Jaxon Allen was not particularly rested heading into Saturday’s Allendale Falcon Invitational.
The Reeths-Puffer boys cross country team had run three races in the previous eight days, which is a physical grind.
But Allen, R-P’s top runner who has been peaking lately, didn’t let the lack of rest throw him off his pace. He posted an impressive time of 15:59, finished sixth out of 111 runners and won a medal at the event.
Allen’s time was pretty consistent with the time he posted at regionals last year, when he qualified for the state finals. That’s a good sign, according to R-P Coach Darin Grant.
“Physically Jaxon and the team are in a good spot right now going into the championship season,” Grant said.
Tate Bradley (lower left), Jaxon Allen and their teammates at Allendale.
R-P's Tate Bradley continued his strong trend lately by finishing 22nd in the race with a time of 16:39.
Jack Yonkman finished 63rd with a time of 17:38, It was the first time he broke the 17-minute mark this season.
Kye Grant, usually one of the Rockets’ top runners, finished 72nd while still feeling the effects of a recent illness. He posted a time of 17:56.
R-P’s Dylan Sturr finished 98th with a time of 18:45, which was two minutes and 10 seconds faster than he ran last year.
Gage Bouwman set a personal record time of 20:33 and was 1:23 faster than last year.
Nate Darling ran a personal season best 23:59 for the Rockets.
