Boys & Girls Teams Shine at Orchard View;
WMC Freshman Girl Sets School Record

The Warrior boys and girls cross country teams had great season openers Monday at the Orchard View Invitational.

WMC, the smallest school at the event, was competing against 12 other schools and some 200 runners.

Spring Laker girls took top honors with a score of 41 points, just ahead of Holland Christian with 53 points, while Western Michigan Christian came in third with 119 points and Fruitport came in 11th place with 277 points.

Warrior freshman Abby VanderKooi took top individual honors with a time of 17:05.1. With the time, VanderKooi set a new school record in her first varsity race.

Abby’s sister, Sarah VanderKooi, came in 11th place with a time of 21:28.53 and Josie Aardema came in 18th place with a time of 21:50.17.

Rounding out the team were: Natalie Riksen (52nd), Ava Rotman (55th), Emma Visker (74th) and Chloe Kozal (176th).

"The girls started the season off with a great team performance today, and our two new additions to the team had great races,” said WMC girls coach Kevin Aardema. “Abby was the overall champion and set a  WMC girls school and freshman record, followed closely by our two seniors working toward their fourth appearances in the state finals.

"We had an outstanding team result, finishing third out of 13 teams, losing only to a pair of Division 2 teams that are most likely heading to their respective state finals in November. Like the boys, we were the only Division 4 school to field a complete team.

"Historically, we tend to finish middle of the pack at this meet, so to finish third was a pleasant surprise. But, we have a long season ahead of us, and need to continue to improve if we want to be in the State Finals as a team in November."

BOYS MEET
The Laker boys took top honors with a score of 65, while Sparta finished second with 92 and Muskegon Reeths-Puffer finished third with 107.

Fruitport came in fourth with 147 points, while Western Michigan Christian came in sixth with 167 points.

"The boys opened up with a great team effort today,” WMC boys coach Greg Gould said. “We were led by our two seniors, Jack Zuidema (6th place, 17:12, new personal best) and Eli Rotman (9th place, 17:22, best performance ever on this course).

Rounding out today's team were: Ben Garretson (40th), Pierce Newell (56th), Tyler Gould (75th), Caleb Croff (119th), and David Clausing (164th).
 
"Anytime we can open the season in a meet with over 200 athletes, be the smallest school with a complete team, and place in the top half, we've had a good day,” coach Gould added.

"We placed 6th of 13 teams, the only Division 4 team with enough athletes to generate a team score."