Photo Credit: Miles Postema; Complete Album: https://milespostema.smugmug.com/2020-OK-Red-Cross-Country-Championships/
The OK Red Cross Country regular season continued this week, and all eight teams were in action. Some highlights from meets involving teams in the OK Red:
Caledonia v Kentwood Dual Meet
The Caledonia boys cross country team won against East Kentwood by a score of 22-38. Hamed Mohamed (16:21.90) won the overall race, and Shaka Elysee (16:45.50) finished fifth, but the six remaining racers that finished in the top eight came from Caledonia. Jamin Thompson (16:25.30), Josh Oom (16:34.40) and Jordan Domany (16:38.20) were the top three from that pack.
The ladies of Caledonia had a strong meet as well, earning a conference win by a commanding 21-39 score. Tatum Verburg (20:07.40) won the individual race for Caledonia as well. Natalia Quigley (20:58.50) and Barbara DeGood (21:11.30) were Caledonia’s next two fastest finishers. Soleil Moore (20:27.20) finished second overall for East Kentwood, while Cadence Schultz (21:20.30) and Torionna Waterman (22:06.70) were the other Falcons in the top ten.
Grand Haven v West Ottawa Dual Meet
The Bucs had a dominant conference win over the Panthers, 20-41, in their dual finale. Nolan Clark (16:38.90), Cole Rowden (17:04.20), Jonathan Tysman (17:10.20) and Christian Colvin (17:11.50) were Grand Haven’s top four finishers. Carston Cole (16:36.80) won the individual race for West Ottawa, while Connor Wooley (17:23.80) was the only other Panthers’ racer in the top ten.
Over in the ladies’ race, West Ottawa was able to pull out a 22-35 victory. Arianne Olson (19:18.00), Sophie Bonnema (19:22.00) and Abby Bonnema (19:26.50) finished second thru fourth overall to lead the charge for the Panthers. Ava Buitenhuis (19:15.50) won the individual race to pace Grand Haven, and she was joined by Payton Hosley (19:44.00) in the top five.
Grandville v Rockford Dual Meet
The Rockford Rams dominated in the boys’ dual meet on Tuesday. They took it running away, 19-42. Jude Parks (17:10.50), TJ Mellema (17:19.60), Alex Fahey (17:20.40), Kyle Sweeney (17:20.90) and Carson Lafferty (17:21.00) all earned points for the Rams with top six finishes. Grandville was led by Bernardo Saldivar (17:16.50) and Will Shults (17:42.50).
Rockford also bested Grandville in the girls’ race, by a score of 20-43. Allie Arnsman (18:45.63) won the individual race for the Bulldogs, and she was joined by Kaylee Scott (21:55.32) in the top ten. Rockford had the remaining racers in the top fourteen, including Bailey Ewen (19:53.05), Elise VanStensel (20:00.26), Emma Flanders (20:27.43) and Mara Sweeney (20:47.09).
Hudsonville v Jenison Dual Meet
The Jenison boys’ team dominated Hudsonville, on their way to a 17-46 victory. The Wildcats placed eight of the top ten racers in this meet, including Connor Vachon (16:11.32), Nick Walters (17:03.00), and Cole Visser (17:20.32) as the top three racers overall. Jaben Bakker (17:41.91) in fourth and Kyle Merrihew (18:25.25) in tenth were the lone Eagles in the top ten spots.
The Eagles were able to win the girls race, taking home a 25-34 win. Maya Guikema (19:25.78)¸ Maggie Otto (20:33.07) and Lily Strelecki (20:44.48) were the three Jenison runners in the top ten, as Guikema won the overall individual title. Abby Martin (20:03.22) and Kate Heidema (20:25.20) paced the Eagles, while Alicia Sabin (20:42.80) also finished in the top five.
OK Red Conference Meet
In the season-ending conference meet, the Caledonia boys’ team brought home the title. Final point totals in that meet: Caledonia 40, Rockford 67, East Kentwood 87, Grand Haven 99, Jenison 104, West Ottawa 160, Grandville 167, Hudsonville 213.
Jude Parks from Rockford won the overall meet at 15:39.20, just six hundredths of a second ahead of Jenison’s Connor Vachon. Caledonia had the third and fourth place racers in Jamin Thompson and Josh Oom, while East Kentwood’s Hamed Mohamed rounded out the top five.
In the girls’ race, West Ottawa won the title running away. Final point totals were as follows: West Ottawa 25, Grand Haven 73, Rockford 77, Jenison 107, Caledonia 135, Hudsonville 145, Grandville 182, East Kentwood 190.
Arianne Olson (1st), Sophie Bonnema (3rd) and Abby Bonnema (4th) led the way for West Ottawa. Allie Arnsman from Grandville and Ava Buitenhuis from Grand Haven rounded out the top five.
What’s Next?
The regular season is complete, and these teams will now race in pre-district meets this week. The locations, dates and times of those meets can be found here.
