The Grand Valley State University men’s and women’s cross country teams competed against a collection of Division I talent this past weekend in the Greater Louisville Classic. The mud-blanketed course did little to slow down the field on a Saturday that brought out some of the best talent in Division I and II.

“This was a big meet for us,” said GVSU head coach Jerry Baltes. “The talent level was pretty high, its always a good opportunity to prove what you can do when you go up against some of the best.”

The Greater Louisville Classic consisted of a group featuring the University of Arizona, University of Arkansas, Michigan State University, Duke University and the University of Georgia. The big-name field was seen as an opportunity to shine by GVSU.

“We had a pretty big opportunity today,” said men’s cross country team member Josh Moskalewski. “Its always exciting whenever you get to race two of the best runners in the nation.”

The women’s team finished 13th overall in the Gold 5K, led by Jessica Janecke with a time of 17 minutes, 25 seconds, followed by Allyson Winchester at 17:36. Hannah Oborn, Courtney Brewis, and Madie Roots rounded off the top 5, all coming in under 18:15.

“A little muddy, but that didn’t seem to affect us that much,” Janecke said. “Overall I feel like we had a good showing today.”

In the blue division of the races this weekend, Molly Slaven posted a time of 18:26, which led the Lakers to a third place finish. Kelsey Young came in second for the Lakers in the Blue 5K with a time of 18:41. Brianna Hewett, Ann Marie Arseneau, and Mary Boyd all scored for the Lakers as well.

Josh Moskalewski and Stephen Fueling were the top dogs for Grand Valley’s men’s team, with times of 24:39, and 24:44, leading them to a No. 9 overall finish. Scoring in the top 5 for the men were Alan Peterson, Jake Issacson, and Joe Duff.

“There comes a point in the race where you say to yourself I cant take it I’m going to go slower, or you choose to embrace the pain and just go for it,” Mosalewski said. “You just have to let your pride take over at that point, that’s what (I feel) is really pushing us.”

With GLIAC and the National Championships slowly approaching, it was important for both the men’s and women’s teams to have a good showing, but to also work out the kinks they have.

“There were a few spots we could have done better in,” Baltes said. “We need to be more aggressive at times, you aren’t going to improve when your passive, sometimes we just need to take risks.”

In the Blue division, Joe Graves and Chad Cini led the Lakers to a second place finish with times of 25:05, and 25:28. Kousei Yajima, Casey Koutledge, and Ahmed Elmi all finished in the top 5 as well.

“We have great depth on this team,” Baltes said. “This race provided an opportunity for a lot of these guys to gain some experience”

GVSU is back in action this Friday at the Michigan Intercollegiate Championships in Grand Rapids.
[email protected]