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Strong Muskegon-area showing at MHSAA cross country finals

BROOKLYN, MI – It felt like deja vu as the lower peninsula cross country state finals were held at Michigan International Speedway today. There were lots of familiar faces claiming championships from the Muskegon Area.

Editor’s note: Special thanks to Kyle Kempster of Western Michigan Christian for his video and photo contributions.

BROOKLYN, MI — It felt like deja vu as the Lower Peninsula cross country state finals were held at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday. There were lots of familiar faces claiming championships from the Muskegon area.

Abby Vander Kooi (Western Michigan Christian) has won every state championship race she has competed in. Vander Kooi captured her fourth individual title in four tries, and led Western Michigan Christian (98 points) to the Division 4 state championship by running a first-place time of 18:06.58.

She didn’t do it alone though. Her sister, Grace, provided considerable help by finishing eighth (19:28.28) and starting off her high school career with a team championship.


In another family effort, sisters Alyson and Audrianna Enns finished second and fourth, respectively, to help the Hart girls team (143) win a fifth Division 3 state title in a row.

Three Hart runners finished in the top five: Alyson Enns second, 17:59.67; Jessica Jazwinski third, 18:00.59; and Audrianna Enns fourth, 18:32.27. That’s something no team, in any division, replicated. It was an amazing performance from a Hart team, which has become accustomed to winning championships.

For the second-straight year, the Hart boys fell just short of the title. The Pirates finished runners-up behind St. Loius for the second year in a row.

Hart put in an impressive and balanced performance, with five runners finishing in the top 100 (Clayton Ackley 10th, Wyatt Dean 26th, Noah Bosley 29th, Max Nienhuis 69th and Seth Ackley 78th), but it wasn’t quite enough to dethrone the defending champions.


Muskegon-area cross country was well represented with multiple all-state performers. Please see below a complete list of results for West Michigan athletes and teams. All-staters are indicated with green text:

GIRLS

Division 1

Teams

PlaceTeamPts
12Grand Haven366

Individuals

PlacePtsYearTeamFinishPace
16Valerie BEECK9Grand Haven18:20.495:54
87Payton HOSLEY10Grand Haven19:25.986:15
108Addison SMITH9Grand Haven19:37.776:19
178Lily FRENDT9Grand Haven20:21.386:33
180Margot FRENDT11Grand Haven20:23.416:33
189Laurel TOLLIVER10Grand Haven20:30.056:35
262Gracey BARRY9Grand Haven22:26.927:13

Division 2

Teams

Result Lists|Team Summary – HS

PlaceTeamPts
6Spring Lake231

Individuals

Result Lists|Individual Results

PlaceNameYearTeamFinishPace
22Lily PARKER11Spring Lake19:12.986:11
32Bea REESER10Spring Lake19:24.156:14
41Remington ARNEY10Newaygo19:38.816:19
42Summer BROWER9Ludington19:38.896:19
43Lexie RUFFING9Spring Lake19:39.336:19
96Valerie POLLOCK9Fruitport20:21.536:33
104Autumn BROWER9Ludington20:27.086:34
108Taava JOHNSON12Fremont20:29.746:35
122Brooklyn VERPLANK9Spring Lake20:39.296:38
129Katie RIEMERSMA10Spring Lake20:43.776:40
183Makaela SCHMIDT12Spring Lake21:19.996:51
189Jennifer JUDGE12Spring Lake21:27.056:54

Division 3

Teams

PlaceTeamPts
1Hart143
2Kent City179

Individuals

PlaceNameGradeTeamFinishPace
2Alyson ENNS10Hart17:59.675:47
3Jessica JAZWINSKI9Hart18:00.595:47
4Audrianna ENNS12Hart18:32.275:58
14Lila VOLKERS9Kent City18:54.646:05
31Lexie Beth NIENHUIS9Hart19:36.656:18
36Alyeska LINSLEY12Kent City19:45.596:21
39Gabriella WINGARD12North Muskegon19:50.076:23
48Kierra FLEGEL12Kent City19:59.236:25
68Isabella MAX10Kent City20:23.816:33
70Carolyn BENNETT11North Muskegon20:30.216:35
72Gracie HOUTMAN10Kent City20:31.236:36
76Emily LANTZER12Kent City20:34.636:37
138Alisha ESQUIVEL9Kent City21:29.586:55
159Abigail PRETTY11Hart21:47.497:00
179Savanna OWENS11Hart22:08.257:07
193Lauren VANDERLAAN12Hart22:22.077:11

