It wasn’t a good day for both the Wayland High School cross-country teams Monday afternoon at the annual Middleville Thornapple Kellogg Invitational at Yankee Springs State Park.
Both finished in sixth place and failed to place a runner among the top 15 in the competition.
The Wildcat boys scored 159 points, 21 behind fifth place TK. Caledonia won with 41 points, East Grand Rapids had 44 and East Kentwood 92. There were 10 teams in the race, including Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills, which has often been unable to field a team.
Hamilton’s Mark Freyhof posted a time of 16:31.61 to capture individual medalist honors.
Wayland’s best effort came from senior Perry Carter, who finished 18th in 17:40.35, barely edging his old friend, Sam Johnson of Hastings.
Wildcat senior Jeremy Pletcher checked in 26th with a time of 18:02.8. Jonathan Zuiderveen was 36th in 18:30.35, Derek Huffman 47th in 18:57.71 and freshman Caleb Pletcher edged out senior Owen Glass for 52nd at 19:10.31.
Hamilton junior Erika Freyhof, Mark’s sister, won the girls’ race in 18:21.99, more than a minute faster than all others. Sophomore sister Audrey Freyhof was ninth.
Freshman Zoe Antel and sophomore Kaitlyn Paul, both first-year varsity runners, led the Lady Wildcats in 28th and 29th, with less than a second separating them at 21:50.09 and 21:50.97.
Senior Mackenzy Kaspar was 37th in 22:06.29, sophomore Maggie Whitney 51st in 22:40.26 and junior Emily Isenhoff 52nd in 22:41.36.
East Grand Rapids won the girls’ competition with 47 points, Caledonia was second with 65 and host TK third with 77. Wayland had 160 points.
The Wildcat girls and boys will be compete at the Spartan Invitational Friday at Michigan State University.
PHOTO: First-year Wildcat runners Zoe Antel (middle) and Kaitlyn Paul are right behind a Middleville harrier here. (Photo courtesy Raymond Antel III)