FRUITPORT – Fruitport’s Pollock twins clearly have a great relationship, but a little bit of sibling rivalry is natural for teens, particularly when they compete in the same sport.

Both are standout cross country runners and the leaders of their respective teams, but Vincent Pollock has had a little more success than his sister.

He has qualified for the state finals for the past two years, has more first-place finishes in his career, won a city championship this year, and is ranked among the top 15 boys runners in the state.

Valerie Pollock has qualified for the state finals once, and while she’s done very well overall, until recently she had never won a big race.

Then she saw an opportunity to get a really big victory and dug deep and found a gear she didn’t know she had.

It happened at last week’s O-K Silver Conference Championship Meet at Belding. Valerie and her teammate Pehyton Beardsley were trailing Belding’s Mackenzie Zahm in a close battle for first place as the race neared the end.

For Valerie, it was not an ideal situation, because last-minute bursts of speed have never been her specialty. As longtime Fruitport cross country coach Randy Johnson put it, “Her kick is not her strength, so she knows she has to have a lead to finish the race in first.”

But this time Valerie found that extra kick, passing up Zahm and finishing in first place with a time of 19:30.75. She just outdistanced Beardsley, who took second with a time of 19:30.83.

“I honestly don’t really know,” Valerie said, when asked where she found that uncharacteristic burst at the end. “I honestly thought she was going to lose me, if she had anything left. But then I thought, this is almost over, I might as well see what I have left, then all the sudden, boom, I was really going.”

Pollock’s finish helped the Fruitport girls win the team conference championship, their first since 2002. Pollock also clinched the overall individual girls conference title.

Vincent won the boys race and the boys individual championship, so Valerie was equal with her brother that day, and she admits that it felt sort of good, in a respectful sort of way.

“It definitely motivates me,” Valerie said about her desire to match some of her brother’s success. “I see him putting in the work and I see all the accomplishments he gets from it, so I know if I do the sane thing I can also achieve good things. “

Both of the twins have had ups and downs throughout their four-year varsity careers, but both have peaked this season, winning a combined nine races and emerging as twin conference champions.

“It’s always a joy to see your seniors have their best year ever,” Coach Johnson said. “These two have done the work, and worked through their own personal ups and downs to find their own running and training styles.

“It’s going to be hard to see those two graduate.”

A steady rise for Vincent

To meet the Pollocks, it might take a few minutes to realize they are twins. They are not identical by any means, and they’re radically different in build, with Valerie checking in a 5-foot-4 and Vincent towering at six feet.

They’ve also had very different experiences in cross country.

As a freshman, Vincent took fourth place at Fremont’s Hill and Bale Invitational, but didn’t finish in the top 10 in any of the other 11 races, and even had a 168th place finish on his record.

He progressed as a sophomore, finishing among the top 10 in five different races, including the Fruitport Invitational, where he won a first place medal for the very first time. He also finished 14th at regionals and qualified for the Division 2 state finals.

Vincent didn’t win a single race as a junior, but finished in the top 10 in eight of the Trojans’ 15 races. He took 18th place at regionals and qualified for the state finals for the second straight year.

The three years of steady development really paid off this fall. Vincent has won six of his 11 races and finished in the top five in every race.

He took first place at the two O-K Silver Conference Jamborees and the Conference Championship Meet, as well as the Oakridge Invitational, the Fruitport Invitational, and the GMAA City Meet, which was a very big victory, indeed.

“That meant a lot,” Vincent said about winning the city meet. “This year it was at our home course, so I was pretty determined to win it. I went out and gave it everything I had. I have always competed against other kids who were great runners and I always looked up to them. Now it feels good to know that other kids are looking up to me.”

Vincent is a lot more than just the top runner in the area. He is currently ranked 15th in the state among boys cross country runners, based on his personal best time of 15:24.5 (a 5K run), a mark he set at the Conference Championship Meet.

That time also ranks as the second fastest in school history, behind Tom Chorny, who posted a mark of 15:21.6 back in 1994.

“I always looked at the records, but I never knew how close I could get to the top because those were some really fast times,” he said.

Vincent has played several years of high school hockey, for the Reeths-Puffer co-op team, and Coach Johnson thinks that experience has had positive and negative impacts on his top runner.

“At times doing the two sports took its toll on him,” Johnson said. “I think that’s the reason why his times over the past few years did not improve like they have this year. This year he focused on his running and it showed.

“He ran in the low 16’s in his first few races this year, which is not something many athletes can do early in the season with just base training.  Although hockey may have flattened out his times in his sophomore and junior years, it also gave him a strength most runners do not have. This year he has used that strength to make him one of the best runners in the state.”

A roller-coaster career for Valerie

Valerie actually had a better freshman season than Vincent, with seven top 10 finishes in 14 events. She took 14th place in regionals and qualified for the state finals, which was a pretty big achievement for a ninth-grader.

She had six top 10 finishes in 15 races as a sophomore, but placed 28th at regionals and failed to return to the state finals.

Last year, as a junior, Valerie took a bit of a step back, only finishing top 10 in five of 14 races. She was 31st in regionals and again failed to qualify for state.

“Valerie came into her freshman year with a bang,” Johnson said. “Everything was new and exciting and she excelled. Most freshmen experience first year big improvements and then expect it to continue into their second year. What they forget is they also have to do the work to continue to improve. Val was no exception.”

This year Valerie has peaked, just like her brother, finishing top 10 in nine of her team’s 11 races. She took first place for the first time in her career at the second O-K Conference Jamboree, and also took top honors at the Fruitport Invitational and the Conference Championship Meet.

A look at her top times each season tells her story. Her top mark was 20:20.5 as a freshman, 19:54.2 as a sophomore, 20:16.6 as a junior – and a very much improved 19:30.8 this year.

She said the difference has been a change in her workout habits.

“Every year I ran about the same times, but people competing against me were going faster, so the same time got me the same results,” she said. “I wouldn’t say I changed (workout habits) by much, but I kind of changed what I do to make my training more efficient, and it’s worked for me.”

A chance to go to state together

Success is familiar for the Pollock twins, because they were raised to do their best, and they push themselves and each other.

A good example is in the classroom, where Vincent is currently ranked fourth in Fruitport’s senior class and Valerie is ranked sixth.

“Our older brother has always been a great student, as well,” Vincent said. “Our parents have always pushed us and expected us to do great in the classroom.”

Both twins are grateful to have the other one competing in the same fall sport, and they know it’s been a factor in their achievements.

Workouts beyond team practices are pretty necessary in distance running, and they stay on each other to make sure they are putting in the miles.

“It’s great to have someone who holds me accountable,” Vincent said. “To have someone that I can talk to about the sport and someone who always encourages me to be better.”

“It’s nice,” Valerie added. “I have that support in someone who understands. It really helps the offseason training. He makes sure I run and get it done when a coach isn’t around to keep me accountable.”

The Pollocks each have at least one more race in their varsity careers, at Friday’s Division 2 regional meet at Benzie.

If they both do well, they could both qualify for the state finals at the Michigan International Speedway on Nov. 2. That’s something they have both experienced, but never together.

The top three teams at regionals go to state, along with the top seven individual runners who are not on one of those teams.

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Vincent said. “I really want to make it back and I know she’s been putting in the work, too. It would be amazing to both run at the state meet.”

Whether their final competition together turns out to be Friday or in the state finals, the harsh reality is that the end of the season, and their high school careers, is just over the horizon.

“I definitely think it will be be bittersweet,” Valerie said. “It will be exciting to race, but sad that we won’t be racing together again.”