel to Kentucky for the Greater Louisville Classic.

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