By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
HICKORY CORNERS—For the second time in its first four invitationals of the season, the Plainwell boys cross country team emerged victorious.
The Trojans placed four runners in the top 10 at the Delton Kellogg Invitational on Thursday, Sept. 7, and cruised to the win with 36 points.
Wayland was fifth in the 16-team field with 118 points.
The Plainwell girls had 64 points and earned runner-up honors in their race behind Covenant Christian (36 points). Wayland participated, but didn’t have enough runners to qualify for a team score.
In addition to their two wins so far, the Plainwell boys also have a runner-up and a third-place finish to their credit.
Henry Cox and Isaac Veen paced Plainwell, as the pair took the top two slots. Cox won with a 16:57, while Veen was second at 17:08.
Also scoring for Plainwell were Donovan Ryan (eighth at 17:40), Liam Troutner (10th at 17:52) and Billy Pipkorn (15th at 18:00).
Isaac Dyer secured sixth place to pace Wayland, clocking in at 17:35.
Other scoring runners for the Wildcats included Dylan Pallett (11th at 17:58), Xander Stepek (16th at 18:03), Mason Fein (42nd at 19:44) and Ethan Manning (51st at 20:11).
The Plainwell girls received top-10 finishes from both Josie Longcore and Emma Taggett. Longcore checked fourth at 20:38, while Taggett was eighth at 21:47.
Hannah Erlandson (18th at 23:06), Gwen Todd (21st at 23:19) and Raya Mergen-Henry (23rd at 23:35) also scored for the Trojans.
Wayland had four runners compete, led by a 15th-place showing of 22:50 from Elliot Antel. Megan Stack (62nd at 26:29), Sara Osbon (100th at 30:00) and Alyssa Lawrence (131st at 44:17) followed.