GV cross country outshines competition at Spartan Invitational

The Grand Valley State University men’s and women’s cross country teams travelled to Michigan State University on Friday, Sept. 17. Proving their high levels of competitiveness and drive, the men took home first place up against Division I schools and the women took home second, placing first against all of the other Division II teams.

With 35 points total, the men were trailed by MSU in second and Youngstown State University in third, while the women totaled out at 73 points right behind MSU and just ahead of the University of Toledo. Junior Tanner Chada completed the overall win with a first-place finish in the 8K, with senior teammate, Issac Harding, just behind him. On the women’s side, junior Hannah Becker placed sixth in the 6k as the only one of her teammates to finish in the top ten, followed closely by sophomore Klaudia O’Malley.

The GVSU cross country teams secured the top spot in the GLIAC preseason poll last week and they’ll be taking their competitive forces to the University of Notre Dame and the Live in Lou XC Classic the first weekend of October.

GV men’s club hockey begins their first season as a DI team

While the rest of Grand Valley State University’s teams have started their fall seasons, the newly upgraded men’s club hockey team will compete in their first game since 2019, now proudly a Division I team. They’ll travel to the University of Michigan-Dearborn for their first game on Friday, Sept. 24, and then then come home to play at the Walker Ice Arena on Saturday, Sept. 25, at 8 p.m. to face them again.

With a team almost entirely made up of underclassman this year, the players have had ample opportunity to practice and prepare for their inaugural season in the new division. There are only 14 veteran players, none of them seniors, and 14 freshmen. Unfortunately for club sports teams, their athletes were not granted the extra year of eligibility, so all of their last season seniors have moved on.

With a fully loaded schedule this year, the Lakers will play 35 games, 17 of them home, before the Great Lakes Colligate Hockey League playoffs starting at the end of February, 2022.

 GLIAC players of the week

This week, sophomore linebacker, Abe Swanson is GLIAC’s defensive player of the week, along with sophomore volleyball player, Sarah Wight. In the volleyball team’s last game, Wight led the team with 11 kills and five blocks, almost a replica of the previous game with 11 kills and three blocks, appearing in 44 sets this season. Swanson tallied nine tackles in their first game of this season and ten tackles in their last game, setting a new career high for himself.