19 minutes in, sophomore Mia Bateson could see the finish line. She ran as hard as she could, trying to reach first place. 17.16 seconds later, she crossed the finish line .05 seconds behind third place. She came in first out of all of the Lady Rangers.

The girls team came in third place out of all of the conference teams, while the boys came in fourth. On the girls side, Mia finished with a new personal record. Sophomore Peyton Ludwig also ran well, finishing with a time of 19:50.55. Another great performance on the girls squad came from senior leader Rachel Marco; she ran a time of 21:04.38. Overall, the young team had a tremendous performance. 

“I’d say that the team had a strong race, and everyone really worked hard and tried their best,” junior Marissa Lunt said. “It showed in some of our teammates’ results.”

In the boys division, the Rangers placed fourth with amazing performances from both senior Sam Yeager and junior Ethan Krampe. Sam crossed the finish line after running for 16 minutes and 37 seconds, while Ethan finished with a time of 16:44.48. 

Each and every athlete on the cross country team is looking forward to lowering their times as the season progresses and placing higher in the standings. But, overall, their head coach, Ryan Schipper, was happy with their performances.

“We are a pretty young team,” coach Schipper said. “I was extremely pleased with how they all performed under their first conference test; this team has been putting in a lot of mileage early.”

The team’s next race will be at the Bredeweg Invite on Saturday, September 11. Hosted by West Ottawa, the Bredeweg Invite brings together a mix of OK White and other West Michigan schools to compete for spots on the podium. It should be a solid way to measure FHC’s grit and depth.