Local Harriers Excel at State Meet

Photo Credit: Brent Foondle

Remington Arney in the last 300 meters before the finish line

Local Harriers Excel at State Meet
Contributions from Cliff Somers, Andrea Atwood, Alexis Mercer and Brent Foondle

On what could be considered the most perfect day for a run of the season, local runners who had earned the right to toe the line at the State Meet headed to Michigan International Speedway to give it their all. And that they certainly did. 

Newaygo County’s history at the State Meet is impressive to say the least: last year Fremont boys brought home the State title by an impressive margin and included the individual State Champion. 

This year would be no exception in that teams and individuals not only attended, but excelled in place and times both. 

All results for both teams and individuals can be found at the following link: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/193479/results


Fremont
Our students performed great at the State Finals.  Once again Taava Johnson (Sr) showed that we were in for a great day by running the best race of her career to finish 108th in 20:29.  She went through the mile in 6:30 at 105th.  She fell to 115th at the 2 mile mark, but fought her way back up to 111th at the 3 mile.  She then turned in a strong finish over the last .1 to move up to 108th.  She had a great end to her season getting better each meet down the homestretch. 
 
The boys entered today’s race ranked 17th and would be running without our #2 runner Brennan Schuler (Sr).  It was time for our pack to step up.  We had nothing to lose and I asked the young athletes to go out much faster than they were accustomed to.  They bought in and did the work that helped propel us to an 11th place finish with 343 points.  Many of our young athletes struggled a little in the 2nd mile after their fast start but almost all of them regained their composure and moved up well in the last mile.  Johnny Christensen (So), Sean Pettis (So), and Henrik Quist (Jr) all had breakout races recording Pr’s in the biggest race of their young careers.  Johnny and Sean really moved up well over the last mile.  They each caught around 20 people in that stretch.  Senior Gavin Schuler ran a solid race for his farewell meet, holding steady in the mid 80s the whole way to run a season best of 16:58.  Conor Somers (Sr) topped of the day running his Pr of 15:28 to place 2nd.  He came a long way from the first week of the season where he was only running about 5 minutes every other day.
 
We had two Freshmen compete today, Cole Lowery and Carter Sherman.  Neither had their best time, or even their best race of the season, but they both ran the plan and ran with guts when the pain set in.  This was a great learning experience for them and should pay big dividends next season.
 
I am really proud of this group of athletes and how they improved over the course of the season.  I am also proud of how the boys stepped up despite some last minute adversity to finish much better than their State ranking.
 
Coach Somers
 
Newaygo
In her second appearance in two years, sophomore Remington Arney was the sole qualifier for the Lions. She was looking to best her time and place from 2020 (22:22 and 211th place). She ran a smart and courageous race from the time the gun went off. Remington put herself in approximately 60th position by mile 1 and each mile improved upon that place. Around mile 2 she was near 55th. Her final mile, specifically the last 400 meters, she dug deep and passed many runners to cross the finish line in 41st place with a time of 19:38 (her Personal Record). 

Coach Mercer

White Cloud
The White Cloud Cross Country boys traveled to Brooklyn, MI this past weekend to compete at the State Finals at Michigan International Speedway.  The boys finished 7th among the best 27 D4 teams in the state.  Nathan Ciolk narrowly missed being All-State by 5 positions, finishing in 35th place, and first for the Indians.  Coleson Cruzan was the 4th fastest freshman in the race, crossing the line in 54th place.  Kobe Canning ended his high school cross country career with a 97th place finish and Academic All-State honors.  Carson Foondle, also Academic All-State, was 113th.  He moved up 85 places and 2 minutes faster than last year. Kaleb Canning,15th among the freshmen in the race, finished 132nd.  Ashton Byle, aslo running his last high school cross country race, set a new personal best time of 18:43 and was 133rd.  Malachi Graves, making his first appearance at the finals finished 151st and also earned Academic All-State.  The boys had a 1-5 spread of 1:17.  The boys team will also receive Academic All-State honors, in addition to those individuals already mentioned.  What an exciting way to end a GREAT season!
 
1. 35. 11 Nathan Ciolkv17:25.10vWhite Cloud
2.v54.v9vColeson Cruzanv17:50.21vWhite Cloud
3.v97.v12vKobe Canningv18:18.23vWhite Cloud
4.v113.v10vCarson Foondlev18:31.79vWhite Cloud
5.v132.v9vKaleb Canningv18:42.81vWhite Cloud
6.v133.v12vAshton Bylev18:43.61vWhite Cloud
7.v151.v11vMalachi Gravesv19:06.89vWhite Cloud​

​Coach Atwood

Video: Start of the Division 2 girls race with Taava Johnson and Remington Arney sharing Box 28

Photo Credit: Brent Foondle