Martin High School seniors Eli Dykstra and Mercedes Morin both qualified for next Saturday’s Division 4 state cross-country meet in regional competition at Allendale.
Though Dykstra missed making the all-regional team by two seconds, he placed 16th individually to meet requirements to run Nov. 6 at Michigan International Speedway near Brooklyn. He finished the 5K race in 18:36.01.
It was a big day for Morin in her running career. She earned all-regional honors by finishing ninth while breaking her own school record with a time of 21:32.53.
The Lady Clippers came in sixth out of 14 schools at regionals. Backing Morin in the race were Elliana Young, 24th, 22:39.52;
Samantha Stone, 33rd, 23:24.31; Zoie Tunistra, 36th, 23:44.30;
Elly Blackburn, 49th,25:38.74 and Chloe Billington, 50th, 26:14.89.
For the guys, Morin’s brother, Alex, was 45th in 20:17.42.
Coach John Visser said, “I am so proud of all our runners, not only today, but over the whole season. Our women’s team had two first place finishes at invitationals this year (the first ever for Martin cross country).
“We had four personal records today, which shows just how hard the kids ran.”
COVER PHOTO: Eli Dykstra chats with his mom and coach John Visser after learning he qualified for state.