FRUITPORT – Tatum Dykstra hasn’t had the easiest time in cross country since she transferred to Fruitport High School last year.

Dykstra came to Fruitport with excellent credentials, holding the school record for the best girls 5K time at Fruitport Calvary Christian and qualifying for the state finals for two straight years.

She got off to a great start as a junior at Fruitport last season, but then everything came to a screeching halt when school officials and her coaches learned that she was ineligible due to a Michigan High School Athletic Association transfer rule.

That forced Dykstra to sit out the second half of the season and slowed her excellent progress in cross country.

“It definitely was,” Dykstra said, when asked if her fate last season was extremely frustrating. “The last race I actually competed in, I was only a couple second off my personal record, then I had to stop.

“I tried not to think about it too much. There was nothing I could have done. It was out of my control. I just wish it hadn’t happened.”

Like the mentally-strong athlete that she is, however, Dykstra used her bad fortune as motivation to prepare extra hard for her senior season.

“I think it actually helped me,” she said. “I was eligible to run track last spring, I conditioned hard over the summer, and everything just sort of came down to this season. Now I have to make it a good one!”

It has already been a really good season for Dykstra, the top runner on the Fruitport girls team.

She has placed first individually at two races so far this season, and has been near the top in every race the Trojans have competed in.

Now she’s worked herself up to the brink of a major goal – breaking Fruitport’s girls 5K school record of 18:59 – set back in 2009 by former Trojan standout Holly Anderson, who went on to be a great runner at Central Michigan University.

Dykstra has been improving her times all season, and came very close to the record at Grand Rapids Covenant Christian on Sep. 23, posting a mark of 19:02.

Now she has her sights set on Saturday’s Portage Invitational – a traditionally fast race with great runners from all over the state – to shave a few seconds off her mark and find a spot in the Fruitport record book.

“That’s like the biggest race we’re going to run this year,” said Dykstra, who will become the record holder at two schools if she breaks the Fruitport mark. “I’m definitely looking to break the record there. There is good competition and it’s a good course. Everything is lining up right for that race.”

Longtime Fruitport cross country coach Randy Johnson called Dykstra “one of the best we’ve ever had at Fruitport” and also thinks Saturday’s race is a perfect opportunity for her to set a new school mark.

“The weather is looking good for it – it’s going to be a little colder – and the competition is fantastic,” Johnson said. “It’s a big meet and it’s easy to get up for it. There are a lot of races, and you have to really focus on a few that you really want to work at. This is one of them.”

Dykstra seems to be peaking at the perfect time, heading into postseason competition.

She’s been running very well all season, but was a little bit cursed in the middle with a series of second-place finishes.

She finished second at the season-opening Muskegon Catholic Central Invitational.  She finished second at Fremont’s Hill and Bale Invitational. She finished second at the Sparta Invitational.  She finished second at the first O-K Blue Conference Jamboree.

Dykstra finally broke through by taking first place at home, at the Fruitport Invitational, on Sept. 30. She followed that up with another first-place finish at Tuesday’s O-K Blue Jamboree at Holland Christian.

Second place is great, particularly when you are beating dozens or even hundreds of runners – but Dykstra is in to win.

“Second place is still pretty good, but now I’ve started putting more thought into the second mile of my races,” she said. “It’s that second mile that always gets me. I have learned to start out a little slower and then start picking people off.

“It definitely was a motivator. There’s just something about constantly getting second place. It means you are second best, and that’s not really what I’m going for this year.”