Local Sports Journal
Saturday was a big day for the Whitehall High School cross country program.
The Whitehall boys team won the team championship at the Division 2 Region 10 tournament with 60 points. Ludington was a close second with 74 points.
The Whitehall girls team finished third in the region, trailing first-place Sparta and Cedar Springs.
All of the runners from the Whitehall girls boys and girls teams, as well as the Ludington boys team, qualified for next weekend’s state championship meet.
The top runner for the Whitehall boys was Keaton Smith, who finished second in the individual race with a time of 17:08.99. His teammate Alex Dennis finished fourth overall with a time of 17:39.40, Brayden Berson took eighth (17:50.93), Roger Champion was 20th (18:21.67) and Alex Mark was 26th (18:31.65).
Matt Ritter was the top individual for Ludington, finishing third overall with a time of 17:24.76. His teammate Luke Schwass was 13th (17:56.95), Ben Jensen was 15th (18:04.42) and Chris Snow was 19th (18:21.23) and Jarod Cobb was 24th (18:30.26).
In the girls race, Whitehall’s Jessica Harris finished fourth overall with a time of 20:23.93. Her teammate Avley Hentschel was 20th (21:26.93), Maya Hector finished 26th (21:42.67), Cassandra McAllister was 27th (21:43.37), and Ruby Ray was 52nd (22:53.17).
Qualifying individually for state was Mackenzie Lounsberry of Fremont, who finished third overall with a 20:21.82.
Grand Haven qualified for state as a team by finishing third behind Hudsonville and Grandville at the girls Division 1 Region 3 meet.
Grand Haven’s Clair Borchers finished third overall with a time of 18:04.2.
Her teammate Roxy Blasser was 14th (19:18.6), Malea Teerman was 16th (19:26.6), Hannah Kenny was 25th (20:06.3) and Eliza Lowe was 27th (20:13.8).
Jackie Seward of Mona Shores qualified for state individually in the Division I Region 1 meet, finishing 12th in the race with a time of 20:17.10.
Reeths-Puffer’s Micah Peel also qualified individually by finishing 18th with a time of 20:51.03.
The Spring Lake girls team qualified for state by finishing second in the Division 2 Region 11 meet behind Grand Rapids Christian.
The top runner for Spring Lake was Carlyn Arteagas, who finished 7th overall with a time of 19:19.98. Her teammate Erin O’Keefe finished 8th (19:23.60), Ashley Warner was 11th (19:34.18), Lacie Piekarski was 16th (19:49.59) and Skyler Gilchrist was 19th (20:00.67).
Newaygo finished second in the Division 3 Region 21 boys meet to qualify for state as a team. Max Smith was the top runner for the Lions, finishing ninth overall with a time of 16:54.86. Rounding out the field for Newaygo was Rivver Dunam, who was 13th (17:09.2), Andrew Polasek, who was 14th (17:10.42), Darick Wilson, who was 24th (17:49.50) and Mike Mumper, who was 44th (18:25.82).
Kent City had the individual champions in the Region 21 girls and boys meets. Ashley Russo won the girls race with a time of 18:18.62 while Will Wilson won the boys race with a time of 15:50.31.
Hesperia’s Damien Halverson finished second in the girls race with a time of 15:56.13 and also qualifies for state.
The North Muskegon girls finished third at the Division 4 Region 31 meet, behind Pewamo-Westphalia and Saugatuck, to qualify for state as a team. Avery Lowe was third overall with a 19:56.15, her teammate Chlose Strach finished seventh (20:53.32), Tess Wilson was 29th (22:50.60), Josephine Hardman was 36th (23:43.30) and Madi Bluhm was 37th (23:52.90).
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