Another GLIAC Cross Country Crown for Cordes
October 26, 2002

A chase scene that’s now extended for over two years continued Saturday (Oct. 26) at the 2002 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference cross country championships.

In 2000, Ashland University’s Nick Cordes won the GLIAC individual championship. Cordes was redshirted last year, but he was back on the starting line this year. Saturday, the conference runners continued to chase the AU senior. Cordes won his second conference crown, winning the title in 24:15.8. That easily outdistanced the second place finisher, Steve Larson of Hillsdale, who came across the finish line in 25:04.8. Third place went to Grand Valley State’s Aaron Rogers in 25:10.5. The men’s race was 8,000 meters and was held in Milton, MI, at Kensington Metroparks. Wayne State was the host institution.

Grand Valley State won the team championship with 42 points. Hillsdale (51) was second and Ashland (60) was third. The host Warriors (93) were fourth in a 12-team field. This was the first GLIAC title for the Grand Valley State men.

AU had three runners finish in the Top 10. Senior Rick Bement was fifth (25:27.9) and sophomore Cristiano Mauricio was ninth (25:33.6).

The Grand Valley State women won the conference crown with 29 points. The Lakers are ranked first in the region and third in the country. This marked the third time in four seasons they won the league championship. Northern Michigan (55) was the runnerup and Wayne State (75) was third.

The AU women were led by junior Tara Griffin. She was fourth on the 6,000-meter course in 22:15. First place went to Shannon Antevelink of Grand Valley State with a time of 22:00. Wayne State’s Shelly Vickery (22:02) was second and Grand Valley’s Natalie Ewing (22:11) was third.

Both AU teams will compete at the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Grand Valley State. The NCAA Division II national championships will be hosted by Ashland on Saturday, Nov. 23.