John Cusick
Sep 14, 202210 min
Edits and additional commentary by Garrett Zatlin
The men from Grand Valley State check-in to our preseason rankings at TSR #3, a very encouraging preseason spot that should be considered favorable for the Lakers despite them losing over half of their 2021 national meet team.
But fear not, as it's a new year and there are always runners waiting in the shadows of this roster who will be ready to contribute to this GVSU program. The 2022 cross country season will be certainly no different as the Lakers will have more than enough firepower, depth and experience to be competitive on the national stage.
Yes, even after losing the individual title winner and two more All-Americans, we should expect this team to be near the top once again.
Before we go in-depth about what to expect for this upcoming season, let's look at the Lakers' historic run throughout the 2021 cross country season.
Last fall, the Lakers debuted their varsity squad at the MSU Spartan Invitational and did not disappoint. The Lakers took home the team title over multiple Division One institutions, including a national qualifying team in Michigan State.
And if that wasn't enough, they put 16 points between them and the Spartans.
Oh, and they put athletes inside the top-10.
Not bad, huh?
This year's TSR #3 runner, Tanner Chada, led Grand Valley State that day, finishing 2nd place overall behind Michigan State's Morgan Beadlescomb. Teammate Isaac Harding was right behind him in 3rd place and was just three seconds back.
Our 2022 TSR #25 runner, Caleb Futter, finished as the third scorer for the Lakers in 8th place while veteran Jacob Lee (a graduate transfer from Michigan) crossed the line with him in 9th place. Andrew Hylen (currently TSR #14) rounded out the scoring for the Lakers in 13th place, giving his team an outstanding total of just 35 points.
Most teams need a rust-buster to kick-off their season and build momentum. That, however, was certainly not the case for the men from Allendale, Michigan. The Lakers made sure to send an early-season message about just how strong they could be in 2021.
And of course, their distance running showcase didn't stop there.
We saw the Lakers put together another impressive performance at the Louisville XC Classic. There, they finished 2nd overall as a team behind Wisconsin while putting their five scorers inside the top-25.
Harding took home the individual title over the likes of Wisconsin's Olin Hacker and Bob Liking, a superstar scoring duo. Chada, meanwhile, finished 4th overall in another strong showing from him, giving the Lakers two interchangeable low-sticks.
Hylen thrived in 16th place, bridging the gap between the front-runners on this team and the backend contributors. However, the final two scorers on this team weren't far behind. Lee was 23rd overall while Futter finished 25th.
And the time between Harding and Futter? Just a measly 41 seconds. If you were looking for elite team racing, then you would have had to look no further than what the Lakers showed in Louisville.
Speaking of their depth, the Lakers sent their "B" squad to the Lewis XC Crossover, a group that walked away with a 3rd place team finish behind Colorado Christian (10th at the national meet) and Lewis (9th at the national meet).
It was already known that the Lakers were deep in nearly every facet of a cross country roster, but seeing their depth in action reminded everyone just how good this group was. Running a "B" squad at one of the few premiere D2 meets was already a subtle flex that was later emphasized after finishing 3rd behind only two top-10 teams.
Two weeks later, the Lakers began their legendary postseason run at the GLIAC XC Championships.
The Lakers won their 19th straight GLIAC title scoring 25 points as a team, separating themselves from Saginaw Valley State by a 51-point margin.
Harding and Chada went 1-2 overall while Futter finished third for the team in 6th place. After a modest regular season, long-time veteran Enael Woldemichael emerged with a 7th place finish while Lee rounding out GVSU's top-five runners in 9th place.
Hylen and Jesse Becker were the icing on the cake as they finished 10th and 11th overall, giving the Lakers seven athletes inside the top-11 in yet another dominant performance.
The Midwest Regional XC Championships were truthfully much the same for the team from Allendale, Michigan. They scored 49 team points and dismantled the likes of Lewis, Walsh and Michigan Tech. And they did so without Harding on the starting line.
In a photo finish, Chada finished 2nd overall behind Saginaw Valley State's CarLee Stimpfel, but in the overall results, that one-point swing hardly made an impact.
Futter, Lee, Samuel Martens and Becker were the final four scorers going 6-10-14-17. Ben Zaremba and Noah Steffen were the other two runners for Grand Valley State as they finished 40th and 58th, respectively.
Fast forward to their season finale and the Lakers made it three for three at the NCAA XC Championships, taking home the second national title in the history of Grand Valley State...which also happened to be their second title in the last four years.
