Title Contenders
No. 3 Grand Valley State
Region: 1st at Midwest Region
Conference: 1st at GLIAC
2016 NCAAs: 2nd
How They Will Win: The Lakers may not quite have Colorado Mines' depth, but they're not too far off: their 1-7 spread at the GLIAC Championships was just 39 seconds. Grand Valley State will enter these championships will seven viable All-American threats and could win their program's first title if the low sticks finish at their highest levels and their freshmen can handle the big stage.
Everything starts with veterans Zach Panning and Wuoi Mach, who each look like top-10 candidates. Despite a hugely impressive season by Mach and two straight fifth-place NCAA finishes by Panning, neither is a complete lock to get the job done. Mach has never placed higher than 44th at nationals and despite running as GVSU's No. 1 man all season it might be too much to expect him to suddenly finish top 10.
Panning, meanwhile, sat out until the conference meet as he healed from a stress reaction that forced him to miss loads of training in the summer. He's looked solid in his two races, but it's tough to tell if he is ready to put the team on his back once more; neither conference nor regionals has been especially challenging races for Grand Valley. Additionally, the Lakers will count on two redshirt freshmen -- Enael Woldemichael and Abe Visser -- to help them defeat two experienced squads in Adams and Colorado Mines. Not an easy job for a rookie.
But a glass-half-full outlook should have the Lakers excited. Panning and Trevor Sharnas both finished top 20 last November, and neither man has looked as strong as Mach has all season. Visser and Woldemichael may be running their first NCAAs, but both have been in the team's top three on multiple occasions this season. It looked like the Lakers had blown their best chance to win an NCAA title last year when their fifth man imploded in the last kilometer, but this similarly talented group will definitely have a shot on Saturday.
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