It was a warm, summerlike afternoon when the Sailor cross country teams toed the line at the 29th annual Portage Cross Country Invite on Saturday, October 10. The invitational drew over 225 teams and 6,200 runners, featuring many of the top teams in the state. The sailor teams, both resting a top runner due to injuries, battled the warm conditions and ran competitively, with several individuals taking home hardware for their top finishes. The boys varsity team finished in 25th place out of 44 teams with a score of 663 points. The sailors were led by senior Ben Verlin, who crossed the line in 39th place with a time of 16:38, earning himself a medal. Senior Josiah Rozema picked up three places in the last mile to finish 50th, also taking home a medal, with a time of 16:50. Sophomore Gage Roodvoets was 3rd for the sailors in 176th place with a time of 18:48. Closing out the scoring for the Sailors were senior Tyler Buck (187th, 18:55) and freshman Teddy Leugs (191st, 19:04.) The girls varsity team paced themselves to a strong 4th place finish out of 43 teams, scoring 215 points. Junior Tiffany DeMaagd was the top sailor finisher in 13th place with a time of 18:40. Sophomore Lily VanEyk closed hard in the third mile to finish in 21st place with a time of 19:15. Third for the sailors and 32nd place overall was sophomore Noelle Hulst, running 19:39. Tiffany, Lily and Noelle each earned a medal for a top 50 finish! The score was completed by another pair of sophomores, Isabelle Oostema (75th, 20:57) and Annalise Wiltjer (79th, 21:06.) The boys junior varsity team finished in 16th place with a score of 423 points. Freshman Will Buckingham was first across the line for the Sailors in 76th place with a time of 20:03. Sophomore Dylan Thome took 109th place with a time of 20:57. Freshman Everett Quakkelaar (117th, 21:09), Senior Trent Ponstein (159th, 22:37) and Freshman Kai Peterson (168th, 22:57, PR) made up the remaining JV score. The girls junior varsity team raced to a 3rd place finish with a total of 102 points. Sophomore Grace Klynstra led the way for the Sailors in 9th place with a time of 21:00. Junior Delaney Burgess was 15th overall with a time of 21:45. Sophomore Taylor Rottman (21st, 21:56), Freshman Abby Scholten (32nd, 22:31) and sophomore Alexa DeVries (33rd, 22:34) rounded out the team score. The top 7 sailor finishers all finished in the top 50, earning medals for their performances. See full meet results here. The Sailors now have an 11-day break from competition to prepare for the OK Gold Championships, which they will host on their home course on Wednesday, October 21.