On the biggest stage of their season, Harding and Chada went 1-2, becoming the first duo to finish 1st and 2nd overall at the NCAA XC Championships since Western Colorado's Ryan Haebe and Tyler Pennel did so in 2011.
Hylen and Woldemichael had superb finishes in 12th and 14th place, respectively, producing a postseason peak that shattered their regular season trends. With Jacob Lee securing the Lakers' victory in 21st place, the Lakers' team total amounted to just 43 points, a score that was better than Adams State by 41 points.
The Lakers showed up when it mattered and did so in a dominating fashion. However, you could argue that the DNF results of Dillon Powell and Duncan Fuehne, both from Colorado Mines, played a part in their victory.
Of course, finishing the race is still part of any game plan, too.
Beyond their top-five scorers, the Grand Valley State men had all seven of their men finish inside the top-80. Even if their fifth scorer had faltered, Futter would have been next up in 46th place, still securing a team victory for the Lakers.
So, what does this team have in store for the fall of 2022?
Well, before we can answer that question, we first have to acknowledge what (or better yet, who) they won't have in store for the fall of 2022.
Losing Harding flat-out stinks. There's no other way to say it. He won three of his four races last fall and gave the GVSU men one-half of the greatest scoring duo in Division Two history (or at least one of the greatest scoring duos).
If you were to take out Harding from last year's national meet results and move up the rest of the Lakers' lineup, then GVSU still scores 79 points and would then theoretically have tied Adams State, a tie-breaker that would have still gone to the Michigan-based men.
But Harding is just one of a few men who the Lakers have lost.
Enael Woldemichael, the team's 14th place finish from the 2021 national meet, is no longer on GVSU's roster and the same can be said for Jacob Lee, the team's 21st place finisher from the same race.
We likely don't have to explain why those two men were so important to last year's Grand Valley State team. Without them, as well as a solid backend contributor in Jesse Becker, the entire structure of this team is being forced to into a partial rebuild.
And yet, this program is still ranked at TSR #3.
Luckily, the men who do return to GVSU in 2022 still bring with them exceptional scoring potency, enough that the Lakers should be able to maintain a spot on the podium.
Superstar Tanner Chada is returning for his senior season on the grass and may be looking to improve upon last year's 2nd place finish at the national meet. Anything else outside of a top-three or top-five finish at this year's national meet would truthfully be considered a letdown.
We still expect Chada to be the Lakers' low-stick in 2022. He's been successful since he was a true freshman and has improved each year, even with grander expectations placed on his shoulders.
He's also fresh off of the best outdoor track season of his storied Grand Valley State career where we saw him run 3:48 (1500), 13:37 (5k) and 28:46 (10k). He can now pair his 4:03 (mile) and 7:56 (3k) marks with those prior personal bests to make a case for being the best all-around distance runner in Division Two.
It's safe to say that the Lakers have their star low-stick who could make all the difference come November. But that is something that we already knew.
Next up for the GVSU returners is Andrew Hylen. The current junior will likely need to step into that second scoring spot for the upcoming 2022 season. Luckily for the Lakers, he proved that he could be that guy after peaking beautifully for the 2021 national meet last fall.
Despite not having the strongest outdoor track season of his career, Hylen still saw improvement on the indoor circuit. He dropped his personal bests to 4:13 (mile) and 8:15 (3k). That 3k time now aligns with his 14:16 (5k) and 29:54 (10k) marks.
Hylen has run well on the grass in both of the seasons that he has donned in a Laker uniform. He was also part of the 2019 postseason roster in 2019 for the Lakers. That year, he placed 15th at his conference meet, 11th at his regional meet and 51st at the national meet.
He improved by five places at this year's conference meet before dramatically improving at the national meet by 39 spots. His step forward in high-leverage racing only adds to Grand Valley State's scoring potential this season.
Caleb Futter is the final returner from the Lakers' 2021 national meet lineup, but we really like what we have seen from him over the last couple of years.
With personal bests of 3:48 (1500), 4:04 (mile), 8:10 (3k), 14:24 (5k) and 8:44 (steeple), it won't be much of a shock to see Futter act as such a pivotal piece for this 2022 GVSU team. He was 46th at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships, but expectations are for him to be closer to a top-30 talent this fall.
Why is that?
Well, last year was the first time that Futter raced on the grass in his collegiate career. Another year of training, along with more experience running collegiate cross country, should translate to more success.
