The Hopkins girls’ cross-country team took sixth place Saturday among 13 teams in the Falcon Division of the Allendale Invitational.
The Lady Vikings ran into some stiff competition, particularly from Hart, which placed the top three individual runners and registered 50 team points. Benzie Central was runner-up with 64 and Fremont third with 98. Hopkins had 168.
The Hopkins boys finished ninth in a 16-team field with 236 points. Saugatuck won it the division with 42 and Fremont was runner-up with 63.
Super sophomore Laura Velderman finished fourth, right behind the Hart girls, Adelyn Ackley, who won in 17:47.98, Alayna Ackley (18:59.18) and Sierra Albus (19:02.98). Velderman’s time of 19:07.82 was her best this season and better than her time in the same race a year ago.
Sophomore Jasmine Fisher also earned a medal for the Vikings by finishing 16th in 20:27.3. Emma Helder was 36th, newcomer sophomore Hannah Crouch squeezed into 56th and freshman Grace Beckwith was 61st.
Senior Madison Snoeyink, who usually places third or fourth among Viking harriers, was missing from the lineup.
Sophomore Dan Rausch was the top Hopkins runner for the boys, as he has all season. Rausch turned in his personal best performance with a time of 17:23.36 over the 5,000-meter course.
Freshman Tod Henly continued his recent surge in the lineup, running a personal best time of 17:58.15, good for 37th place. Junior Ethan Nagel was right behind him in 41st with a time of 18:05.66.
Senior Nick Belka was 71st in 19:29.56 and sophomore Jake Pastoor 72nd in 19:32.38.
PHOTO: Winning medals in the Allendale Invitational Saturday for Hopkins were sophomores Jasmine Fisher (left) and Laura Velderman.
