The Grand Valley State University men’s and women’s track and field teams have started their indoor season on the right foot with strong showings from both sides of the team, building off the success the team had in 2020.

The team started on Dec. 3 with the Holiday Open, proving that they didn’t skip a beat with 22 NCAA DII provisional marks as a team (13 men’s, 9 women’s) and having two athletes, senior Isaac Harding and junior Tanner Chada, with record-breaking times in the men’s 5000 meter.

The record was set by Zach Panning in 2019 (13:46.87). Harding finished in third place with a time of 13:41.87, while Chada followed right behind his teammate coming in at 13:45.19, both receiving their provisional marks on the day.

For men’s fields events, sophomore Eli Kosiba took first place in the men’s high jump, leaping 2.07m, gaining his provisional mark. Kosiba was joined by sophomore Myles Kerner and freshman Matt Thomas who also gained their provisional marks in the shot put.

For the women’s side, they had success in the distance events with five provisional marks made. Sophomore Klaudia O’Malley, senior Allie Ludge, and senior Hannah Becker all earned their marks in the 3000m. Sophomore Sarah May and sophomore Kayce Rympa each got their marks as well in the women’s 5000m.

In the women’s field events, junior Judith Essemiah won the weight throw event gaining her provisional mark while sophomore Alaina Omonode finished fourth.

“(We) just have to stay focused on the day-to-day process of controlling what you can control,” said coach Jerry Baltes. “(We have to continue) doing the right things inside of practice, outside of practice, and keep making steady progress. Coming off the holiday break we will start with taking a bit of a step back and then start to move forward and build some momentum as we move from meet-to-meet.”

After winter break, the Lakers hosted and competed in the Bob Eubanks Open on Saturday, Jan. 14. The athletes were able to take a bit of a break from competing since they’ve seen so much early success in the season. Building on that initial success is going to be key for the team leading into the rest of the season and all the way to the conference meets starting in February.

Baltes noted that these early meets are going to help athletes who compete in the distance events to gain their footing and get some rest after winning the Cross-Country National Championship this past fall. The teams also have an impressive record to withhold, having won last year’s National Championships in track and field as well.

“We are actually not competing a lot of individuals this weekend,” Baltes said. “Coming off the break, we want to make sure everyone is in a good spot fitness-wise, and health-wise. Our distance kids raced a lot this fall so we are just being a little bit more patient with them. So, this is a huge training week for us. That doesn’t mean those who are competing can’t go out and post some positive results but, ultimately, it is a starting point and hopefully we will progress and build from there.”

The indoor season is just getting started for the Lakers this winter, and it will continue to roll into the University of Michigan Invitational in Ann Arbor on Jan. 22 where the Lakers will ease back into their top form.