By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
PLAINWELL—It was an epic battle for the ages between two longstanding foes who were both trying to secure superiority of the Wolverine Conference.
Okay, so maybe that’s a tad bit dramatic. But the dual meet between the boys cross country teams from Otsego and Plainwell at the Trojans’ home course on Tuesday, Oct. 10, was an important one.
Both teams came into the final dual meet at 6-0, meaning the winner would remain unbeaten and carry momentum in the Wolverine Conference Championship meet the following week. And then there was the fact that the Bulldogs were hoping to extend their record-setting winning streak in league duals to 78.
And while the Trojans had two of the top three finishers, it was Otsego who came away with the 25-30 victory.
The Otsego girls also won, defeating Plainwell 16-47 to finish the dual-meet portion of the league schedule at 7-0 and increase their dual-meet winning streak to 89.
Junior Caleb Wesseldyk was the top finisher for the Otsego boys, as his time of 17:37 put him second behind Plainwell junior Henry Cox (17:30).
“We just wanted to come out and run as a team and run for each other,” Wesseldyk said. “Yeah, the winning streak is nice and we wanted to keep that going. But it was more about wanting to give the best we could and do it for each other.”
Following Cox and Wesseldyk, Plainwell senior Isaac Veen and Otsego sophomore Kenny Sheffer battled for the third spot. Veen ultimately came out on top of that battle by a 17:52 to 17:53 margin.
But three of the next four finishers were Bulldogs, giving Otsego the edge.
Juniors Aidan Goodwin (18:05) and Logan VanHouten (18:15) placed fifth and sixth, respectively, for Otsego, while senior Matthew Schreiner was eighth at 18:36.
The other three scoring runners for Plainwell were sophomore Donovan Ryan (seventh at 18:31), senior Liam Troutner (ninth at 18:42) and sophomore Trent Hansen (10th at 19:41).
“This was meet was a lot of fun,” Wesseldyk said. “We knew it was going to be tough and that Plainwell was going to be a challenge for us. That’s why we were just focused on competing to the best of our ability and seeing what happened.”
There wasn’t quite as much drama in the girls race, as Otsego secured the first four places.
Sophomore Emma Hoffman edged out senior teammate Logan Brazee by a 21:43.13 to 21:43.81 margin, while freshman Skylar Mejeur was third (21:45) and sophomore Rebekah Stachura was fourth (21:53).
Freshman Maddie Goodwin was the Bulldogs’ final scoring runner, placing sixth at 23:40.
Scoring for Plainwell were sophomore Josie Longcore (fifth at 22:36), junior Emma Taggett (ninth at 23:56), sophomore Gwen Todd (10th at 24:07), senior Raya Mergen-Henry (11th at 24:36) and junior Hannah Erlandson (12th at 24:41).