Riverside Park in Grand Rapids was the site of the first OK Gold Jamboree of the 2025 cross country season on Thursday, September 4. The cool temperatures and dry summer weather made for favorable racing conditions on the course. The South Christian boys’ team earned their first win of the season with a score of 34 points, edging out conference rival Northview by a mere 3 points! Junior Ben Verlin finished in 1st place with a time of 16:41. Senior Thad VanderLaan was the next across the line for the Sailors in 3rd place, running a time of 16:53 (SR). Josiah Rozema (Jr.) was the 3rd South Christian runner to cross the line in the 5th position with a time of 17:18. Senior Rex Jackson made a pivotal move in the last 200M of the race to pass Northview’s 5th runner and secure a South Christian victory! Rex finished in 11th place overall with a personal-record time of 18:13. Nate Zondervan (Fr.) and Logan Kelly (Fr.) were the 6th and 7th SC runners to finish the race with times of 18:32 (14th place) and 18:52 (18th place; PR). The Sailor girls’ team also came away with a win in the OK Gold Jamboree with a score of just 17 points! The ladies secured 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 7th places to make up their score. Forty-nine points separated the Sailors and conference and regional rival Thornapple Kellogg. Leading the way for the ladies was senior Chloe Rinzema with a time of 20:30. Freshman Lily VanEyk was next across the line running a time of 20:31. Sophomore Tiffany DeMaagd was the 3rd finisher for the girls’ team with a time of 20:32. Freshman Noelle Hulst was the 4th Sailor finisher running a personal-record time of 20:48. Isabelle Oostema (Fr.) was next to finish in 7th place, running a time of 20:53. Lydia Huisman (Sr.) and Ava Oostema (So.) were the 6th and 7th finishers for South Christian with times of 21:12 (8th place) and 21:19 (10th place). Complete race results can be found at https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/258502/info.