ZEXC traveled up the road to Helder Park for the OK Green Conference Championships this afternoon. In the boys varsity race, Gavin Wiersma finished 6th, Nick Riemersma 12th, and Caden Guffey 14th to each earn All-Conference honors. Dylan Walters earned Honorable Mention with his 18th place finish. The boys finished 3rd at the meet behind Zeeland West and Holland and finished 3rd overall in the conference. In the girls varsity race, Ally Kuzma finished 2nd, Meredith Cook 6th, Emma Drnek 7th, Cece Kuras 10th, Megan Kuzma 12th, and Addie Grill 13th to each earn All-Conference honors. The girls finished 1st at the meet to secure their second ever conference title. In the JV race, the boys team finished 2nd, led by Aaiden Gillespie and Ethan Nguyen who finished 12th and 14th, respectively. The girls JV team finished 1st led by Taryn DiLaura who won the race. Also medaling were Libby Post (3rd), Elise Meister (5th), Hannah Lewis (7th), Sophie Koleszar (9th), and Audrey Durham (10th). ZEXC is back in action next week Saturday for the Region 11 championship in Allendale.

ZEXC took advantage of another perfect fall Saturday and traveled down for the largest cross country meet of the season: the Portage Invite.  In the varsity boys race, Gavin Wiersma medaled placing 41st and Caden Guffey ran an all-time personal best time of 17:20.5. The varsity boys finished 16th out of 46 Division 2 teams. In the varsity girls race, Ally Kuzma and Emma Drnek both medaled, finishing 17th and 48th, respectively. Megan Kuzma ran an all-time personal best time of 20:23.7; the varsity girls finished 7th out of 43 Division 2 teams. In the boys JV race, Dylan Veltema finished 27th and Joey Michmerhuizen finished 37th, both earning coveted Portage Invite medals. Joey also ran an all-time personal best time (18:39.6) as did Connor Bing (19:41.9), Issak Stitt (20:22.0), and Josiah Muller (22:17.9). JV boys finished 8th out of 20 Division 2 JV teams. In the girls JV race, Taryn DiLaura (6th), Hannah Lewis (10th), Libby Post (12th), Sophie Koleszar (34th), Elise Meister (39th), and Audrey Durham (41st) all earned medals, while Meg VanDam (24:10.1), Lauren DeVries (25:46.7) and Shylee Soukhome (25:46.7) all ran all-time personal bests. JV girls finished 3rd out of 17 Division 2 JV teams. ZEXC will be back in action on Wednesday, October 19th for the OK Green Conference Championships at Helder Park in Zeeland.

ZEXC traveled down to Otsego for the Bulldog Invitational on Saturday. The boys varsity team finished 17th in the 30 team field; Sam Downing posted an all time personal best time of 18:18.68. The boys JV team finished 14th led by Aaiden Gillespie who finished 48th overall. The girls varsity team finished 7th in the 26 team field; Allison Kuzma finished 3rd overall with a personal best time of 18:14.04. The girls JV team finished 3rd led by Taryn DiLaura who won the JV race in 21:21.56. The JV Chix saw personal best times from Lauren DeVries, Laura Thomsen, and Alexis Edwards. ZEXC will be in action again next Saturday at the Portage Invite.

It was a perfect fall evening for cross country at Riverside Park in Grand Rapids. The Chix SHOWED UP for the second of three OK Green Jamborees. In the boys race, the top 10 Chix ran season best times with 9 of them being lifetime personal bests. Led by Gavin Wiersma with a 4th overall finish, ZE finished 2nd in the Jamboree with 70 points. Down one of their top 4 girls, the Lady Chix stepped up to retain their first place standing in the conference by winning with 38 points. Ally Kuzma won the race with a school record time of 18:18.30, followed by Meredith Cook who finished 6th overall with a time of 19:32.13 - good for 7th in school history. 8 of the top 9 girls ran their best times of the season with 7 of them being lifetime personal bests. ZEXC will be back in action Saturday at the Otsego Bulldog Invitational.

