By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
PORTAGE—Coming into this season, Otsego cross country coach Steve Long figured his girls team would be good, but he didn’t know exactly what to expect.
After all, the Bulldogs graduated two of the top three runners in school history.
“I knew we’d be tough, but I honestly thought this would be sort of a rebuilding year,” he said. “I knew we couldn’t replace (the girls who graduated).
“But these girls have really surprised me. Each one of them has really stepped up and continued to improve from last year.”
That improvement was on full display at a Division 2 regional at Portage West Middle School on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Led by individual winner Emma Hoffman and runner-up Taylor Mitchell, Otsego finished with 48 points to take top honors by 54 points over runner-up Sturgis. Allegan competed, but didn’t have enough runners to qualify for the team standings.
Ranked fourth in Division 2, the Bulldogs improved their season record to 166-1.
“Winning regionals was a lot of fun, but spending time together at practices is even more fun in my opinion,” Long said. “This is such a great group of girls that any time spent together is a win for us.”
Hoffman was nothing short of dominant. Clocking in at a time of 17:51, she finished one minute, 39 seconds ahead of Mitchell (19:30).
Sky Mejeur joined Hoffman and Mitchell in earning All-Regional honors, which goes to the top 15 finishers. She placed 10th at 20:13.
Also scoring for Otsego were Sydney Timmons (17th at 20:36) and Rebekah Stachura (19th at 20:45.
The Bulldogs will head to Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, Nov. 2, for the State Finals, which are set for 2:50 p.m.
“Going into the D2 State Finals, we’ll just keep having fun and working hard,” Long said. “Our expectation is simply to do our best and be happy with that.”
Jayden VandenAkker was the top finisher for Allegan, placing 18th at 20:44.
