By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
Nearly 90 participants from Otsego’s three elementary schools gathered at the Otsego High School cross country course for the first ever City Championship meet on Friday, Sept. 23.
And it was Washington Street Elementary that took home top honors in both the boys and girls race.
WSE finished with 19 points in the boys race, followed by Alamo Elementary with 53 points and Dix Street Elementary with 61 points. In the girls race, WSE led the way with 20 points, while DSE was second with 43 points and Alamo was third with 67 points.
The City Championship was the first of two meets as part of the inaugural season of the district’s elementary cross country program.
Otsego High School cross country coach Steve Long organized the elementary program along with Dix Street physical education teacher Darcy Bentley.
“I was so excited to see all of the elementary kids race in our first ever City Championship meet,” Long said. “The excitement from the kids was so fun. My favorite part was seeing so many kids truly celebrating the successes of their teammates when they got a medal.”
The top 20 finishers in both the boys and the girls race received medals.
WSE fifth grader Jayden McKague was the winner of the boys race with a time of 6:54 on the 1.1-mile course, while Dix Street fifth grader Rilynn Therkildsen took the top spot in the girls race at 8:16.
Long sees the elementary program as the next logical step for his program and in making Otsego a healthy running community.
“The kids have rocket football and AYSO soccer and other options, so I wanted to make sure cross country was an option for them,” Long said.
The elementary runners practiced for nearly five weeks for the City Championship, meeting twice a week.
“Our coaches and helpers and principals and PE teachers have all been awesome and supportive,” Long said. “I really think we are blessed to have an administration that supports our program K-12 as much as they do.”
The elementary teams will also take part in the annual Bulldog Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 1, competing in the Pups Race. This time, they will run the entire 2-mile middle school course.
