The South Christian Cross Country Teams traveled to Riverside Park in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, October 15, to compete in the OK Gold Conference Championships. With months of training and preparation under their belts, both teams were poised to finish competitively within the conference. The men’s varsity team finished in first place with a score of 28 points. This finish, combined with the results from jamborees #1 and #2, allowed the men’s team to finish the conference season as OK Gold champions for the first time since 2021! Senior Thad VanderLaan ran an extremely competitive race and fought to a second place finish, running a lifetime personal record of 16:22. Junior Ben Verlin finished just behind in third place, running a time of 16:36. Junior Josiah Rozema was the next to finish for the Sailors in the sixth spot, running a season-best time of 16:57. Freshman Hudson Kemper finished next in eighth place, running a PR time of 16:59. Senior Rex Jackson finished in ninth place for the men with a personal-record time of 17:29 to make up the varsity score. One other notable performance for the men was by Logan Kelly, who finished in 13th place with a lifetime personal record of 17:45. Congratulations to Thad VanderLaan, Josiah Rozema, Ben Verlin, Rex Jackson, and Hudson Kemper for earning All-Conference honors! Congratulations to Nate Zondervan and Logan Kelly for receiving All-Conference honorable mention! The women’s varsity team finished in first place in the meet with a score of just 18 points, which allowed them to earn the title of OK Gold Conference Champions for the second year in a row! Senior Chloe Rinzema led the Lady Sailors by racing to a first-place finish with a time of 18:52. Freshman Lily VanEyk was the next to finish for the women’s team in the second spot with a personal-record time of 18:53! Sophomore Tiffany DeMaagd came in third place for SCHS with a time of 19:00. Freshman Isabelle Oostema (19:57; 6th) and freshman Noelle Hulst (19:58; 7th) made up the remaining varsity score. Senior Lydia Huisman (20:07; 9th place) and sophomore Ava Oostema (20:27; 10th place) ran lifetime personal records as well! Congratulations to Chloe Rinzema, Tiffany DeMaagd, Lily VanEyk, Noelle Hulst, Isabelle Oostema, Lydia Huisman, and Ava Oostema for earning All-Conference honors! Congratulations to Annalise Wiltjer for receiving All-Conference honorable mention after her incredible performance in the JV race! The men’s junior varsity team finished in second place with a score of 41 points! The JV team was led by junior Tyler Buck, who ran a 19:03 and finished in fourth place (SR). Freshman Gage Roodvoets was the next Sailor finisher in fifth place with a time of 19:17. Jackson Sytsma was the third finisher for the Sailors in seventh place with a personal-record time of 19:36. Freshman Dylan Thome (20:24 PR; 14th place) and senior Doug Gaylord (20:40 PR; 16th place) made up the remaining score. Senior Enoch Wang (20:45; 17th place), sophomore Victor Nogueira (20:45; 21st place), senior Shane Mier (21:01; 22nd place), and senior Luke Herder (21:50; 29th place) all ran lifetime personal records in this race. The women’s junior varsity team swept the race to win with a score of 15 points. Freshman Annalise Wiltjer ran an incredible lifetime personal record of 19:54 to win the JV race by almost a minute and a half! Junior Gabriella Agar ran a time of 21:23 to finish in second place with a time of 21:23. Freshman Grace Klynstra finished third with a time of 21:28. Sophomore Delaney Burgess (21:30) and senior Grace Kooyer (21:31 SR) finished in fourth and fifth places. There were numerous personal records and season records set by the JV women today: Natalie DeJager (Fr.): 21:58 PR Jenna VanderLaan (So): 22:49 SR Alexa DeVries (Fr.): 22:52 PR Aria Vugteveen (Fr.): 24:18 PR Riley Dood (Sr.): 24:27 SR Grace Burgess (Sr.): 24:31 PR Charlotte Rignalda (Fr.): 24:24 PR Lindsay Spronk (Sr.): 24:45 PR Gabby Young (Sr.): 25:14 SR Natalie Dargo (Fr.): 26:58 PR Danya Hendrickson (Sr.): 27:15 PR What an incredible ending to the regular season! Full meet results can be found at https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/256367/info.