The Otsego girls’ cross country team has a deep talent pool.
How deep, you ask?
So deep that the Bulldogs not only took first place at the Allegan Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 8, but they also took second place as well.
That’s right. Otsego coach Steve Long entered both an “A” and a “B” team in the race, with the “A” team taking top honors and the “B” team taking the runner-up slot.
“This is the second year that we’ve entered an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ team in the varsity race and won both the first-and-second-place trophies,” Long said. “I love being able to enter a ‘B’ team in the varsity race, because we have an extremely deep team and it gives my eighth through 14th girls a chance to show what they are capable of in varsity competition as well.”
The Otsego boys also took first place in its varsity race.
Allegan conducts its meet a little differently from most, with the varsity competition being divided into two races. The first race features each team’s top three runners, with the second race featuring the fourth-through-seventh runners.
Hamilton’s Erika Freyhof (18:33) and Sturgis’ Meg Scheske (18:52) were the top two finishers in the first race, but Otsego had the next three spots with its “A” runners. Megan Aalberts was third at 18:54, Sophia Hirzel was fourth at 18:56 and Sydney Kubiak was fifth at 19:34.
The Bulldogs’ “B” runners were 13th (Eryn Dendel at 21:05), 15th (Gina Farrell at 21:16) and 17th (Brenna Stratton at 21:22).
“Our top girls get a lot of attention, but girls like Katie Theis, Eryn Dendel, Maria Germain, Molly Farrell, Gina Farrell, and Brenna Stratton who are fighting for that seventh spot are so important to the team,” Long said.
In the second race, Otsego had the top five spots with Maddie Marciniak (19:47), Gracie VerHage (20:32), Germain (20:51), Theis (21:10) and Molly Farrell (21:16).
On the boys’ side, Bulldog Alex Comerford won the first race at 16:07, while Will Finch was runner-up at 16:34 and Sammy Moran was fourth at 16:46.
In the second race, Hunter Zartman won for Otsego with a 17:15, while Hayden Korreck was 17th at 18:52) and Fernando Vargas was 29th at 19:15.
“The guys all ran very well and we used the meet as an opportunity to try a couple different strategies,” Long said. “Our top guys are running well and Hayden and Fernando are steadily dropping their times, which will be very important for the championship portion of the season coming up.
“And I thought Hunter did extremely well in the Varsity 2 race. He’s been chasing the top three guys all season, so it was great getting to see him lead a race.”
Overall, Long likes where his team is.
“As a coach, you always want a little bit more from the kids,” he said. “But when I step back and look at where these kids are and where they need to be heading into the conference championship, regional meet and state finals meet, I like what I see.
“They’re hungry for the challenge and more than willing to put the work in to accomplish those lofty goals we’ve been talking about since the beginning of the season.”
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