The Reeths-Puffer boys cross country team set a goal last Wednesday to beat Mona Shores at the first O-K Green conference jamboree of the season, and the Rockets accomplished it.
The young Rockets, whose top runners included one junior and four sophomores, finished fourth out of six teams in the event, which took place in Grand Rapids.
The Rockets finished with 135 points, Mona Shores came in at 143. Jenison finished first in the team standings, followed by Caledonia and Byron Center.
“We knew Mona Shores was going to be our nearest competition, since they beat us out on this same course a week and a half ago,” said R-P head coach Darin Grant. “Our goal was simple - compete, move up, and catch bodies. And that's exactly what the guys did.
Gabe Luna
“Despite the slower conditions, we competed hard, passed runners throughout the race, and finished fourth. The result was a good indication that this team is coming together.”
The top runner for the Rockets was sophomore Gabe Luna, who took 40th with a time of 19:40.09.
Junior Kyron Novak was 43rd with a time of 19:58.81. The rest of the R-P top five were sophomores Landon Learn (46th, 20:05.09), Kasyn Novak (56th, 20:34.22) and Jonathon Steenhagen (75th, 21:37.37).
The Rockets also competed in Saturday’s West Ottawa Invitational.
Kyron Novak
R-P finished last out of the tough six-team field with 163 points. West Ottawa won the event with 28 points, followed by Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, East Kentwood, Forest Hills Northern and Oakridge.
Kyron Novak was the top Rocket, finishing 32nd with a time of 19:48.30. Luna took 34th with a mark of 20:00.70, followed by Learn (37th, 20:18.50), Kasyn Novak (38th, 20:23.70) and sophomore Bo Blair (46th, 21:23.10).
Lots of Rockets posted much better times than they did in the same race last year, regardless of where they finished in the individual standings.
That list included Learn (1:10 faster), Kasyn Novak (2:33 faster), Kyron Novak (50 seconds faster), Bo Blair (1:36 faster) and Jon Visscher (1:45 faster).
Zach Rought, Sam Hoeker , Liam Pettijohn and Jacob Watson ran personal best times.
