Ferris State To Host GLIAC Cross Country Championships This Saturday At Katke Golf Course

GLIAC Championship Website

Big Rapids, Mich. - For the first time in 13 years, the Ferris State University men's and women's cross country squads will play host to the 2016 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships on Saturday (Oct. 22) at FSU's Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids.

A total of 15 league institutions will be represented in competition as the Bulldogs host the annual league event for the first time since 2003. The women's 6K race will get underway at 11 a.m. (ET) with the men's 8K run to follow at approximately 11:45 a.m. (ET). An awards ceremonty will follow both races at 12:45 p.m.

Admission for the GLIAC Championships will be free with the event slated to begin and end on the ninth hole behind the clubhouse at Katke Golf Course.

A university-owned 18-hole golf course situated on the western flank of the Ferris State campus, Katke Golf Course serves as the host site of all home Bulldog cross country along with men's and women's golf events. The course is named after Mr. and Mrs. Marvin L. Katke, whose generous donation influenced campus development and the initial phase of the golf course. Katke, a friend of Ferris and a Mecosta County native, was vice president for manufacturing of the Ford Motor Company and a 1967 recipient of an honorary degree from FSU.

Katke Golf Course, which opened in 1974, has played host to the 2003 GLIAC Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships along with the 2005 NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Championships and the 2006 Michigan Intercollegiate Championships. The Bulldogs also hosted the 2008 and 2011 NCAA-II Midwest Regional Championships at Katke Golf Course.

This year will mark only the third time since 1995 in which the Bulldogs have hosted the GLIAC Cross Country Championships and the meet comes on the heels of the 2016 GLIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by FSU last May at Top Taggart Field. More than 200 runners will compete in the two races.

Overall, this year will represent the 46th annual men's league cross country championships while the women will run for the 28th-straight year in the conference competition.

The Ferris State men's and women's cross country teams are guided by former Bulldog standout and local native Jared Kelsh, who is midst his third campaign at the Bulldog helm. Saturday's meet will represent the final competition of the season for both FSU teams prior to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championships, which take place on Nov. 5 in Evansville, Ind.