Lake Superior State’s men’s and women’s cross country teams aim to build on last season and attack the GLIAC in 2025.
The Lakers top runners from 2024 return for the men and women. Sophomore Gavin Guggemos starred for the Lakers, placing 106th in the 2004 NCAA Division II Midwest Region Cross Country Championships, his first year as a collegiate runner. Head coach Matt Stith recruited a large freshman class to build the squad’s depth and push his competitive number 1.
“I think our depth is the biggest change,” said Stith. “We’ve brought in some very accomplished - and in the men’s side in particular - a very sizeable freshman group. Our numbers are up overall, and the number of athletes that are going to be competitive for spots in that top seven at the end of the season are considerably higher.
Sophomore Connor Rouse is expected to impress again for the Lakers. He and Guggemos comprise a deep sophomore class, with six returners.
Six freshmen runners will debut for the Laker men’s program this season, including Sault Ste. Marie, MI native Eli Hills, a Fire Science major. Birk Seagren hails from Hancock, MI – the other rookie from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The women’s cross country team built around the same philosophy. A ton of youth that will look to aggressively move into the team’s top places. Four freshmen will compete for the Lakers, along with four sophomores.
Izzy Yeoman enters her sophomore season Senior Grace Kreps and fifth-year runner Kara Mosher provide veteran leadership for the squad.
Stith and assistant coach Adam Grifka did not name captains for the 2025 season. Stith said that both teams have tremendous leaders in a variety of ways, citing junior Olivia Peter as a vocal presence. But he was clearly impressed with the character of his teams, up and down the roster.
Stith was also very pleased with the team’s preseason preparation. The teams spent time training at Wilderness State Park, in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
“We stayed together, ate together, trained together and spent a lot of time bonding and taking the first steps in building the community we’re going to be,” he said. “We got the chance to talk about the vision for this season and how we’re going to marry that vision to process so we can get there.”
The Lakers head coach believes in constantly pursuing improvement. His creed, “Get one day better, every day” exemplifies how he wants his team to attack the season.
“If we get one day better every day, individually and as a group, then all those other things – placements, times, team results – will take care of themselves organically. Our goal is the same as it is every year, which is to improve one day at a time.”
While the Laker men’s cross country team was selected to finish 8th in the GLIAC Preseason Coaches Poll, and the women’s team was selected 9th, their head coach believes this team will start moving up the standings.
“We are very excited about this year’s squad and the opportunities we have to move up some steps on the GLIAC ladder and maybe make some noise that people haven’t heard from Lake State for a while.”
The Lakers open their season at Central Michigan’s 40th Annual Jeff Drenth Memorial on August 29th. Two weeks later, they travel to East Lansing, MI to compete at the Spartan Invitational. Two GLIAC schools host the Lakers this year – Wisconsin-Parkside’s Lucian Rosa Invitational on September 27th, and Michigan Tech’s Husky Invitational on October 17th. In between, the Lakers travel to the Jayhawk Invitational on October 11th. The men’s and women’s teams compete on identical schedules.
