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Thornapple Kellogg High School

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Thornapple Kellogg High School

go trojans!

Thornapple Kellogg High School

Game Summaries & Headlines.

Game Summary

2.0 years ago @ 6:58PM

Girls Varsity Cross Country vs. Division II, Region 13

Game Date
Oct 30, 2021

Three of TK’s Girls Cross Country athletes are heading to the Michigan International Speedway to compete in the Division II State Finals! Congratulations to them and to the entire team! 

As a team, the girls finished in the top 4 in the region. Or you could say they finished a little better than the top 25% in the region. Any of the teams 5th through 17th would love to trade places with us. It’s a solid finish. It’s a respectable finish. It’s a finish we can feel proud of and good about. It’s a place that represents TK well. 

Freshman Ava Crews and senior Jessica Durkee...did Ava and Jessie things. They were both near the front and made a significant impact. Ava took it to the next level and finished third out of 110, while Jessie finished 12th which qualified them both for the state meet. 

Junior Emelia MacDonald, after just coming back from a series of injuries related to a recent car accident, laid it all on the line and achieved a goal she had been thinking about since last October...to get back to the state meet. When in full health she is capable of even faster than she ran today, but she ran a season best to get her ticket punched.

Meanwhile, Sophomore Holly Velting gave it her all and ran a time in the 21s, which she needed to do, and had a solid performance. She was followed a little over 30 seconds later by her sister, junior Lindsey Velting, and a little less than 30 seconds behind her was freshman Lydia Schilthroat. Rounding out the top seven was Lucy VanDermark who overcame insurmountable odds from where she was at the beginning of the season to even get to the start line. 

The girls ran hard, they competed well, they stayed engaged, and they gave maximum effort on the day. I could not ask for more than this. However, as a coach with high expectations for myself, I can't help but to feel disappointed. I’m not disappointed in the girls...not at all. They gave their best on the day and three other teams happened to run faster. 

It’s ok to be both happy, proud, and disappointed all at the same time, and that’s where I am. The last two seasons we have been fourth in the region, and to qualify as a team, we need to be in the top three. On the one hand, yes, I should be and I am proud of our fourth place finish, but ask any Olympian who just missed the bronze medal how they feel, and although we are not competing on the same scale, I think the feelings are relatable. Just missed! 

As far as I am concerned, I need to do better and I’m going to be thinking about this just about every day until we’re here again. At that point, I will once again be measuring our performances and evaluating myself. I will continue to strive to be a better coach to move this team forward and higher up the ladder. They deserve this, the program deserves this, and this is what I expect from myself. For now however, we are going to go to the Barry County Championships on Monday with the state qualifiers possibly backing off a bit, but still with the idea of gettin’ after it as a team. Then we will look toward next Saturday and prepare the best we can to make the most of our opportunity at the state meet. 

I have the privilege of coaching outstanding individuals and collectively they are a wonderful team, and I am incredibly proud of them. Not only am I proud of all the girls that ran today, but of all of the girls that were there to show unwavering support as well.


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