It was a bad day for Hopkins sophomore cross-country ace Laura Velderman and the Lady Vikings Saturday at the Division 3 state championship meet.
Velderman, who last month was O-K Silver Conference and regional champion for the second year in a row, suffered a huge setback in the big annual race at Michigan International Speedway. She finished 119th with a 5,000-meter time of 21:26.8, which for her is awful. She had indicated before the run she was gunning for breaking the school sophomore record by eclipsing 18:50.
Her mother, Renee Murphy Velderman, posted on Facebook, “Today was another lesson in eating correctly before a big race. It wasn’t the finish that she wanted, but she finished despite her legs wanting to give out after the two-mile mark.”
The Lady Vikings finished 16th as a team. Traverse City St. Francis won it with 77 points, Lansing Catholic was second at 88. O-K Silver Conference rival Calvin Christian was eighth and Hopkins accumulated 423 points, six behind Ithaca.
The best news for the day was the performance of sophomore Jasmine Fisher, who checked in 21st with a time of 19:43.6. Fisher, customarily 
the Lady Vikings No. 2 runner, finished ahead of Calvin Christian’s top runner, Kayce Rypma.
Sophomore Emma Helder was 113th in 21:24, senior Madison Snoeyink was 128th in 21:32.9 and freshman Grace Beckwith was 217th in 23:59.5.
Two Hopkins boys qualified as individuals in the state meet. Sophomore Dan Rausch was 72nd in 17:26.3 and junior Ethan Nagel 86th in 17:17:52.5.
PHOTOS: Releaxing on the campus of Hopkins High School before Saturday’s state cross-country meet are Laura Velderman, Jasmine Fisher, Emma Helder, Madison Snoeyink, Emma Crouch, Grace Beckwith and Alyssa Rausch.
State meet boys’ qualifiers Dan Rausch and Ethan Nagel.
