In a preview of what promises to be a battle royale at the Division 3 state finals meet in November, Hart's boys team finished a close second to Hanover-Horton Saturday in the Division 3 race at the massive Portage Invitational.
The Pirates, ranked No. 3 in the state by MichiganCrossCountry.com, defeated No. 2 Lansing Catholic for the runner-up spot in the race behind top-ranked Hanover-Horton. The top three scores were 134, 146 and 174.
Hart coach Calvin Ackley said 12 of the top 15 ranked teams in D-3 competed in the race, giving it a state finals feel. In all, 39 schools had team scores and 431 runners competed.
The Pirates had three finishers in the top 30 and three runners set personal best times. Silas Ackley led the team in 22nd place, finishing in a time of 16:25.2, and Timothy Wolff followed close behind in 23rd place (16:27.8). Trevor Vander Kodde finished 28th and set a new personal best time of 16:37.0.
Owen VanderVlucht also set a PR of 16:41.5 and finished 36th. Hart's last three finishers came in consecutively: Alex Schiller in 39th (a personal best of 16:42.3), Carson Ackley in 40th (16:44.2) and Aiden Schaner in 41st (a personal best of 16:47.3).
In a similarly competitive girls race, Hart placed eighth in a 36-team field. Natalie Rosema led the team with a 23rd-place finish and posted a time of 20:17.9. Alaina Schaner placed 31st (20:45.4) and Bryn Riley was 43rd (21:02.7). Luisa VanderZwaag was 55th (21:24.5) and Emma Miller placed 77th (21:53.1) to close out the team scoring.
