Bulldog boys place fifth in Division 2

Otsego boys’ cross country coach Steve Long does his homework, both when it comes to his team and his opponents.
“I see my kids with the potential they have and all season we try to reach that potential,” he said. “I also spend dozens and dozens of hours scouting other teams and looking over results. So I feel like I have a pretty good idea as to what they’re capable of.”
Given that preparation, Long generally has a pretty good sense of where the Bulldogs fit in when it comes to the hierarchy of the best teams in the state.
This season, he figured a top-eight finish was realistic for his squad at the Division 2 boys’ state finals.
Turns out, the Bulldogs wanted a little bit more.
Otsego put together a 236-point effort, putting it in fifth place in the Saturday, Nov. 5 race at Michigan International Speedway.
Corunna won the state title with 92 points, followed by Fremont (99), Grand Rapids Christian (139) and Coldwater (195).
“Man, they blew me away,” Long said of his athletes. “And in all honesty, that’s pretty hard to do.”
Mental toughness played a role in the Bulldogs’ solid finish, according to Long.
“I think the mud was a real factor this year, more so than any previous year at this course,” he said of some sloppiness, particularly in the first mile. “It was a real punch in the face to a lot of kids. But these boys showed what thousands of miles on your legs do for you when things get tough.”
Sophomore Alex Comerford provided the lone All-State effort for Otsego, crossing the finish line ninth with a time of 16:02.
All-State honors go to the top 30 finishers.
Sammy Moran, the team’s lone senior, missed out on All-State by a little more than a second, placing 31st at 16:31.
Junior Will Finch was Otsego’s third runner, placing 40th at 16:36. Like Comerford and Moran, Finch was a scoring runner for last season’s state runner-up squad.
“Anybody that’s on the same team with those three boys will be successful,” Long said. “They are the pinnacle of hard working, dedicated role models. If you want to know what it takes to be successful, follow them around for a day. And it doesn’t have to be on a good day. They do what it takes every single day.”