Title chase: Lakers have sights set on national championships

Grand Valley Athletics is headed into March with momentum — and national championship aspirations across multiple sports. 

From the inaugural NCAA women’s wrestling championship to the women’s basketball team defending its 2025 national championship, Laker teams are positioned for another postseason run.

Here’s a closer look at the teams competing for titles this winter:

Women's basketball

The 2025 national champions are among the favorites for the 2026 championship, coming off another terrific run through the GLIAC season. 

The No. 2-ranked Lakers (27-1, 19-1) captured a fifth straight GLIAC championship by defeating Ferris State on February 26. The GLIAC Tournament opens play March 4 with the top-seeded Lakers taking on No. 8 seed Lake Superior State at the Fieldhouse Arena.

Senior Paige VanStee and sophomore MacKenzie Bisballe lead the Lakers in scoring, averaging 15.3 and 14 points per game, respectively. 

This year’s Elite Eight and Final Four return to Pittsburgh.

Men's basketball

The Lakers enter the GLIAC Tournament in the midst of their first 20-win season under fourth-year head coach Cornell Mann. As the No. 3 seed, the Lakers (22-6, 15-5) face No. 6 Wayne State on March 4 at the Fieldhouse Arena. 

Ethan Alderink (13.6 points per game), Jalen Charity (12.9 ppg) and Trevor Smith Jr. (12.6 ppg) spark the Lakers’ offense. 

A trip to this year’s NCAA Tournament, which begins March 14, would be the first for the Lakers since the 2018-2019 season. Indianapolis hosts this year’s Elite Eight and Final Four. 

Swimming & diving

Fresh off another dominant showing at the GLIAC Championships, the men’s and women’s programs now turn their focus to the NCAA Championships, beginning March 10 in Evansville, Indiana.

The GLIAC titles gave the men’s team their 12th straight championship and 15th overall while the women’s team earned its fourth consecutive title and eighth overall.

In all, 30 members of the two teams will be participating at the NCAA meet: Lucy Hedley, Katie O’Connell, Elliott McAlpine, Avery Rottier, Angelica Angiletta, Ava Villamil, Alice Persson, Liv Geiger, Sara Alvarez, Samara Zeinert, Vittoria Proietti, Emi Goto, Bradleigh Palmer, Macy Polasek, Olivia Kutsche, Ali Usama, Andrew Goh, Anton Zeno Rauch, Berk Boz, Carsyn Christoffel, Evan Scotto Divetta, Kieran Rahmaan, Mahmoud Abdelkarim, Matti Gaebler, Raul Briceno, Thomas Ferguson, Valerjis Curgelis, Max Schwickert, Carter Wood and Matthew Blommel.

Track & field

The No. 2-ranked men’s and No. 4-ranked women’s teams continued their dominant stretch in GLIAC competition, sweeping the GLIAC Indoor Championships on March 1. The women earned their 27th consecutive GLIAC title while the men took their 25th consecutive title. 

The NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships are up next for 36 Lakers — 18 women and 18 men — which begins March 13 at Virginia Beach, Virginia. 

Four of those athletes are the top seed in their respective events: Brooke Bowers (pole vault), Erika Beistle (shot put), Joshua Page (400 meters) and Marcus Gelpi (high jump).

Women's wrestling

The Lakers are sending eight wrestlers to the inaugural NCAA women’s wrestling national championship, beginning March 6 in Coralville, Iowa.

Five of the eight Lakers earned seeds for the national meet: 

• Rayana Sahagun (No. 3 seed, 103 pounds)
• Sage Mortimer (No. 2 seed, 110 pounds)
• Aspen Blasko (No. 5 seed, 124 pounds)
• Katie Lange (No. 1 seed, 138 pounds)
• Sabrina Nauss (No. 2 seed, 207 pounds)

Kiely Tabaldo (117 pounds), Margaret Buurma (145 pounds) and Noelle Gaffney (160 pounds) also qualified for the meet. 

Men's wrestling

Under first-year head coach RJ Boudro, the Lakers had eight wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships, which start March 13 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The No. 4 Lakers placed second at the NCAA Super Regionals.

Qualifiers include: 

• Jack Parker (125 pounds)
• Jak Keller (133 pounds)
• Chris Donathan (149 pounds)
• Maclain Morency (157 pounds)
• Josh Kenny (174 pounds)
• Bradley Mayse (184 pounds)
• Brayden Mirjavadi (197 pounds)
• Carter Blough (285 pounds)