Sophomore Clara James-Heer ran her hardest after running for 18 straight minutes. A few seconds behind a Zeeland East runner, she dug in and gave it all she had to finish with her best time. She crossed the finish line with 18:59.71 on the clock.

The girls cross country team finished in second place out of 18 teams—a more than impressive finish. Clara finished in seventh place overall, placing her ahead of all her teammates. A couple of spots behind her in tenth place, sophomore Mia Bateson crossed the finish line. Fellow sophomore Peyton Ludwig then came in 14th place.

After the Lady Rangers’ elite times, their head coach, Ryan Schipper, was pleased with how they ran.

“Our top 3 girls finally raced together,” coach Schipper said,

One of the most improved times for the girls was sophomore Emmy Willemin’s, as her time helped the girls finish with a better overall score. Another great run came from Peyton Ludwig. She crossed the finish line with a time of 19:47.95. Overall, the girls improved their times.

“The overall team did great; we saw a lot of PRs,” junior Marissa Lunt said. “We also placed well.”

 On the boys team, senior Sam Yeager and junior Ethan Krampe led the group for the race. In that race, Sam finished with a time of 16:36.50. When Ethan crossed the line, he recorded a time of 16:41.15. Once again, Ethan finished a couple of seconds behind Sam. Sam finished 11th overall, while Ethan finished in 13th. Other noteworthy times came from sophomore Parker Ludwig and freshman Sawyer McCarthy, who both clocked in under 18 minutes. Freshman Trevor Timmer also significantly improved his time, showing his true toughness. In the end, the boys finished in sixth place out of 16 teams.

“The team is progressing nicely,” coach Schipper said. 

FHC’s next meet will be on Wednesday, September 22, against a full field of OK-White runners.