Jerry Baltes has an outstanding track record – pun intended.

Baltes is entering his 12th season as Grand Valley State University’s head cross-country and track and field coach for both the men’s and women’s teams. In his tenure at GVSU, he has won 11 straight indoor and outdoor Women’s Track and Field GLIAC Championships and has coached more than 270 All-Americans. The men have finished runners up to Ashland University for the last three seasons.

This year, as with every year, Baltes’ goals and ambitions are sky high.

“GLIAC Conference Championships are outstanding, but winning a National Championship is high on our priority list,” he said. “We’ve been close five times, recently finishing second in women’s and fourth in men’s indoor.”

The confidence Baltes exuberates is reflected by both the administration and his athletes. GVSU Athletic Director Tim Selgo praised Baltes for turning around the cross-country and track teams.

“Prior to Jerry Baltes’ arrival … Grand Valley had not won a single GLIAC title in either men or women’s cross-country or track and field,” he said. “Now we win most of them consistently! He has built our program into a national power, including having the best overall women’s track and field/cross-country program in the country for the last two years.”

Baltes accredits the majority of his success at GVSU to his supporting cast.

“I think we have a great support staff, from our administration to our faculty to our assistant coaches,” he said. “I’ve been blessed with caring and hardworking people around me.”

Baltes was also named the 2009 Division II Women’s Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year, an honor he again thinks he shares with his team.

“It’s a great honor, but it’s not my honor,” he said. “Everyone who has surrounded me- the coaching staff, administrators, the student athletes and the support staff- they’re the ones who’ve made this possible.”

The current track team is comprised of between 170-180 men and women, with 80-90 of them also running on the cross-country team.

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