And now that we have the returners from the 2021 team, let's talk about the men who could be introduced as varsity contributors by December.
Marcos Garcia transferred from Benedictine (Ill.) just after the COVID-shortened season and he has been reaping the benefits of joining this powerhouse program ever since then.
Garcia has run 4:08 (mile), 8:14 (3k), 14:13 (5k) and 30:08 (10k) since transferring to Grand Valley State. Somehow, those times haven't qualified him for a national meet individually, but to think that he won't help this team in 2022 feels wrong.
Prior to GVSU, Garcia won the 2018 NACC XC Championships and finished 3rd at the 2019 NACC XC Championships. He also recorded a 10th place finish at the 2019 D3 Midwest Regional XC Championships.
We saw Garcia race a couple of times for the Lakers during the fall of 2021, but he was never good enough to crack their loaded varsity squad. That should change this season. With four varsity graduates from last year, Garcia is primed to be a top-five scorer. We think he'll be invaluable by December and potentially a guy who can be top-50 at the national meet.
And how about Ben Zaremba? He'll make his return for his senior season in Allendale where he'll be able to make up for some of the team's scoring departures.
Zaremba brings vital national meet experience to a team that is surprisingly lacking in that department. While his 2021 fall campaign wasn't as successful as some of his other teammates, we can't forget how good he was for the Lakers in 2019.
That year, Zaremba earned a 34th place All-American finish to help his squad earn a bronze-medal podium spot. That is very exciting potential for a team that just got crushed in terms of lost scoring potency.
Zaremba is clearly better on the grass than he is on the track, but when you consider that his personal bests sit at 8:33 (3k), 14:23 (5k) and 29:54 (10k), then his cross country upside is hard to ignore.
Zaremba will need to return to his 2019 form if he wants to have an impact in 2022. And if he does, then the Lakers' scoring depth just got so much better.
We then come to Samuel Martens who was also held off this team's 2021 national meet lineup despite running very well throughout the season. Luckily for him, he used that fitness to take a leap forward on the track and we should see him take another jump up on the grass in 2022.
Martens ran 8:41 (3k), 14:27 (5k) and 29:32 (10k) during the most recent track seasons. His 10k performance was good enough to get him to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the first time in his career where he finished 18th.
If his momentum maintains throughout this fall, then he could be a scary name to face for any other D2 opponents.
Koby Fraaza is the last of the Grand Valley State athletes who we expect to make varsity contributions this fall. The highly-touted recruit was redshirted last fall, but we saw him flash his potential on the track.
On the oval, Fraaza ran 4:11 (mile), 8:23 (3k) and 14:49 (5k) as a freshman in 2022. Another year in this system is only going to make him better.
However, the question at hand is how he can handle racing on the grass. If his performances are near how he handled his first two track seasons, then he'll be an essential depth piece for this team...and maybe even a scorer.
Alright, now for the newcomers.
Colin Kachlic and Nicholas Hoffman both transferred in from Division Three programs. Kachlic comes to Grand Valley State from North Central (Ill.) and Hoffman comes from Hope.
Kachlic doesn't boast the same track times as his new teammates, but he brings some experience on the grass that should ease his transition to Division Two. Last year, he was part of North Central's varsity squad which competed in all three postseason races.
As for Hoffman, he could be considered as more of a middle distance athlete after seeing his 800 meter time of 1:52. But this is someone who has also run 4:09 (mile) and 8:26 (3k).
Before a poor showing at the D3 NCAA XC Championships, Hoffman finished 2nd at the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships and 5th at the D3 Midwest Regional XC Championships.
Both men enter the Lakers' program with untapped potential and will be thrust right into a scenario where their talent will be needed right away. In a worst-case scenario, they will serve as strong runners who could land at the backend of this lineup. And in a best-case scenario, we could see them scoring crucial points during the championship season.
The Lakers have become one of the country's most consistent and most dominant programs in Division Two. Their ability to develop athletes and get the most out of their potential remains Coach Jerry Baltes' greatest strength.
With three returning athletes from their national title team in 2021, all of whom are capable of being All-Americans, the Lakers already have the foundation to be a podium team once again in the fall of 2022.
Of course, we will need to wait and see what the rest of this scoring squad will look like.
The names who we just mentioned are more than capable of being part of this team's top-seven come December, but just how good they actually become is what will drive this team up or down our rankings this fall.