By Travis Smola
The Vicksburg boys closed out cross country season by competing at the state meet at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
Senior Kyle Strong was the top finisher for the Bulldogs with a season record 17:06.8 time for 110th place. Seniors Jacob Wisser was 154, Jacob Klimp was 155, Collin Eager 185 and Aidan Ward 203. Sophomore Keagan Ellsworth finished 223 and junior Kyle Kelly finished 242. Vicksburg came in 25th overall.
Competing at state was the exclamation point on a season where the Bulldogs had already taken second in the Michigan State Spartan Invitational. The most exciting race of the year, however, was the Regional round where Vicksburg punched a ticket to state on a nail-biter.
The Bulldogs ended up tying for third with Harper Creek and the tiebreaker came down to sixth place, which was Ellsworth. He ran a PR of 18:02.9 in the rain and windy conditions that slowed times considerably.
Wisser was the top finisher at Regionals, coming in at 12 overall with Klimp and Strong close behind at 18 and 20th.
The team has done a good job all year of running well in adverse weather conditions. Qualifying for state was especially satisfying for head coach Lucas Wolthuis. It was a goal all year. “It’s different when you’re going to a state meet,” he said. “No one’s going to give it to you; you have to take it.”
“We’ve been very fortunate to have our front five perform well all year,” Wolthuis said.
On the girls’ side, sophomore Angel Currie was the top finisher for the Lady Bulldogs at Regionals, coming in at 35. Freshman Sawyer Barton was close behind however, finishing 36. Freshman Avalee Goodman was the next top finisher at 57.
Senior Angie Loriso ended her cross country career by running a 22:45.1 season record, finishing 59. The girls only had nine runners this year, but got better and better as the season wore on.