Coach Lindsay Keefe spent the past few seasons leading the Reeths-Puffer Middle School girls cross country team.
She coached Jersi Bilek at that level for three years and knows how good she can be.
The two of them moved up together to the high school varsity team this year, and Coach Keefe was just waiting to see Bilek gain some confidence and hit her pace.
That happened on Friday at the Under the Lights Invitational hosted by Grand Rapids South Christian High School. Bilek had her best high school race so far, finishing ninth out of 192 runners with a time of 20:41.50.
R-P freshman cross country runner Jersi Bilek
“She did great,” Keefe said about Bilek. “For a freshman, the varsity level can be a little intimidating, but she worked that all out in our first meet. She was like, ‘Oh, I remember what I’m doing.' She’s a hard worker and a great kid.”
The event was encouraging for the entire R-P girls squad, which is very young and inexperienced, with only three out of 12 runners returning from last year.
The Rockets finished 10th out of 13 teams in the challenging field, and Keefe said that was real progress.
“They were pumped up for it, they went after it, and they achieved their goal,” Keefe said. “They were so excited about how they did. They ran the race smart.”
Adrienne Fluett had the second-best finish for the Rockets, taking 54th with a time of 23:55.0. Ellie Knapp finished right behind her in 55th place (23:55.70), Bella Cole took 65th (24:40.80) and Keeley Cole was 72nd (25:09.80).
In the boys meet, R-P junior Jaxon Allen continued his strong start to the season, finishing fourth overall with a time of 16:01.20.
Kye Grant took 26th for the Rockets (17:44.20), Tate Bradley was 34th (17:54.30), Jamie Neel finished 54th (18:36.50) and Jack Yonkman took 68th (19:09.60).