Reeths-Puffer’s Jaxon Allen had another great day at the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association City Meet on Saturday, finishing third individually against the other top runners in the area.
Allen posted a time of 15:59.70. He finished behind champion Caleb Branch of Mona Shores, who posted a 15:42.70 mark, and second-place Andre Richmond of Whitehall, who finished in 15:48.20.
While finishing third out of 115 runners is excellent, to say the least, Allen was a bit disappointed because he finished second last year as a sophomore behind teammate Klay Grant.
R-P's Kye Grant (left) and Jaxon Allen show off their medals from the GMAA meet.
Allen suffered a high ankle sprain earlier this season and missed several weeks of action, and realizes it takes time to bounce back completely.
“Anyone would like a higher position, but I’m glad for what I got,” he said. “I worked hard and I’m okay with the result.”
Allen will get another crack at beating Branch next week at the O-K Green conference meet.
“I’ve beaten him and the guy who finished second,” he said.
The R-P boys finished in fourth place as a team with 82 points. Whitehall won the meet with 63 points, Mona Shores was second with 69 and Fruitport was third with 70.
A total of 10 teams competed in the race.
R-P’s Kye Grant finished in eighth place individually with a time of 16:52.80 and won a medal. Tate Bradley also had a very good day, taking 11th place with a time of 17:29.80.
Jack Yonkman was 27th with a time of 17:52.60 and Jamie Neel was 33rd with an 18:14.70 finish.