Wayland senior Perry Carter and junior Jonathan Zuiderveen both qualified Saturday for the Division 2 state cross-country meet by placing among the top 15 individuals in the regionals at Portage.
Carter finished seventh with a time of 16:46.9 and Zuiderveen earned his first state trip by coming in at 17:08.3 for 15th. The top 15 individual runners and top three teams qualify to run the state championships Nov. 7 at Michigan International Speedway near Brooklyn.
The Wayland boys just missed qualifying as a team by two places, settling for fifth with 165 points. Otsego won it with 59, Richland Gull Lake was second with 67 and Parma Western has 84. The Wildcats finished just behind O-K Gold Conference champion Middleville Thornapple Kellogg.
Rounding out Wayland’s scoring were freshman Caleb Pletcher, 40th in 17:55.4; senior Owen Glass, 42nd in 17:58.1, and junior Derek Huffman, 61st in 18:27.4.
The Wayland girls’ team finished ninth in the 15-team field. None of the Wildcat girls were able to qualify for the state meet. Otsego won that team competition as well.
Freshman Zoe Antel led the Wayland pack, as she has most of the season, taking 22nd in 20:34.1. Fellow freshman Payton Sidebotham was 26th in 20:45.2.
Antel earlier this week learned she earned O-K Gold All-Conference accolades and Sidebotham made the honorable mention unit.
Junior Emily Isenhoff ran her best race of the season by taking 45th in 21:39.8; sophomore Maggie Whitney was 62nd in 22:49.8, and senior Mickala Kohtz finished her high school cross career in 68th place in 23:07.6. Sophomore Kaitlyn Paul was right behind her in 70th at 23:11.3.
PHOTO: Jonathan Zuiderveen (left) and Perry Carter (right) both qualified for the Division 2 state meet next Saturday at Michigan International Speedway near Brooklyn. With them is coach Steve Harcourt. (Photo courtesy Hope Thurston Carter)