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Bay City, Mich.--Wayne State's Rachelle Malette (Windsor, Ont./Holy Names) was named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's cross country "Runner of the Year", and Grand Valley State's Julia Nowak (Racine, Wis./Case) earned "Freshman of the Year" honors after their outstanding performances at the GLIAC Cross Country Championship held at the Tanglewood Marsh Golf Course, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich on Saturday, Oct. 25. "Coach of the Year" honors go to Jerry Baltes of Grand Valley State.

Runner of the Year
Rachelle Malette - Wayne State University
Wayne State senior Rachelle Malette (Windsor, Ont./Holy Names) won her second consecutive GLIAC individual title last Saturday after placing second as a sophomore in 2006. It was her 11th individual race title while finishing in the top five in 18 of her last 19 races. Malette becomes the first back-to-back GLIAC Runner of the Year since Northern Michigan's Caitlin Compton in 2000-01, and the fourth in GLIAC history. The pharmacy major is also serving as president of the WSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2008-09.

Freshman of the Year
Julia Nowak - Grand Valley State University
Julia Nowak (Racine, Wisc./Case) was named the GLIAC Freshman of the Year after finishing 36th at the GLIAC Championships on Oct. 24 with a time of 22:40. The Lakers placed all seven runners in the top-10 to win their eighth consecutive GLIAC championship and it is the fifth straight year GVSU has won the GLIAC Freshman of the Year award. Nowak did not place for the Lakers, but ran a 19:19 at the Michigan Intercollegiates 5K in Milford, Mich. on Oct. 10.

Coach of the Year
Jerry Baltes - Grand Valley State University
Grand Valley State head coach Jerry Baltes led the women's cross country team to its' eighth consecutive GLIAC championship, moving past Hillsdale for the most team titles in league history. The Lakers totaled 10 of the 14 runners on the All-GLIAC first and second teams. GVSU had three runners finish in the top-five and all seven runners placed in the top-10 at the GLIAC Championships. Newcomer Julia Nowak was named the league's Freshman of the Year, which is the fifth straight season GVSU has been awarded that honor.

Click here for Team Scores and All-GLIAC Team Members

Click here for Women's Team Results

Click here for Women's Individual Results

--Cross Country Weekly Notes--

Ashland -Ashland was ninth at the GLIAC Championships, held last weekend at Lake Superior State. Freshman Abbie Selhorst (Ottawa, OH/Ottawa-Glandorf) was 26th. Her time on the 6K course was (23:33.3). Sophomore Leah Allen (Circleville, OH) placed 33rd in 23:52.4.

Ferris -The Ferris State University women's cross country team took third place at the 2008 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships held Saturday (Oct. 25) at Tanglewood Marsh Golf Course in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The league meet was hosted by Lake Superior State University for the first time since 1998.The Bulldogs were led by senior Mikinzie Stuart, who took eighth place overall in a time of 22:14.5 among the 136 runners in the field. Sophomore Megan Josey was 17th (23:08.4), senior Jackie Green came in 21st (23:24.7), sophomore Paige Onweller was 34th (23:54.7) and sophomore Sarah Creed took 41st place (24:06.0). FSU sophomore Nikki Wiers placed 66th (25:07.6), freshman Kaye Gray came in 77th (26:24.1) and freshman Elizabeth Troost finished 119th (26:55.4). The Bulldogs will next host the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championships slated for Saturday, Nov. 8, at FSU's Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids, Mich. Action begins with the men's 10K race at 11 a.m. (EDT) followed by the women's 6K event at 12 p.m.

Findlay -The University of Findlay women's cross country team competed at the 2008 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championship on Saturday, October 25 in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The women took fifth with a score of 133. The women, who are ranked 11th in the nation and third in the Midwest Region, were led by Katherine McHenry who took 13th with a time of 22:50.0. Jessica Latham (23:33.4), Kristi Comstock (23:48.2), Christine Zimmermann (23:48.5), Tracey Stockmaster (23:49.3), Erin Calvelage (24:15.6), Samantha Herdrich (24:35.7), Kirstin Weible (24:51.0), Catherine Weimers (25:00.6), Jessica Burkett (25:16.9), Colette Gallo (27:20.8), and Nicole Sonneberger (27:31.3) also competed for Findlay at the event.

Grand Valley State -The Grand Valley State women's cross country team placed all seven runners in the top-10 of the GLIAC Championships on Saturday (Oct. 25) in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. GVSU had three runners finish in the top-5 for a final score of 25 points. Megan Maceratini paced the Lakers with a third-place finish with a time of 21:42. She was followed in fourth place by Amy Kolin, who had a time of 21:59. Katherine McCarthy was fifth at 22:09. Sarah Kulczycki finished sixth at 22:12 and Rebecca Winchester was seventh at 22:13. Closing out the scoring for the Lakers was Lynsey Ardingo with a ninth-place finish at 22:19 and Kelly Gibbons was 10th at 22:24.

