By John Raffel
The area had the top three runners in the boys Division 2 race, as Connor Mora of Cedar Springs was first in 15:04.2 and Tanner Hinkle of Mason second in 15:09.8.
Clark Ruiz was an all-stater for the third year in a row with a time of 15:32.1 for third place in Division 2. “His main goal was top three at state and he got it,” said Big Rapids coach Chase Gibson. “He had dropped down, but the last 400 meters he got back to third.”
“I’m pretty happy with it, looking back,” Ruiz said. “It was a rough season, and I got to where I wanted to be. I did all I could do.”
Cedar Springs was fourth with 200 points, and Mason, the defending state champs, fifth with 240. St. Clair won the team race with 114.
Mora’s state championship was an obvious highlight for coach Ted Sabinas’ squad.
“Last weekend [at regionals] he went 14:54,” Sabinas said. “Last year he was third [at state.] He’s had a very good season with very few ups and downs, with a couple along the way, like all runners do. But he, from the first day, knew this is where he wanted to be.”
Sabinas was impressed with Mora’s race at the state meet.
“At the race was set up pretty much the way we thought it would,” he said. “Tanner Hinkle from Mason and Conner ran together the whole way. Connor has amazing finishes to his races. In the last half mile, he started pulling away a little more and a little bit more. In the last 200 meters, he had an amazing race.”
Austin Sargent was 19th for Cedar Springs in 15:59.0, while Justin Harthorn was 41st in 16:26.3, Cameron Umphrey 58th in 16:36.2, and Alex Bray 81st in 16:51.0.
Mason was led by Tanner Hinkle, while Mason VanDyke was third in the team race in 15:33.4, and Alex Whitmer 12th in 15:35.5. Mason’s No. 4 and 5 runners were 99th and 131st.
“The guys ran really well. We were happy with fifth,” said Mason coach Charles Miller. “One of our main guys was hurt the whole year and wasn’t able to run. That kind of put the defense of the title out of the question. It was more about individuals. Everybody did well. Hinkle had a chance to win it. My next four guys all set PRs for the whole day. We were happy and had a good day.”
Hinkle was disappointed not to take first.
“He knew going in it’d be a tough battle between him and Mora,” Miller said. “Mora is a very tough runner. He did what he could and came up short. He’s had a great career.”
His No. 1 and 3 runners graduate, but everyone else will return, including hopefully, his injured runner, Jacob Hanson, who placed 55th at last season’s state finals as the No. 5 performer for the team.
Ionia was 10th and was led by Brandon Winter, eighth in 15:40.8, and Brice Brown, 12th in 15:52.5
Also earning all-state honors were Aaron Baumgarten of Williamston, 13th in 15:44.2, and Cody Cook of St. Johns, 21st in 15:53.4.
Julia Bos of Grand Rapids Christian won the girls race in 17:20.4. Forest Hills Eastern won the team event.
Cedar Springs took eighth place and was led by sophomore Kenzie Weiler, second in 17:49.1, and her sister, senior Katie Weiler, 10th in 18:32.3.
Kenzie was also second last season.
“It was a little bit slower this year,” she said. “I felt really good about how I did. When you get to the state meet, it’s about place. The time just comes with it.”
Weiler has yet to defeat Bos in a race. “My goal was to stay with her as long as I can, and that usually helps me have a faster race,” Kenzie said. “My goal was to run a solid race and place high. I felt good the whole way. I had a girl push me the first 2 ½ miles.”
Cedar Springs finished second in the O-K Blue behind state champion Forest Hills Eastern.
Megan O’Neil led Chippewa Hills with a time of 18:14.2 for seventh place. She also had two teammates in the race,. Emily Starck earned all-state by taking 23rd in 18:37.7, and Kylie Schafer was 87th in 19:50.6. O’Neil was third as a freshman at the state finals.
O’Neil and her teammates noted that the start of the race was rather fast and furious.
“It was just crazy out there,” O’Neil said.
“I thought I ran OK,” Starck said. “You have to come out fast.”
“I was happy to be here,” Schafer said. “It was exciting. It’s my first year and it was a good experience.”
“I feel pretty good how the season went,” O’Neil said. “How close our team got at the regionals was exciting. It’s nice we were up there with the lead people at regionals.”
The Weiler sisters plus O’Neil and Stark were all-state along with Meg Darmofal of Mason, eighth in 18:15.1; Ashley Montgomery of Mount Pleasant, 14th in 18:24.2; Karrigan Smith of St. Johns 17th in 18:30.0; and Shelby Waterson of DeWitt, 25th in 18:38.5.