OK Red Cross Country Update
The OK Red Cross Country season continued this week, and for the first time all seven teams were in action. Caledonia finally got their first meets under their feet as the week went along. Some highlights from meets involving teams in the OK Red:
Rockford v Caledonia Dual Meet (9/15)
The Rockford girls defeated the Caledonia girls in their Tuesday afternoon dual, by a score of 21-37. The Rams were led by Bailey Ewen, who paced all runners with a 19:56.19. Elise VanStensel (20:43.41), Emma Flanders (20:59.55), Anna Tracey (21:04.32), Mara Sweeney (21:11.37) and Jessica Harney (21:40.93) also turned in great times for the Rams. On the Caledonia side, Savanna Coulter (20:40.51), Tatum Verburg (21:01.93), Natalia Quigley (21:17.58), Barbara DeGood (21:43.74), Kaitlynn Robotham (22:20.92) and Madelyn Fennema (22:28.38) led the way, with a handful of PRs recorded.
The Caledonia boys pulled out the narrow victory, defeating Rockford 27-28. The Fighting Scots saw Jamin Thompson (16:23.39), Josh Oom (16:48.65), Caden Dixon (17:03.93), Brett Guzman (17:11.96) and Donovan Mattson (17:19.37) score points for the team in their season-opening win. On the Rockford side, Jude Parks (16:23.38) had the best time overall, edging out Caledonia’s Thompson by eleven hundredths of a second. Joining him in the Rockford scoring column was Kyle Sweeney (16:54.00), TJ Mellema (17:05.82), Colin Graham (17:11.47) and Alex Fahey (17:26.44).
Grand Haven v Hudsonville Dual Meet (9/15)
Grand Haven’s girls’ cross-country team narrowly defeated Hudsonville by a 25-30 score on Tuesday. Ava Buitenhuis (20:16) and Payton Hosley (20:22) led the way for the Bucs as the top two overall finishers. They were joined by Eliza Taylor (20:58), Margot Frendt (21:17) and Allison Kelly (21:24) in the top ten. Hudsonville’s top finishers were Abby Martin (20:27), Reiel Ghiglia (20:39), Alicia Sabin (21:03), Sarah Spears (21:19) and Elyse VandeGutche (21:23).
The Bucs’ boys team dominated Hudsonville on Tuesday in a 15-45 victory. Grand Haven posted the six best times in the dual meet: Cole Rowden (17:07), Christian Colvin (17:12), Jonathan Tysman (17:13), Nolan Clark (17:14), Ben Pease (18:09) and Logan Vining (18:18). Hudsonville’s best finish came from Jack Lettecci (18:20), while Jaben Bakker (18:23), Kyle Merrihew (18:26) and Trey Diepenhorst (18:45) rounded out the top ten with their finishes.
Grandville v East Kentwood Dual Meet (9/15)
The East Kentwood girls’ cross-country team defeated Grandville 25-30 in their Tuesday duel. Cadence Schultz (22:27.20), Soleil Moore (22:32.60) and Alayna Babcock (22:47.50) paced the Falcons, while Torionna Waterman (23:19.80) and Gracey Bento (23:23.10) also had great days on the trail. Grandville was led by Allie Arsnman (20:10.50) who posted the best time in the meet, while Kaylee Scott (22:43.50), Maddy Wolf (23:07.60), Celia Kingscott (24:09.20) and Rose Meyer (24:09.20) also finished in the top ten.
East Kentwood also won the boys’ race, and that meet was by a 23-34 score. Hamed Mohamed posted the best time (16:45.20), while Shaka Elysee (17:23.60), Lucas Schneider (17:41.00), Zander Masten (18:11.50) and Eric Giles (18:26.50) also placed in the top eight. Grandville was led by Zac Zemba (16:54.40), Bernardo Saldivar (17:31.60), Will Shults (18:17.90), Zach Richards (18:38.80) and Evan Kornoelje (18:49.30).
Jenison v West Ottawa Dual Meet (9/15)
The West Ottawa girls took down Jenison in a dual meet on Tuesday by a score of 25-30. Sophie Bonnema (20:07.98), Abby Bonnema (20:16.40), Megan Postma (21:03.19), Kaia Benhof (21:21.63) and Lillian Reiner (22:02.84) were the top runners for the victorious Panthers. Maya Guikema led the way for Jenison with a 20:15.15, and she was joined in the top ten by Claudia TenElshof (21:12.78), Lily Strelecki (21:17.38), Maggie Otto (21:30.25), and Rachael Barone (22:02.53).
In the boys’ race, Jenison defeated West Ottawa 26-29. The Wildcats had the top two finishers in Connor Vachon (17:14.28) and Nick Walters (17:30.84), while Cole Visser (18:36.58), Kaleb Maddox (19:02.44) and Brendan Wangler (19:02.46) placed in the top ten. Carston Cole (17:41.68), Connor Wooley (18:03.87), Mayson Levandoski (18:16.64), Alexander Bos (18:43.27) and Matthew Sober (19:19.82) were the top five finishers for West Ottawa.
