By John Jarvi
Local Sports Journal
ALLENDALE — Grand Valley State University’s athletic department has accepted an opportunity to host the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II national track meet.
The meet events will be run between the evenings of May 21 and May 24, 2014, at the school’s outdoor track facility on the Allendale campus.
It will be the first national track meet conducted at the facility which opened in 2012. Grand Valley previously hosted the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference outdoor championships in 2012.
The NCAA approached GVSU about hosting the meet after the scheduled school for the outdoor championships ran out of money in constructing its field event area. Grand Valley has since accepted the request.
GVSU has been a cross country, indoor and outdoor track national power for a number of years at the Division II level with Jerry Baltes as the school’s head coach for men’s and women’s track.
A highlight on Grand Valley’s indoor meet schedule next winter will be the return of the University of Michigan-Michigan State University dual track meets between the men’s and women’s teams. That meet is scheduled for the evening of Feb. 1 in GVSU’s Kelly Family Turf Building.
