Hopkins, Wayland harriers run at large Otsego meet

Wayland boys finished 18^th Saturday morning in a crowded field of 25 teams in the Otsego Invitational cross-country meet. Meanwhile, Wayland was 13^th and Hopkins 14^th among 21 squads in the girls’ competition.

Host Otsego won the guys’ meet with 68 team points. Wayland had 483 and Hopkins checked in 25^th with 685.

The first Wildcat runner to cross the finish line after 5,000 meters was Devin Weaver in 49^th place with a time of 17:22.4. He was followed by freshman Dylan Pallett in 70^th place (17:46.3), Travis Koon in 90^th (18.16.1), Isaac Dyer 114^th in 18:43.4 and Jared Jandernoa 163^rd.

Wayland not have a senior among its top seven runners.

Adam Ball again paced Hopkins with a time of 18:09.9, good for 83^rd place. He was followed by Caleb Beilby, who just missed breaking the 20-minute barrier in 145^th place; freshman Kenyon Katje in 147^th; freshman Ryan Williams in 149^th, and Zachary Wisser in 169^th.

East Grand Rapids won the ladies’ meet with 45 points. Wayland had 376 and Hopkins 396.

Olivia Barabas, to the surprise of no one, led the Wayland girls by breaking the 20-minute barrier again, in 19:55.5, good for 20^th. Elliot Antel was 62^nd, Hannah Smith 82^nd, Emily Tuinstra 107^th and Emma Thayer 121^st.

The Hopkins effort yielded a mild surprise by freshman Kambria Moored leading the way in 21:14.3 in 51^st place. Helena Kerber was 67^th, Neveah Helderop 74^th. Jaeden Harshberger 95^th and Abigail Zalis 123^rd.