Raider Cross Country Season off to Strong Start

The Portland Boys and Girls cross country season has begun and the team has demonstrated grit and hard work during this week, which included two meets, late nights and grueling hot temps. The hard work of all has already paid off and the future of the season is bright for each team. Their first preseason meet was at Lansing Catholic's course at the St Francis Retreat Center where each athlete ran a short 2-mile course. After this meet, the season officially started and the team was prepped and ready for their traditional 5K (3.1 mile) races.

The Portland Girls and Boys kicked off their Cross-Country season at the Grand Rapids South Christian ‘2024 Under the Lights Invite” Friday 8/23.

The Girls ran first at 10:25pm and their team finished 6th out of 18 Teams. Placing in the top 50 and earning medals were Avery Wezensky (SR) placing 8TH out of 222 runners with a time of 21:04, along with Paige Weber (SO) placing 38TH with a time of 22:23 in her first race with the team. Rounding out the scoring was freshman Karagan Calley at 23:43, Josephine Polasek (SO) with a PR (over a minute) of 23:43 and Lauren Spitzley (SO) at 24:27. Also running great that night and finishing strong were Ana Heath (SR), Claire Lyon (JR), Izzy Fedewa (FR), Veda Smith (JR), Willa Almy (JR), Abby Seavey (JR), Peyton Rockey (SO) and Brynn Nelson (JR).

The Boys were next to run at 11:15pm and they also had a great TEAM result finishing 6th out of 20 teams.  In this race the boys had 4 that brought home medals for placing in the top 50.  Owen Moore (JR) placed 9TH out of 230 runners with a time of 16:58, which was a PR by 32 seconds. Next was Andrew Feldpausch (JR) placing 14TH at 17:14 with a PR by 20 seconds. The two new freshmen came out strong with impressive finishes, Liam DeWitt (FR) placing 32ND at 17:49 and Donnie Richmond (FR) placing 40TH at 18:05.  Rounding out the scoring with a solid run was Tanner McNair at 20:34.

For their second meet, the Boys and Girls cross country teams participated in the Saranac Invitational on Wednesday 8/28, which included 11 teams in the Division 1 and 2 heat. The Boys were up first in the late afternoon race. They were paced by Andrew Feldpausch (JR) who medaled and ran a PR of 17:06 and finished 12TH out of 96 runners. Liam DeWitt (FR) came in next with a great time 18:03, followed by Owen Moore (JR) 18:17 and Donnie Richmond (FR) at 18:34. Another solid TEAM performance, so it will be exciting to see this team grow.

The Girls team took on the challenging course next. Leading the way was Senior Avery Wezensky who finished 18TH out of 93 runners, earning her second straight medal of the season. Up next was Paige Weber (SO) with a time of 23:37, followed by Josephine Polasek (SO) 24:22, Karagan Calley (FR) 25:27, and Lauren Spitzley (SO) 25:47. Also finishing strong this race was Anna Heath (SR), Claire Lyon (JR), Veda Smith (JR), Izzy Fedewa (FR), Abby Seavy (SO), Willa Almy (JR), Brynn Nelson (JR) and Peyton Rocky (SO).

Courtesy photos.