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Boys/Girls Varsity Cross Country
Game Summaries & Headlines.
Boys/Girls Varsity Cross Country @ Shepherd Invite
4.0 months ago @ 7:07AM
- Game Date
- Sep 27, 2025
The cross country teams raised some dust in the heat of the Shepherd Invitational on Saturday, September 28. Racing began at 9 AM and new ones started every half hour for varsity and JV races, and every 20 minutes for middle school and elementary races until everything wrapped up at about 5. Kalkaska raced in the Gold division of 27 schools, which was won by the Pewamo-Westphalia girls and Howard City Tri-County boys. Alyssa Kramer of Pewamo-Westphalia won the girl's race in 19:03.8 and Owen Poppema of Bath won the boy's race in 16:11.9.
Aaliyah Hillier led the girl's team to a 10th place finish of 20 scoring teams, with a time of 20:55.2 and a 13th place finish for a medal. Izzy Wegener also earned a medal for finishing 37th, and scored for the Blazers along with Courtney Borden, Anna Martin, and Paige Balliet who ran a PR. Payton Bonofiglio and Lilly Trumble also placed for the Blazers.
Owen McGlone led the Blazer boys, finishing in 18:04.1 for a 39th place medal. Coltrane Paryani, Seth Storm, Kellen TenHopen, and Matt Cox also scored for the Blazers, and Zach Little and Afton Staley placed. The boys placed 12th of 22 scoring teams.
Mason Doerhing led the Blazer boys in the combined Blue/Gold division of the JV race, running his second best time of the season, placing 77th in 22:28.6. Owen Shetler, Brandon Martin, and Brayden Vanderloop also competed.
Three middle school girls ran, led by Gwen Finley, who placed 54th in 15:31.9. Ryane Gilbert and McKenna Jenkins also put out solid runs.
J.J. Fox led the KMS boys to a 5th place finish among the 17 scoring teams in the small school division of the middle school races, shaving a sliver off of his PR to finish 5th in 11:34.8. James Martin and Griffin Anderson won medals for finishing in 24th and 25th places respectively, and Nick Wegener, and Ben Borden also scored. Borden and Sam Belongia ran PRs.
Complete results can be found here: Shepherd Invitational
Some of the team enjoyed a meal at Dog Central after the race, but Coach and Mason were disappointed to find Comic Culture was closed. Website said it was open until 6, and we were there by 5:45. Either spot is worth a visit if you should find yourself in the Mt Pleasant area.
The Blazers will race again on Wednesday, October 4 on the plains of Mancelona!