XC Men's Overall Results
XC Men's Conference Team Results
XC Men's Conference Individual Results
XC Women's Overall Results
XC Women's Conference Team Results
XC Women's Conference Individual Results
XC Photo Gallery
 
Sept. 20, 2024, LANSING, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Community College women's cross country team made history on Friday after winning the Western Conference Championship at Grand Woods Park. It was the first time in the history of the Michigan Community College Athletic Association that a champion was named for each of the three conferences; the west, the east and the north.  The men's team didn't disappoint either, finishing runner-up in its race.  Meanwhile in Grayling, Zach Vaandrager earned medalist honors for the men's golf team. 

Women's XC Recap

For the third time in as many races, the No. 4 ranked Raiders placed the best out of all junior colleges in the competition and no bigger win coming on Friday, with its first ever Western Conference Championship, defeating rival Lansing CC by seven points.  GRCC's team also featured four All-Conference runners and two runners that made the All-Freshman team.

Elicia Land (4th in the conference, 20:15) and Anna Tubbergen (5th, 20:24) once again paced the Raiders team.  Gaston finished 6th with a time of 20:42 and Lemke was 7th with a time of 21:05.  All four runners were named All-Conference for finishing in the top 12 and Gaston and Lemke were also named to the All-Freshman team for finishing as one of the top 6 freshman in the conference. 

Sophomore Mariana Zaragoza finished 15th with a 22:31. Freshman Estelle Rockhold (21st, 23:39) and sophomore Emily Adamy (24th, 24:53) both set personal records in the race while Chloe Rooks (32nd, 27:26) rounded out the Raider runners.

Coach's comments:

"Today is one of the best days in my 18 year coaching career because I could see that all eight members of our team ran with passion and heart.  When I know and see that they can do that in a 5k race, that is a huge sign that they will be able to do it in all the challenges they face in life.  I couldn't be more proud of what all eight ladies and gave to help the team."

"We talk about it constantly that it's all about the team and to run with each other as much as we can.  In what most would consider an individual sport, sometimes it's more challenging to commit to a team strategy; adjusting your own goals to help your teammates or to adjust your own race plan to be more online with the team's needs.  This group of eight demonstrates the meaning of a team."

"I am looking forward to what our team can learn and do together in the next few weeks as we prepare to be at our best at both the Oct. 25 meet and the National Championships in Virginia."

Men's XC Recap

The No. 10 ranked Raiders finished sixth out of 13 teams at the Conference Championship meet, but second out of all six conference teams in the competition.  Freshman Isaac Skinner (27:58) and sophomore Joseph VanderKooi (28:07) were named to the All-Conference Team after top 15 performances in the conference.   John DiPiazza (29:09) and Sam Pugh (29:24) also had great performance, missing All-Conference by just two places. 

Coach's comments:

"Another solid race for the Raiders.  I feel like we are figuring out how to be consistent.  We had some good pack running with some good performances and some not the best. But with a pretty deep team, we were able to cover for the spots that were going away that we wanted. Times were pretty similar to what we saw last week.  We are in a pretty big training cycle right now so I do not expect everyone to be fresh.  We are still pretty healthy so that's a good sign."

"We had two All-Conference runners, so that's always nice to get recognition for their hard work.  Issac and Joseph ran together the entire way, which is really nice to see as they were finishing together at the first races, but no running together.  John really came through today as well as Sam.  Micah Nagel (29:50) had another solid race to finish our top five."

Nagel, Haegan Land (30:04), Nate Fahey (30:18), Austin Winkle (30:19) and Reece Ondersma (30:25) all finished 24th through 28th out of all conference runners.  Dannion Simmet (31:05) and Sam Spoors (36:38) rounded out the Raiders runners finishing 31st and 44th. 

Dannion Simmet (63rd, 29:35), newcomer Reece Ondersma (66th, 29:39), Sam Pugh (68th, 29:41), Micah Nagel (72nd, 29:59), Haegan Land (79th, 30:39) and Sam Spoors (38:18) rounded out the Raiders runners. 

Golf Recap
    
GRCC's team was shorthanded at the Kirtland Community College Invitational, but still managed a seventh place finish out of 12 total teams.  Freshman Zach Vaandrager (71, +1) earned medalist honors by finishing first among 73 golfers.

Freshman Zach Steers also finished in the top ten with a score of 77.

Evan Kaiser (82), Trevor Hobbs (83), Sam Meyers (83), Parker Williamson (83) and Cameron Morgan (85) rounded out the Raider golfers. 

The Raiders are back at it on Monday in Auburn Hills at the Oakland CC Invite.

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Interested in supporting GRCC Athletics?  All donations can be done through GRCC Athletic's Scholarship Fund and can specify what scholarship fund the gift is going to, such as the Hofmann scholarship. If you have any questions on how to support Athletics at Grand Rapids Community College, contact the Athletic Department via phone at (616) 234-3883 or email grccathletics@grcc.edu. Any support is appreciated and goes towards assisting our student-athlete scholarship funds.