By BUTCH HARMON
The Rockford girls cross country team is picking up where it left off last season, which is as one of the top Division 1 cross country teams in the state.
Last season, the Rams captured the regional championship and finished third at the state meet. While it’s too early to tell is the Rams will enjoy that kind of success this season, they are on course for another strong finish.
“We’re not quite at that level right now,” Rockford coach Ben Watson said. “We definitely have a chance to finish in single digits at the state meet, but I’m not sure how much we can improve to get to the top three.”
Finishing in the top three at the conference meet will also be an accomplishment, as the O-K Red conference is loaded with high-caliber girls cross country teams.
“There is a lot of tough competition in the O-K Red,” Watson said. “You have Hudsonville, Grand Haven, Grandville, and Rockford, who are all ranked in the top ten in the state. We certainly have our work cut out for us.”
Leading the way for the Rams is senior Tara Manett, who posted a time of 17:56 and finished fourth overall as an individual at the rugged Spartan Invitational at Michigan State University September 16. Fellow senior Jane Hawks also turned in a solid effort at the Spartan Invitational, turning in a time of 19:22 and placing 38th overall.
“That was both season-best times for them,” Watson said. “We ran pretty well as a team. All seven of our girls ran their best time of the season.”
As a team, Rockford finished tenth out of 35 teams in the Elite Division at the Spartan Invitational.
“We’re improving,” Watson said. “We just keep getting better and going in the right direction. I’m pretty happy with how we are improving. We just have to keep getting better every week.”
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