Jerry Baltes is in his ninth year at the helm of both the men's and women's cross country and track and field teams at Grand Valley State. During that time Baltes has been able to build six championship programs as the Lakers have won 42 out of 48 cross country, indoor, and outdoor track and field GLIAC championships.

Overall, Baltes has won 21 GLIAC Coach of the Year titles and has groomed 63 All-Americans athletes to a combined total of 127 All-American honors. Baltes has also helped rewrite the GVSU record books witnessing 77 records broken out of the 84 men's and women's indoor and outdoor event. Baltes has received the Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year Award eleven times.

Baltes has led the men's and women's indoor and outdoor track teams to 14 top 20 finishes at the NCAA National Championships. The men's indoor track and field team placed 13th in 2000, 15th in 2001, 12th in 2002, 18th in 2005, and 10th in 2006. The women's team finished 14th in 1999, ninth in 2002, seventh in 2003, 16th in 2005, and fifth in 2006. The men's outdoor track and field team finished in 13th place in 2006 and the women's team placed 11th in 2002, 18th in 2005, and fourth in 2006.

The Laker cross country teams have experienced a great deal of success on the national level. Baltes wasted no time in making a name for the women's program as they finished fifth in the nation in 1999, his first year in the program, and have made trips back to the meet in 2001 (5th), 2002 (3rd), 2003 (3rd), 2004 (4th), 2005 (2nd), and 2006 (3rd). The men's team has also ascended to be competitive at the national championship as they competed at the finals in 2002 (9th), 2003 (14th), 2003 (6th), 2005 (4th), and 2006 (4th).

Baltes has guided three individual and one relay team to NCAA National Championships in his tenure at Grand Valley State. Jason Van Elst became Grand Valley's first-ever individual National Champion as he won the 35# weight throw (65'-9.5") in 2002 in Boston, Mass. Steph Kuhlman claimed the National Championship title in the 800m in 2003 in Edwardsville, Ill. with a winning time of 2:05.34. She set the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship record of 2:05.75 in 2003 in the prelims. Kuhlman also qualified and competed in the 2003 USA Track and Field Championships in Stanford. Mandi (Long) Zemba became the school's first-ever female athlete to win an individual national championship. She is a four-time NCAA National Champion and won her first title as a true freshman in the 1500 meter with a time of 4:28.53. In 2005, Zemba won the individual National Championship in cross country as she covered the 6,000 meter course in Pomona, Calif. in a time of 21:01.7. She went on to capture the 3,000 and 5,000 meter runs at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Emporia, Kan. Her time of 15:48.62 at the Stanford Cardinal Invitational qualified her for the USA Track and Field National Championships in Indianapolis where she finished 16th. Zemba rewrote the distance record books in 2006 by breaking six GVSU school records.

Originally from Rolling Prairie, Indiana, Baltes was a four-time letter winner and captain of the cross country/track and field teams at Butler University. Graduating from Butler in 1998, Baltes received a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education-physical education.

Baltes was the assistant men's and women's track and field/cross country coach for two years at Butler. His area of focus was with the distance athletes in cross country and the jumpers in track. He played a major role in building a cross country program that qualified for the National Championships. In 1998, he assisted in leading the Butler Bulldogs to 16th place at the NCAA Championships. Baltes also guided Butler's first track athlete to the 1998 National Championships in the 3.000, 5,000, and 10,000 meters, since 1971.

Certified by the NCAA to recruit, and in charge of the Midwestern region, Baltes brought in the largest recruiting class ever in Butler cross country history. Having experience in organizing events, scheduling, and keeping his players motivated, Baltes' management skills have played a large role in his success. He assisted in all aspects of team travel, organized team events and activities, coordinated equipment orders with Adidas, and kept contact with alumni.