The boys and girls cross country teams traveled to Covenant Christian High School for the Autumn Sunrise Invitational this morning. The boys team finished 5th overall (89 points) behind Lowell (48), Fruitport (67), Holland (82), and Byron Center (87). Medalists for the Chix were Gavin Wiersma (4th), Caden Guffey (15th), Dylan Walters (19th), Nick Riemersma (20th), and Dylan Veltema (32nd). 10 boys set new lifetime personal records! The girls team finished 3rd overall with 69 points just behind Spring Lake (54) and Lowell (54). Medalists in the girls' race were Ally Kuzma (2nd), Meredith Cook (11th), Addie Grill (13th), Emma Drnek (16th), Hayley Heinrich (27th), Cece Kuras (31st), Megan Kuzma (33rd), and Taryn DiLaura (35th). 15 girls set new lifetime personal records! This meet kicked off the first of 3 meets in 8 days. The Chix will be in action again Wednesday at Richmond Park for the 2nd OK Green Jamboree, and again next Saturday for the Otsego Bulldog Invitational.

ZEXC traveled to East Lansing to take on the field at the MSU Spartan Invitational. In the Bronze (Division 2) race, the boys team finished 10th out of 26 teams. Led by a 13th overall finish by Gavin Wiersma, the boys team saw several strong performances with 7 of 12 runners posting a faster time than this weekend last year. The girls' team finished 2nd for the third invitational in a row. Ally Kuzma won the Bronze race overall with a time of 18:57.46 and was joined by Emma Drnek (23rd), Hayley Heinrich (26th), Megan Kuzma (27th), and Addie Grill (28th) as medalists.

ZEXC traveled west along Riley St to compete in the 40th West Ottawa Bredeweg Invitational Saturday morning. Boys varsity finished 9th in the 20 team field led by Gavin Wiersma who finished 5th overall. The JV boys finished 7th out of 12 teams. Aaiden Gillespie was the top JV Chix finishing 19th overall. In the girls varsity race, ZE finished 2nd out of 19 teams led by Ally Kuzma who finished 4th overall and improved upon her school record time set earlier this season. The JV team also finished 2nd (out of 10 teams) with Audrey Durham taking 2nd overall.

The boys and girls XC teams traveled to Johnson Park for the first of three OK Green Jamborees. The boys' team finished 5th with 96 points. Gavin Wiersma (5th) and Caden Guffey (17th) both finished in the top 25 with Dylan Walters finishing just outside (26th). The girls' team finished 1st with 38 points. Ally Kuzma won the race overall with teammates Meredith Cook (6th), Emma Drnek (7th), Cece Kuras (10th), Taryn DiLaura (14th), Addie Grill (15th), Hayley Heinrich (16th), and Megan Kuzma (19th) all finishing in the top 25 (Libby Post and Sophie Koleszar finished just outside in 26th and 27th, respectively).

The boys and girls XC teams traveled to Johnson Park for the first of three OK Green Jamborees. The boys' team finished 5th with 96 points. Gavin Wiersma (5th) and Caden Guffey (17th) both finished in the top 25 with Dylan Walters finishing just outside (26th). The girls' team finished 1st with 38 points. Ally Kuzma won the race overall with teammates Meredith Cook (6th), Emma Drnek (7th), Cece Kuras (10th), Taryn DiLaura (14th), Addie Grill (15th), Hayley Heinrich (16th), and Megan Kuzma (19th) all finishing in the top 25 (Libby Post and Sophie Koleszar finished just outside in 26th and 27th, respectively).

Both the boys and girls XC teams had strong showings in their season debut Friday night Under the Lights at South Christian. The top 7 boys all medaled (top 40) with 3 of them earning their varsity letter by time (G. Wiersma, C. Guffey, D. Walters). Of the 14 boys that raced, 12 of them either set new personal bests or beat their time from last year on the same course. In the Midnight Race - Large School Division, the boys team finished 5th. On the girls side, 8 medaled and finished in the top 26, with 3 others just missing the top 40. The top 8 all earned their varsity letters by time (A. Kuzma, M. Cook, A. Grill, E. Drnek, H. Heinrich, C. Kuras, M. Kuzma, T. DiLaura) - 5 of them in their first career high school XC race! Of the 21 girls that raced, 18 set either new personal bests or beat their time from last year, including Ally Kuzma who bested her own school record with a time of 18:28.9. In the Midnight Race - Large School Division, the girls team finished 2nd.