Cross Country Competes in Grand Rapids
Running by the river, the Lowell Cross Country teams ran on Pink Arrow football game day.
Justin Scott - Sports Reporter
Have you ever seen the end of a cross country race? It can be pretty grim. Runners completely exhausted laying on the ground, catching their breath, some even getting sick. Hey, they just ran a 5k as fast as they could on sometimes uneven terrain with elevation changes.
Last Friday, the Red Arrow Cross Country team made their way across the finish line with a successful morning in Grand Rapids. Lowell made their way to Riverside Park in Grand Rapids for the Ottawa Hills Jamboree, joined by teams from across the west side of the state including teams traveling from Traverse City, Mt. Pleasant, and Cadillac.
Marshall Huhn nearly cracked the top 10. He fiinshed 13th with atime of 16:15.75. He was followed closely by teammate Cooper Byrne who finished 21st just 13 seconds behind Huhn. Cody Bromley, Drew Swayze, and Colin Stawasz all closed out the top five finishers for Lowell, all coming in within 10 seconds of eachother, all top 60 in the field.
The Riverside course, a fairly flat one, situated by the Grand River made for a unique setting for a high school sporting event. The varsity races went first before moving onto the JV races which concluded right as the heat started that morning.
Lowell finished 7th as a team. Grand Rapids Christian who is ranked the top team in division 2 on the boys side, and second on the girls side, won the event, while the only other River Cities school competing was Kenowa Hills. Cedar Springs is ranked ninth in the state and is the only River Cities team ranked in the state rankings.
Claire O’Boyle led the girls team in 36th place, while the team finished 11th out of 19 teams. GR Christian also won the girls race. Audrey Latchaw (55), Evie Deur (62), and Mia Vonderheide (71) also finished as top five runners on the Lowell squad.
At West Ottawa on the 7th, the girls finished 9th. O’Boyle, Vonderheide, Olivia Lothian, Latchaw, and Haylee Ledesma were top five runners for the Red Arrows. The boys took third with Huhn and Byrne earning top five individual finishes. Lyle O’Boyle finished as the team’s sixth runner for each race.
