The South Christian Cross Country teams had a home course advantage at the Christian School Invitational on Saturday, September 6, 2025. The teams competed against 8 other area Christian schools, some traveling as far away as Illinois. It was a cool morning with cloudy skies at race time. The boys’ and girls’ teams raced well, with numerous athletes earning season-best times and all-time personal records. The girls’ varsity team finished in 2nd place with 51 points, just 3 points behind the state-ranked team of Grand Rapids Christian! The Lady Sailors were led by senior Chloe Rinzema, finishing in 3rd place with a season-best time of 19:16. Next to finish for the Sailors was sophomore Tiffany DeMaagd in 5th place with a personal-record time of 19:22. Freshman Lily VanEyk was the 3rd Sailor to cross the line in 11th place with a time of 20:00, running most of the race with her shoe partially on her foot after being stepped on early in the race! Freshman Noelle Hulst was the next to finish, in 13th place with a time of 20:12, besting her previous personal-record time by 36 seconds! Freshman Isabelle Oostema was the 5th runner to finish for South Christian with a time of 20:44, a personal-record time as well. Senior Lydia Huisman and sophomore Ava Oostema were the 6th and 7th girls to finish with times of 21:17 (33rd place) and 21:28 (37th place). Saturday’s performance by the girls’ varsity team earned them a 4th place rank in Division 2. The boys’ varsity team finished in 4th place with a score of 95 points. The team was led by senior Thad VanderLaan who finished in 7th place with a season-best time of 16:47. Next to finish were juniors Josiah Rozema and Ben Verlin in 16th and 17th places running times of 17:01 (SR) and 17:03 respectively. Freshman Nate Zondervan was 4th across the line for the Sailors, finishing in the 31st position with a personal-record time of 18:06. Senior Rex Jackson and freshmen Logan Kelly and Gage Roodvoets were the 5th, 6th, and 7th runners to finish for South Christian, running times of 18:09 (33rd place; PR), 18:17 (38th place; PR), and 19:26 (48th place; PR). The girls’ junior varsity team came in 1st place with a score of just 21 points. The JV team was led by junior Gabriella Agar who raced to a 2nd place finish with a time of 21:010 (SR). Freshman Riley Clark, senior Grace Kooyer and freshman Annalise Wiltjer were next to cross the line in 3rd, 4th, and 5th places with times of 21:35 (PR), 21:41 (SR), and 21:42. Sophomore Delaney Burgess was the 5th finisher for the Sailors running a personal-record time of 21:46. The boys’ junior varsity team finished in 6th place with a score of 171 points. Junior Tyler Buck led the way for the JV team, finishing in 33rd place with a time of 20:22. Senior Jackson Sytsma was next across the line in the 34th spot with a time of 20:28 (SR). Freshman Dylan Thome was the 3rd Sailor to finish in 50th place with a personal-record time of 20:56. Seniors Doug Gaylord and Shane Mier were the 4th and 5th finishers for SCHS with times of 22:29.17 (SR) and 22:29.27 (PR). Race results can found at https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/255588/info.