East Kentwood, Hudsonville and Jenison at the Ottawa Hills Invite (9/18)
A trio of OK Red teams made the trek over to Riverside Park on Friday for the Ottawa Hills Invite. Both boys’ and girls’ teams from East Kentwood and Jenison participated, while only Hudsonville girls ran in this race.
East Kentwood won the Section 2 Varsity boys title, edging second place Traverse City St. Francis 39-79. Hamed Mohamed took home the individual title as well, as the senior turned in a 16:05.12, his best time of the season. Shaka Elysee (16:23.26) and Lucas Schneider (16:47.73) also took Top 10 individually. The East Kentwood girls team took sixth in this ten-team section, finishing with 146 points while winner Cadillac had 51. Soleil Moore had the best time for the Falcons with a 20:33.69.
Hudsonville’s girls team had a strong performance at the Ottawa Hills Invite, as they took second in Section 2, just ten points behind winner Cadillac (51). Abby Martin (19:39.59) had the best individual time for the Eagles, while Kate Heidema finished in eleventh with a 20:11.11.
Jenison took third in the nine-team boys Section 3 with 107 points, 40 back of 67-point Portage Central. Connor Vachon finished second overall with an impressive time of 15:48.21, a SR. Nick Walters was the second highest finishing Wildcat, and his time of 16:40.56 placed him in sixteenth. Cole Visser, a freshman, turned in a PR early in his young career with a 17:09.47. The Jenison ladies took fourth in their nine-team pod, as their 102 points were distant from winner Forest Hills Central (58). Maya Guikema had the best individual time for the Wildcats with a 19:08.08, keeping her SR third in the conference. Maggie Otto ran a 20:11.85 for Jenison, her PR time.
Rockford at the Cedar Springs Mini Red Hawk Invitational (9/19)
The Rockford Rams won the Boys Mini Red Hawk Invitational on Saturday morning, defeating East Grand Rapids, Cedar Springs and Byron Center by a score of 29-46-71-100. Jude Parks (15:42.76) was Rockford’s top finisher, as he was second overall. Parks was five seconds behind Cedar Springs’ Corey Bowers (15:37.05). Colin Graham (16:29.92), Kyle Sweeney (16:39.46), TJ Mellema (16:40.32) and Carson Lafferty (16:42.50) also scored points for Rockford.
Rockford’s girls cross country team took second at the Mini Red Hawk, as they defeated Byron Center and Cedar Springs, but they could not best East Grand Rapids, a 17-55-89-90 score. Drew Muller finished at 18:29.84 to set the pace for the Pioneers, who had seven of the top eight finishers. Bailey Ewen (19:01.43) was the only non-Pioneer in the top eight, and this Rockford runner placed fourth. Emma Flanders (20:05.81) cracked the top ten at number nine, while Anna Tracey (20:16.80) took twelfth, just a eight-hundredths of a second ahead of Elise VanStensel (20:16.88). Mara Sweeney (20:38.08) and Lexie Allshouse (20:41.60) also scored for the Rams.
Grand Haven v Caledonia Dual Meet (9/19)
Caledonia’s boys team had a dominant victory on Saturday morning against Grand Haven, taking the 18-38 victory. Josh Oom (16:13.31), Jamin Thompson (16:13.70) and Jordan Domany (16:35.44) finished as the top three racers overall to set the scoring for Caledonia, while Caden Dixon (16:41.46), Brett Guzman (16:42.36) and Donavan Mattson (16:51.45) also placed in the top ten. Grand Haven was led by Nolan Clark (16:36.57), while Seth Norder (16:42.17), Christian Colvin (16:43.42) and Cole Rowden (16:51.34) also recorded top ten runs.
The Grand Haven girls team came away with their third dual win of the season on Saturday, taking down the Fighting Scots 24-33. Ava Buitenhuis (19:46.95) won the entire race, while Payton Hosley (19:55.50), Margot Frendt (20:23.93), Eliza Talyor (20:41.83), Allison Kelly (20:43.67) and Laurel Tolliver (20:46.81) cracked the top ten for the Bucs. Caledonia’s top six runners were Savanna Coulter (19:51.98), Tatum Verburg (19:59.56), Natalia Quigley (20:26.73), Barbara DeGood (20:51.53), Kaitlynn Robotham (20:53.18) and Madelyn Fennema (21:41.18).
LEAGUE STANDINGS
Boys Dual Meet Standings
East Kentwood 3-0
Caledonia 2-0
Grand Haven 2-1
Jenison 2-1
Rockford 2-1
West Ottawa 0-2
Hudsonville 0-3
Grandville 0-3
Girls
Rockford 3-0
Grand Haven 3-0
West Ottawa 2-0
Hudsonville 1-2
East Kentwood 1-2
Jenison 1-2
Caledonia 0-2
Grandville 0-3
