SN 8.28.2021 DONE1

Page 16/The Sun and News, Saturday, August 28, 2021

CHS girls’ cross country

roster swells to 50 runners

Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
There are schools and
coaches across the state
across every sport that are
lamenting a lack of numbers
in their high school athletic
programs.
Caledonia and varsity
girls’ cross country coach
Ben Howell aren’t among
them.
Howell has 50 girls on the
roster this fall, his 15h season
leading the Fighting Scot
program. That is the most he
has ever had. Even better,
some of them are pretty fast.
The Caledonia girls’ team
tied for fourth in the OK Red
Conference a year ago and
then placed fifth at the spe-
cial 2020 pre-regional event
to close out the season.
Back from that team are
senior all-conference runner
Tatum Verburg and junior
Natalia Quigley who was
honorable mention all-con-
ference last season. Barbie
DeGood is back for her
senior season. She was a
regional medalist last fall.
The team is also happy to
have senior Savanna Coulter
rounding back into form after
being injured last season.
Coulter was an all-confer-
ence runner in the OK Red as
a sophomore in 2019.
Coach Howell is still learn-
ing about his big group. He is
hoping a good chunk of those
50 girls are ready to push for
top seven scoring spots for
the team.
“We are always hoping to
be in the top half of the OK
Red, and we are always

shooting to be one of the top

three teams at the regional

meet to qualify for the state

meet,” Howell said of the

team goals.

Those are lofty goals in the

OK Red. He said West

Ottawa is an early favorite to

win the Division 1 Lower

Peninsula Cross Country

Championship, and teams

like Rockford, Grand Haven,

Hudsonville and Jenison will

all have goals of finishing

near the to of the Red and

getting to the state finals like

the Scots do.

The Scots will host a dual

meet Friday, Sept. 3, at 8

a.m. against Thornapple

Kellogg to open their year.

Caledonia also has plans

to run in TK’s Coach B

Invitational at Gun Lake

Sept. 19 and then the MSU

Spartan Invitational Sept. 17.

The OK Red Conference

season starts when Grand

Haven plays host to a jambo-

ree Sept. 21.

Barbie DeGood

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Scots chasing last step up after

runner-up finish at D1 Finals

Brett Bremer

Sports Editor

An OK Red Conference

Championship, a regional

championship and a state

championship are the list of

goals set out before the

Caledonia varsity boys’ cross

country team.

Those were the goals a

year ago too, and two out of

three ain’t bad. The Caledonia

varsity boys’ cross country

team has six members of its

team coming back that fin-

ished second at the Division

2 Lower Peninsula Cross

Country Championship in

2020.

The one member who

graduated last spring, Jamin

Thompson, was the team’s

fastest guy at the state meet,

but not by a lot. Senior Josh

Oom and junior Jordan

Domany were on Thompson’s

heels at the state meet, plac-

ing 24th and 29th respective-

ly, good for all-state honors.

Oom broke the 16-minute

mark three times late last

season as a junior and

Domany was just shy of it

with his time of 16:03.11 at

the state finals.

The rest of the returning

six from the finals includes

seniors Cooper Sorsen,

Caden Dixon and Donavan

Mattson and junior Brett

Guzman.

Caledonia head coach Ben

Thompson is also happy to

welcome back seniors Ben

DeGood, Colin Pearson and

Ethan Knapp and junior

Blake Elliot to push and

work for spots in the top

seven. He will also look for

freshmen Mason Morrell and

Kort Thompson to work their

way into the mis.

The senior class for the

Scots has won two confer-

ence championships, three

regional championships

during its first three years of

high school, and coach

Thompson likes the leader-

ship he is seeing from the

group so far.

The Scots’ top competition

for an OK Red Conference

Championship this fall is

likely to come from Rockford

and Grand Haven. Rockford

was 80 points back of the

Caledonia boys at the state

finals, but just one place back

in third. That 2020 Ram team

had just two seniors running

at MIS.

Caledonia will start the

year by running an 8 a.m.

dual with Thornapple

Kellogg Sept. 3. The Scots

will then take part in TK’s

Coach B Invitational at Gun

Lake Sept. 13.

The OK Red Conference

season starts when Grand

Haven plays host for a jam-

boree Sept. 21.

Josh Oom

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