Sunday, September 16, 2007
By Cris Greer
The Grand Rapids Press
SPARTA -- Sparta senior Nathan Kober had a huge smile as he talked about his morning at the 23rd annual Sparta Cross Country Invitational on Saturday.
"It was a great feeling coming down the stretch and winning it," said Kober, who ran a 16:39 to win the O-K Gold division at his school's invite. "We couldn't have asked for a better morning to run. It was perfect conditions; it was beautiful.
"Me and Nate Dahlgren, my buddy, we were competing the whole race. It was a good day with plenty of competition."
Dahlgren finished third in with a time of 16:46, while Sparta placed second overall with a score of 79. Ionia took first with 59 points.
"We're strong this year, but not as strong as previous years," said Kober, whose Spartans took second in state in Division 2 last year.
Nearly 2,100 runners from 76 schools competed in the daylong invitational.
In the girls Gold, East Grand Rapids took first with a score of 73, followed by Ionia and Sparta.
Spring Lake's India Peek Jensen won the race (18:50).
The West Catholic boys, the area's highest ranked school in the Grand Rapids Press poll, captured first place in the White Division with a score of 38, followed by South Christian and Otsego.
"We came into this meet pretty confident. But to tell you the truth, we had a little bit of a scare," Falcons coach Dennis Scully said. "If this race had ended at the two-mile mark, we probably would not have won it. South Christian put a good pack in between our number two and three runners."
"A lot of credit goes to our three, four and five (Matt Woronko, Ian Quam and Kevin Royce) for how they reacted in the third mile and reeling that South Christian pack in. "
Scully is pleased with the direction the Falcons are headed.
"We're extremely happy. We feel that we are very much on track toward our ultimate goal of the state meet and catching Williamston," said Scully, who won a state title in 2003 and was runner-up in '04 and '05. "We're looking forward to chasing Williamston all season long."
West Catholic senior Mike Gravelyn took second with a time of 16:00, while teammate Antonio Schafer finished third at 16:17.
"I was a little tight in the legs out there and have been fighting a pulled muscle in my shoulder, but overall, it was a good race," Gravelyn said.
Last year, Gravelyn took 11th at the state meet, but is hoping for a top-10 time in his last season and a much bigger finish for his team.
"We're looking to go and win it all," he said. "We worked hard over the summer. We've had some really good times and should be competitive this season."
Grant runner Isaiah VanDoorne won the O-K White division with a time of 15:44.
The Fremont girls won the O-K White division with 58 points, followed by Hamilton and West Catholic.
South Christian's Kelsey Burgess took top honors with a 19:40.
The West Ottawa girls won the O-K Blue division for the second consecutive year with a score of 57, followed by Rockford and Greenville.
"This is a pretty big day for us," West Ottawa coach Craig Kingma said. "It was a big accomplishment, and I think we're on the right track. They were out there rocking today; it was kind of fun."
The Panthers won the meet without last year's two top runners, Amber Brunmeier and Elle Munoa, who are competing at Ferris State University and Hope.
"When you lose a couple people like Amber and Elle, it's a big transition. These guys have risen to the occasion," he said.
Last year the Panthers placed 15th at the Division 1 state meet.
Northview's Carly Plank won the O-K Blue division with a time of 19:17.
The Hudsonville boys won the O-K Blue division with a score of 47, followed by West Ottawa and Greenville.
Kenowa Hills' Reed Kamyszek won the O-K Blue with a time of 16:14.
Kent City won the boys O-K Silver division with a score of 48, followed by Allendale and Saranac.
Garrett Lacy (Carson City) took first place (15:52).
The Pine River girls won the O-K silver Division with a score of 42, followed by Allendale and Montague.