The Fruitport girls cross country team introduced itself to its new conference, the O-K Sliver, in very impressive fashion on Wednesday.
The Trojans placed four runners in the top 11 and walked away with first place in the first conference meet of the season.
Fruitport finished with 48 points, easily outdistancing second-place Calvin Christian and Hopkins, which tied at 64 points.
Senior Valerie Pollock led the Trojans by finishing in second place individually in a field of 65 runners with a time of 21:24.
Freshman Brynley Merkins came in fifth place overall with a time of 22:12. She was followed by teammates Treasure Fleese (9th, 22:37), Zoe German (11th, 23:02) and Genevieve Franklin (22nd, 24:23).
“The girls knew what they had to do in order to win the meet and they did not disappoint,” said Fruitport coach Randy Johnson. “All the girls took this race seriously. At the 2.5 mile mark we had one of our top five girls go down from the heat and the rest of the girls picked up the slack.
“I was very impressed by their competitiveness and willingness to work hard when it was needed. Surprise performances were given by Zoe German, Genevieve Franklin and Bailey Garner. Brynley Merkins also ran her best time of the season.”
The Fruitport boys finished third out of six teams on their side of the competition with 82 points. Belding won with 57 points while Hopkins was second with 58.
Fruitport standout Vincent Pollock continued his excellent season by taking first place individually in a field of 60 runners with a time of 16:31.
He beat out Comstock Park’s Andrew Commeret, who finished second with a time of 16:36.
Landon Johnson placed sixth for Fruitport with a mark of 18:28. Dylan Winskas was 14th (20:04), Enzo Aggoune took 24th (21:31) and Drew Powell came in 44th (25:08).
“Vincent led the boys race from start to finish, running very well on a hot course,” Coach Johnson said. “The boys team may not have run their best times but did very well in the heat of the day.”
Both Fruitport teams will compete on Saturday at Fremont’s Hill and Bale Invitational.
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