Hillsdale - Hillsdale's women's cross country team took seventh place at the conference meet with 197 team points. Erin Cvengros was the top Charger runner with a time of 23:12. Freshman Amanda Putt was next with a time of 23:23.

Lake Superior State - Lake Superior State's top finisher at the GLIAC Championship was junior Katie Scott (Mitchell, Ont.), who placed 20th overall and 15th among top-seven scorers with a time of 22:52.1. LSSU's No. 2 finisher was freshman Kayla Nowak (Alpena, Mich.), who was 60th (75th overall) in 24:47.3, followed by junior Stacy Leyder (Newaygo, Mich.) in 69th place (144th overall) with a time of 25:14.1. The Lakers placed 12th with 298 points.

Michigan Tech - Michigan Tech finished 11th at the 2008 GLIAC Championships with 252 points. Senior Laura Kangas was the top finisher for the women's team finishing 29th in the six-kilometer race in 23:46.3. Kangas has been the top finisher for the Huskies at every race this season. Sophomore Christina Mishica finished 39th (24:05.5) and junior Jenna Klein finished 59th (24:45.9). The team also had two freshmen finish in the team's top five. The women's team will return to action Nov. 8 at the NCAA Regionals hosted by Ferris State.

Northern Michigan - The Northern Michigan University women's cross country team finished in eighth place today at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Cross Country Championships. The Wildcats scored 224 points. Nora Killeen led the ‘Cats with a 37th place showing in a time of 24:00.3. Stephanie Enderby was next for NMU in 42nd (24:12.1). The next three runners to score points for NMU were: Christina Gillis (24:16.8), Erin McCulloch (24:19.4) and Kristen Schultz (24:25.9). The ‘Cats have one more competition left in the season. IN a couple of weeks (Nov. 8) the team will run at the NCAA II Great Lakes Regional.

Northwood - The Northwood University women's cross country team took part in the GLIAC Championships Saturday morning (October 25). The women's team placed fourth overall with 126 points. It is the highest finish in the history of the program. The Timberwolves were led by Kylen Cieslak (Livonia, Mich./Churchill), who placed second overall with a time of 21:38.9 over the 6K course. With her finish, Cieslak earned First Team All-GLIAC honors. She is the first player in NU history to earn All-GLIAC recognition. Hannah Stone (Lapeer, Mich./East) also had a strong event, finishing 18th overall at 23:07.5

Saginaw Valley State - The SVSU women's cross country team finished in sixth place at the 2008 GLIAC Championships hosted by Lake Superior State University today (Oct. 25).The Cardinals were led by junior Maggie Stalker (Oscoda, Mich./Oscoda HS) who finished in 14th place overall with a time of 22:15. Junior Amber Catlin (Alma, Mich./Alma HS) finished in 22nd place overall with a time of 23:27, while freshman Chelsea Savage (Monroe. Mich.) was right on her heels in 25th place with a time of 23:33. Freshman Ashley Meyer (Shepherd, Mich.) finished in 36th place overall with a time of 23:55 and Amanda Roache (Mt. Morris, Mich.) rounded out the top five for the Cardinals in 38th with a time of 24:03.The Cardinals will now prepare for the NCAA Regional Meet to be hosted by Ferris State on November 8.

Tiffin - Tiffin University's women's cross country team finished 11th of 12 teams. Rebecca Miller was the top finisher for TU with a 40th place mark in 24:05.6. Jessica Clark was 43rd in 24:14.9 and Heidi Kiesel also took a top 50 spot, placing 49th. Maria Shaw and Cassandra Kohler were 75th and 79th, respectively.

Wayne State - The Wayne State University Women's Cross Country team finished second with 66 points at the GLIAC Championships held in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Rachelle Malette (Windsor, Ont./Holy Names), just featured in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd, knocked out another first place finish with a time of 21:48.8. Sophomore's Lauren Kessler (Ionia, Mich./Ionia) and Kristi Werner (East Jordan, Mich./East Jordan) finished were the next two Warriors to cross the finish line. Kessler placed 11th with a time of 22:35.7 while Werner ran a 22:47 and finished 12th.Annie Magin (Richland, Mich./Gull Lake), Allison Wykle (Trenton, Mich./Trenton), Michele Barton (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) and Robin Coolsaet (Grosse Ile, Mich./Grosse Ile) also contributed to the Warriors second place finish. Magin crossed the finish line 19th with a time of 23:19.2. Wykle took 23rd (23:38.2), Barton finished 71st (25:19.6) and Coolsaet ran a 27:37 finishing 83rd.