Nov. 17, 2007

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery 

Joplin, Mo. - Lynsey Ardingo led Grand Valley State University to a third-place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships on Saturday, Nov. 17. Ardingo finished the course in 21:25.3 to finish 20th overall, and GVSU's total of 181 points put them just three points back of second place Seattle Pacific. The Lakers were ranked No. 3 heading into the National Championships.

"Lynsey ran extremely well, and I'm very proud of all of our runners," said head coach Jerry Baltes. "They've done an excellent job of battling through injuries for the last few weeks and they showed a lot of character doing it."

Ardingo led the Lakers with her 20th-place finish. Also recording points for GVSU were Megan Maceratini, Lori Burgess, Kelly Gibbons and Leah Borns. Maceratini finished second for GVSU, 35th overall, crossing the finish line at the 21:48.2 mark.

Burgess, Gibbons and Borns ran with each other right to the end, finishing 41st, 42nd and 43rd overall. Burgess's final time was 21:58.6, while Gibbons and Borns finished just three-tenths of a second apart from each other. Gibbons crossed the line at 22:01.2 and Borns crossed just after her at 22:01.5.

Also running for GVSU, Rebecca Winchester finished 56th with a time of 22:17.6.

"Our women's cross country team has a very bright future," Baltes said. "We're a very young team and some of our younger runners showed what they are capable of today."