Most observers expected the Reeths-Puffer boys cross country team, while definitely improving, to finish third against strong competition in Tuesday’s first O-K Green Jamboree.
Even R-P coach Darin Grant knew his team would have to run extremely well in the heat and humidity to beat out a strong Zeeland East squad for second place.
As it turned out, that’s exactly what happened.
The Rockets had three runners finish in the top 10 and took second place in the meet with 61 points, seven ahead of Zeeland East.
Zeeland West, a dominant squad, lived up to expectations by taking first place with 32 points.
R-P's Kye Grant, who finished second individually at the first conference meet.
“I’m proud of the guys and look forward to their constant improvement,” Coach Grant said. “I’m proud of how they are learning to push the limits of their bodies while competing and growing as a supportive team.”
R-P junior Kye Grant finished second individually with a time of 17:12. Holland’s Noah Lambers took first place with a time of 16:39.
R-P senior Jaxon Allen took sixth place with a time of 17:33 and fellow senior Tate Bradley finished ninth at 18:01.
Sophomore Jack Yonkman finished in 22nd place with a 19:19 mark and junior Jamie Neel was 32nd with a time of 20:05. Neel overcame a trip and fall during the race and finished strong.
Junior Gage Bouwman recorded a time of 24:11, which was 1:14 faster than his run two weeks ago, and senior Nate Darling finished in 25:37, which was 34 seconds faster than his most recent run.
