Reeths-Puffer runs a ‘smart’ race, wins GMAA boys cross country championship

By Ron Rop
LocalSportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON – The message among the Reeths-Puffer Rocket boys’ cross country team all week long was really quite basic.

“Play it smart.”

And that mentality, along with the first-place finish by Jaxon Allen, propelled the Rockets to the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association cross country title on Saturday at University Park Golf Course.

Allen toured the course in 16:12.84. He was followed by Whitehall’s Stewart Waters (16:19.73) and Western Michigan Christian’s Matthias Morse (16:47.22).

Reeths-Puffer senior Jaxon Allen was the boys’ individual winner at Saturday’s GMAA cross country meet. Photo/Randy Riksen

The Rockets finished with 66 points, just four points ahead of runner-up Fruitport and 15 ahead of third-place Western Michigan Christian. It was Reeths-Puffer’s first GMAA title in four years.

“All week, I’d been prepping the guys that it was going to be a dogfight,” Rocket coach Darin Grant said. “They knew, they didn’t have to hear it from me, so the messaging was run your smart race, we don’t need any heroic efforts. You run the way we always run with the idea that I want them to kick a little sooner and kick harder to catch as many bodies as you can.”

Grant said an unofficial scoring by his brother had the Rockets well back in the field at the midpoint of the race. That earlier and harder kick certainly pushed the Rockets to the top of the standings.

“We were so far behind, it was insane,” Grant said. “Fruitport was winning clearly at that point, but I don’t know if they went out a little too hard and suffered and my guys kept going consistent. Yes, they ran a smart race and that’s all that I asked them to do.”

For Allen, a two-time state qualifier, it’s been a season of building after a slow start to the season. He enjoyed the weather on Saturday morning and said colder would have been even better. But the plan he brought into the race was followed to a ‘T.’

“I executed a plan,” said Allen, a senior. “I was just in control the first 2 miles with the pack and then took the lead. Don’t go out all hard.”

“He shared his strategy with me earlier this week,” Grant said. “And I have learned that whatever Jaxon is thinking, it’s a solid plan and go with whatever it is. And, have a backup plan. He executed it well and it worked out well.”

For the first 2 miles, Allen was running in a pack of about 10 runners, but that all changed with 1.1 miles to the finish line. Early on, he also was trying to pull along Tate Bradley and Ky Grant. Grant finished fourth and Bradley finished sixth. Jack Yonkman and Dylan Sturr, the fourth and fifth Rocket finishers, had solid races, according to Coach Grant.

“I made my move and the Whitehall kid (Waters) kind of went with me a little bit, but the further we got, I started gaining more on him,” said Allen, who is starting to peak at just the right time.

“I started off training a little slow, but I got back into it and you see with training, you get good results because the times keep getting faster and faster,” he said.

For the Rockets, it was a goal-achieving day winning the GMAA race.

“As a team, this is always our focus,” Grant said. “More than the conference championship because Fruitport is on … it’s all the local schools. Fruitport can battle it out, Whitehall can battle it out, Montague wasn’t too far out a few years ago and WMC was in the mix of it. That’s the best of it right there.”

Team scores

1, Reeths-Puffer 66; 2, Fruitport 70; 3, Western Michigan Christian 81; 4, Whitehall 84; 5, Montague 145; 6, Mona Shores 147; 7, North Muskegon 178; 8, Muskegon Catholic 186; 9, Oakridge 201; 10, Ravenna 311; 11, Muskegon 343.

Reeths-Puffer (66): Jaxon Allen, 16:12.94; 4, Kye Grant, 16:53.94; 6, Tate Bradley, 17:05.72; 22, Jack Yonkman, 18:09.54; 33, Dylan Sturr, 18:44.12.

Fruitport (70): 9, Vincent Pollock, 17:09.86; 13, Ethan Horan, 17:38.32; 15, Levi Glynn, 17:47.48; 16, Levi Bol, 17:57.73; 17, Ryder Perkins, 18:02.14.

Western Michigan Christian (81): 3, Matthias Morse, 16:47.22; 8, Graeson Lawrence, 17:07.97; 21, Reuben Anderson, 18:08.60; 23, Owen Sytsema, 18:09.60; 26, Alexander Lawrence, 18:21.06.

Whitehall (84): 2, Stewart Waters 16:19.73; 7, Hunter Parsons, 17:07.20; 12, Andrew Boeringa, 17:33.42; 29, Tyler Van Antwerp, 18:35.59; 35, Andrew Owens, 18:51.13.

Montague (145): 10, Noah Raeth, 17:24.10; 20, Alix Draves, 18:06.15; 25, Clay Johnson, 18:18.35; 43, Matthew Leatherman, 19:15.86; 53, Owen Raeth, 19:58.88.

Mona Shores (147): 11, Willem Parsekian, 17:30.92; 18, Hayden Fox, 18:03.93; 37, Eli Lewis, 19:03.64; 42, Collin Khatir, 19:10.88; 45, Cole Hansen, 19:16.58.

North Muskegon (178): 14, Evan Atkinson-Miller, 17:40.32; 24, Barrett Nance, 18:13.94; 39, CJ Bennett, 19:05.54; 54, Chase Stockman, 20:03.27; 57, Braydyn Santos, 20:34.85.

Muskegon Catholic (186): 19, Jacob Lyonnais, 18:05.89; 30, Owen Lyonnais, 18:36.65; 47, Lukas Rennells, 19:24.00; 49, Max McCumber, 19:24.28; 50, Jack Walkenhorst, 19:24.58.

Oakridge (201): 5, Peyton Ruel, 16:57.16; 38, Lawson Miller, 19:05.29; 41, Bryce Falbe, 19:10.10; 60, Blake Armstrong, 20:44.76; 75, Anthony Simmerman, 22:00.35.

Ravenna (311): 56, Caleb Jones, 20:28.67; 71, Tyler Pelham, 21:32.13; 72, Marco Tamburini, 21:40.46; 78, Andan Skuse, 22:38.55; 85, Bryce McCleary, 23:34.81.

Muskegon (343): 64, Jemarion Brown, 21:06.49; 88, David Cross, 24:03.46; 94, Jayden Slater, 26:58.14; 97, Tyson Worthington, 28:38.75; 98, Evan Reynolds, 28:42.50.

Orchard View (No team score): 61, Landon Andrews, 20:46.85; 73, Brian Swell, 21;55.36; 96, Levy Torres, 28:26.10.

Holton (No team score): 83, Donnie Burkett, 23:28.07; 89, Trent Kooman, 24:09.63; 103, Treyvon Tobias, 29:03.78.