Thursday, November 11, 2004By JEFF CHANEY
THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
BROOKLYN -- Sparta boys cross country co-coach Ted Smith couldn't believe the news that was given to him by co-coach John Thomas.
Thomas caught the first glimpse of the Division 2 boys state finals results Saturday at Michigan International Speedway and let Smith know that the Spartans had finished in fifth place.
Dexter won the state title with 93 points.
The Sparta girls team also competed Saturday and came in 20th place with a score of 469 points. East Grand Rapids won its second straight title with 92 points.
"I can't believe it," Smith said. "The team did everything it wanted to do today and more."
The fifth-place finish was the third-best finish at the state finals for the boys team in school history. The team was second in 1961 and won the title in 1962.
It also exceeded the team's goal set coming into the state finals.
"We had our team meeting and the guys wanted to be in the top seven and beat the team that was eighth two years ago," Thomas said. "So that fifth exceeded all expectations.
"It was a great team effort. We had a 20-second gap between our first and fifth guy and that was great."
Sparta's first runner to finish was sophomore Eric Stouten, who was 59th with a time of 16 minutes, 53.85 seconds.
He was followed by Adam Yost (61st, 16:56), freshman Nate Kober (83rd, 17:08.25), senior Zak Kurek (93rd, 17:12.9) and junior Aidan Fairman (101st, 17:17). The Spartans other two runners were sophomore Brad Dauber (149th, 17:41.5) and senior Randy Jacobson (206th, 18:26.4).
"All the guys ran well, but our freshman Nate Kober running a 17:08 was very big," Thomas said. "He was our sixth man at regionals, and to be third today with a personal best was big."
Sparta girls coach Adam Pfeffer also was pleased with the way his team performed Saturday.
"We were happy to be here, and to be the 20th-best team in Division 2, that is nothing to cry about," Pfeffer said.
"We ran well. It was a tough field, so I'm happy with 20th."
Sophomore Ashley Bowen was Sparta's best runner Saturday, coming in 36th place with a time of 19:32.2.
Monroe Jefferson's Bekah Smeltzer won the title in 17:51.5.