The very young Reeths-Puffer girls cross country team is starting to mature and take its place among the better teams in the area, which was obvious at Saturday’s Greater Muskegon Athletic Association City Meet.
The Rockets finished third in the nine-team field and were honored with the other top teams on the championship podium at the end of the day.
Reeths-Puffer finished with 84 points, behind champion Western Michigan Christian (37) and second-place Fruitport (54).
The five R-P scorers all finished 34th or above in the big field of 91 runners.
Sophomore Jersi Bilek won a medal for the Rockets, finishing in fourth place individually with a time of 20:24.
R-P's Jersi Bilek with her medal, which she earned by finishing fourth at the city meet.
”Jersi ran a tough race with the lead pack,” said R-P Coach Linday Keefe. “It was a muddy and hilly course, but she still took home a medal and stood on the podium with the best of the best in Muskegon!”
R-P freshman Gabrielle Chevez had a breakout day, finishing 12th individually with a time of 21:07.
Junior Adrienne Fluette finished 13th with a time of 21:15, freshman Darcy Keefe was 24th with a 22:12 mark, and freshman Kaitlyn Durow took 34th place at 23:31.
R-P sophomores Hope Latsch and Charli Belinger also ran well, turning in times of 24:32 and 24:37, respectively. Latsch set a new personal record in the race.
Overall Coach Keefe was extremely pleased with how her young team measured up to all the other teams in Muskegon County.
“After two years it feels great to be back on the podium!” she said.