Division 4

Teams

PlaceTeamPts
1Muskegon Western Mich. Christian98

Individuals

PlaceNameGradeTeamFinishPace
1Abby VANDERKOOI12Muskegon Western Mich. Christian18:06.585:49
8Grace VANDERKOOI9Muskegon Western Mich. Christian19:28.286:16
33Ava ROTMAN12Muskegon Western Mich. Christian20:41.096:39
36Brianna ZUIDEMA11Muskegon Western Mich. Christian20:43.096:40
59Eleanor KINGSHOTT10Muskegon Western Mich. Christian21:12.336:49
73Grace FOLKEMA10Muskegon Western Mich. Christian21:30.726:55
113Vanessa PELTONIEMI11Holton22:17.617:10
127Cate GARRETSON11Muskegon Western Mich. Christian22:28.827:14
153Aubrey GOYINGS9Holton22:55.487:22


BOYS

Division 1

Teams

PlaceTeamPts.
7Grand Haven252

Individuals

PlaceNameYearTeamFinishPace
2Seth NORDER10Grand Haven15:19.914:56
8Klay GRANT12Muskegon Reeths-Puffer15:38.305:02
17Nolan CLARK11Grand Haven15:50.495:05
58Jaxon ALLEN10Muskegon Reeths-Puffer16:26.465:17
106Ben PEASE12Grand Haven16:45.245:23
120Jonathan TYSMAN12Grand Haven16:51.105:25
150Ben HELD9Grand Haven16:59.495:28
152Logan VINING11Grand Haven16:59.635:28
240Logan HOUGH11Grand Haven18:19.085:53

Division 2

Team

PlaceTeamPts.
11Fremont343

Individuals

PlaceNameGradeTeamFinishPace
2Conor SOMERS12Fremont15:28.854:58
67Carter MCILROY11Whitehall16:47.925:24
86Riley BUYS12Whitehall16:58.005:27
88Gavin SCHULER12Fremont16:58.645:27
111Andre RICHMOND11Whitehall17:13.275:32
117John CHRISTENSEN10Fremont17:17.315:33
131Sean PETTIS10Fremont17:25.225:36
160Henrik QUIST11Fremont17:37.695:40
163Levi GLYNN10Fruitport17:39.215:40
167Cole LOWERY9Fremont17:40.655:41
192Maxwell REMONDINO12Muskegon Oakridge17:57.165:46
206Carter SHERMAN9Fremont18:05.795:49
261Peyton RUEL9Muskegon Oakridge19:42.736:20

Division 3

Teams

PlaceTeamPts
2Hart146

Individuals

Result Lists|Individual Results

PlaceNameGradeTeamFinishPace
10Clayton ACKLEY11Hart16:19.345:15
18Samuel MARTINI10Kent City16:30.895:18
26Wyatt DEAN11Hart16:43.315:22
29Noah BOSLEY12Hart16:44.165:23
51Cale COPPESS12Montague17:17.055:33
69Max NIENHUIS12Hart17:26.255:36
71Jude MELDRUM-ROY11North Muskegon17:27.615:37
78Seth ACKLEY11Hart17:29.485:37
98Max STITT9Hart17:39.98z
110Jaren VOGEL10Kent City17:48.175:43
117Caiden CUDNEY12Manistee17:52.325:45
157Josef BROMLEY11Hart18:20.865:54

Division 4

Team

Result Lists|Team Summary – HS

PlaceTeamPts
7White Cloud261
14Muskegon Western Mich. Christian358

Individual

Result Lists|Individual Results

PlaceNameYearTeamFinishPace
35Nathan CIOLK11White Cloud17:25.105:36
54Coleson CRUZAN9White Cloud17:50.215:44
82Jonathan CLAUSING11Muskegon Western Mich. Christian18:10.275:50
86Mitchel DANIELS10Pentwater18:11.145:51
89Matthias MORSE9Muskegon Western Mich. Christian18:11.915:51
97Kobe CANNING12White Cloud18:18.235:53
99Abe VANDUINEN10Pentwater18:21.355:54
113Carson FOONDLE10White Cloud18:31.795:57
119Graeson LAWRENCE10Muskegon Western Mich. Christian18:35.705:59
123Danny MAAT10Muskegon Western Mich. Christian18:38.275:59
132Kaleb CANNING9White Cloud18:42.816:01
133Ashton BYLE12White Cloud18:43.616:01
151Malachi GRAVES11White Cloud19:06.896:09
167Demitri LAWRENCE9Muskegon Western Mich. Christian19:22.396:14
175Alexander LAWRENCE9Muskegon Western Mich. Christian19:30.796:16
197Elijah ZENZ10Muskegon Western Mich. Christian20:15.596:31

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Brent is the Managing Partner of CatchMark and has been a technologist for more than 15 years. During that time he has served in diverse leadership roles. At his core, Brent is a problem solver who chose technology because of the diverse and challenging problems it provides. He is currently a Certified Information Systems Security Professional with an emphasis in Cyber Security.

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