While most of their classmates were likely sound asleep in their beds at 8:30 a.m., and appreciating the Labor Day Friday reprieve from school, the Caledonia Fighting Scots and Thornapple Kellogg Trojans were doing battle on Caledonia’s cross country course. Although there were no actual swords involved, there were spikes that were embedded in the various racing shoes of runners of this friendly backyard neighborhood challenge.

Caledonia’s senior, Natalia Quigley outed all comers with her 19:59 effort, after going back and forth with TK’s sophomore sensation Ava Crews through much of the race. Crews finished not far back with a 20:26.

Although Caledonia’s dominance on the day was apparent with a river of purple flowing throughout the course, TK had its fair share of really solid performances. Junior Holly Velting once again showed that she is going to pound it out and is a solid number two for the Trojans, while finishing seventh overall in 22:42.

“Ava and Holly were once again doing Ava and Holly things. Ava led early in the race, but she was in control of her effort and put up a great fight against a very strong veteran in Caledonia’s Quigley, and she did a great job of being our leader at the pointy end of the race. Holly was in a war of sorts with Caledonia’s mid-pack for a long time and again ground out the kind of finish she should be proud of,” said TK’s Coach Sam Wilkinson.

Senior Emma Thompson made her veteran presence known by leading a strong group of three teammates early in the race and much of the way down the trail. 

“It was kind of a bummer for Emma that she was overtaken in the end by her teammates, but I am super proud of her because she pulled her younger teammates along, setting them up for a really respectable showing. I’m not so sure they would have been in the position they were in if Emma hadn’t set the tone.”

The total pack of four consisted of junior Kate Powers, finishing in 24:25, freshman Mady Kietzman in 24:26, freshman Megan Shuurmans in 24:31, and senior Emma Thompson in 24:34.

“Kate was on a mission today and she ran like a warrior. Although I have seen her work really hard before, this was probably the first time I saw the fire of raw determination blazing that brightly in her eyes. She wasn’t messin’ around today. It was great to see! I hope to see more of this from her this season,” said Coach Wilkinson.

Wilkinson also noted that, “Mady was strong yet again today and I’m lovin’ it! She is going to continue to grow both in terms of strength and speed and her racing savvy will develop over time as well.”

“I gave Megan a challenge today,” Coach Wilkinson said, “I told her to stay with Emma as long as she could. I wanted her to get out a little stronger and to move closer to that pack and she did exactly that. I’m so pleased that she put herself out there and gave it a go. If she keeps racing like this she’s going to make some serious gains.” 

Rounding out today’s top seven was junior Laine Hinton in a time of 26:16. 

“Laine continues to impress me with her determination,” Wilkinson claimed, “and the more fit she becomes I think that determination will become even stronger and I think she’s going to like what she sees.”

Freshman Lucy Teunessen closed it out for TK today in a time of 28:21. 

“Lucy is in her first year and she will continue to see gains as the season goes on, and I love seeing her giving it what she’s got.”

To sum it up, Wilkinson said, “Overall I thought the girls did really well. It can be intimidating for any team going head on into Fighting Scott territory and I thought they did a fantastic job of keeping their wits about them and going about the business of giving their best. This is a great group of young ladies and they represented TK well today. I’m proud of them.”