Nick Polk takes coaching job at Elon

After coaching for three seasons under Grand Valley State University’s Jerry Baltes, cross country mainstay Nick Polk was announced as the head coach at Elon University in North Carolina.

Polk was instrumental in GVSU’s sustained success in men’s and women’s cross country over the last three years, which included back-to-back national championships for the women.

Polk also competed at GVSU as a student athlete, where he was a three-time NCAA Division II All-American. He currently holds the school records in the 1,500 and 10,000 meters.

He has also worked for Nike and USA Track & Field.

GVSU men’s basketball team adds assistant

Grand Valley State University men’s basketball head coach Ric Wesley announced the addition of Lawrence “J.R.” Wallace to the Laker coaching staff on Friday. Wallace will join the team as a graduate assistant.

The Muskegon, Mich. native was a four-year letter winner at Central Michigan University from 2000 to 2003. He most recently spent time working with the Grand Rapids Storm, an AAU team, and as a youth advocate at Wyoming Junior High School.

Wallace was a standout at CMU as a senior. He was named an All-Mid American Conference Honorable Mention honoree after averaging 14.3 points per game.

GVSU women’s tennis program builds for future

The Grand Valley State University women’s tennis team made a push to strengthen the future of its program on Aug. 4 with the signing of five student athletes for the 2014-2015 season.

Courtney Lang, Aimee Moccia, Abbey Perkins, Rachel Sumner and Alexa Sweeney will compete for head coach John Black’s squad in the upcoming 2014 campaign.

The Lakers cruised to a 20-8 record last season on their way to a 14th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament, but fell 5-0 in the first round of the Midwest Regional Tournament to Lewis University.