August 25, 2008
Boys 3rd- Girls 4th at Kenowa Hills Invitational.
The boys and girls teams competed at the Kenowa Hills Invitational this morning on a new course at English Hills "Country Club." The course looked great and we hope to run there more often in the future. The newcomers ran well as did a few of the elder statesmen/women of the team. Meredith Busman is the first newcomer to mention as she ran an impressive first race time of 22:14. Katie Allers led the girls with a time of 22:05. She will have a nice article in the Press courtsey of Jeff Chaney in the near future:) The boys team was led by newcomer Connor St. John who is taking on the arduous task of attempting to run cross country and play soccer this fall. Cameron Hill is another newcomer who was very impressive this moring running third for the boys team. Big things are expected out of both teams this year! Keep up the good work and times will drop!
Sept 3, 2008
The first OK Blue round of double duals were held at Riverside park this afternoon. The Bronco boys and girls were victorious in both races over Belding and Grand Rapids Central. The boys ran a smart race in getting their places and some of the younger boys ran really well for early season races. The girls had some nice young runner performances as well. "Lex" led the group with a huge PR, and she was followed by "Meri", Katie, and Emily. Great job to the girls considering three of four mentioned weren't on the team last year! Keep up the great work and expect great things from yourself!
Sept. 7, 2008
It's so great to coach kids who are not only talented but intelligent. Read the following article about our own Katie Allers:
Coopersville's Allers distances herself from siblings - literally
Katie Allers doesn't want to follow in the footsteps of her older brothers and sister, she wants to establish her own.
Allers, a senior on the Coopersville girls cross country team, is the younger sister of all-state sprinter Stephanie Allers, and brothers Rob and Tony Allers, also former sprinters for the Broncos.
"They are great role models, they worked hard for what they achieved and it's good to look up to them," Katie Allers said. "And some people expect you to be as good and just like them. Like my sister, I'm not built like her, Mother Nature ran out of inches for me."
But Katie Allers is doing just fine in her distance pursuits, and is considered one of the leaders for a Broncos team that competes in a talented O-K Blue conference.
"It was hard for her to run distance because Stephanie was a sprinter and people expected she would do the same," Coopersville coach Jeremy Annen said. "Katie has the personality to be different, and she really doesn't run in her siblings' shadows, but she has high expectations."
In the Kenowa Hills Invitational, Allers finished in sixth place with a time of 22 minutes, 5 seconds to lead her team.
"Running cross country is different," Katie Allers said. "I did it at first to stay in shape, and ended up being pretty good at it. It's a sport that you don't have to be a great runner, you just need to work hard."
Annen expects a big year for his senior.
"With no basketball in the fall, she wanted to run cross country," Annen said. "She wasn't sure at first, but she turned out to be good at it. She loves it now, but I think she loves it even more because it is different from what everybody else did in the family."
Katie Allers knows there have been expectations out there, especially considering the athletic family she came from.
Her sister was a four-time all-state sprinter and hurdler and then went on to Cornerstone to become an eight-time All American and a NAIA National Champion in the 200 meters for the Golden Eagles.
But Katie Allers still has high expectations for herself.
"I want to break 19 minutes," Katie Allers said. "I'm going to have to work hard for that, but it is realistic."
Send e-mail to the author: sports@grpress.com
Wednesday, September 10
The boys and girls team competed against Comstock Park and West Catholic tonight. The Broncos were victorious against Comstock and fell short against West Catholic. Tonight was a great night for the Broncos in terms of dropping times dramatically. Both teams had strong performances from our leaders to our new runners. Runners continue to work hard and improve their performances. Anticipation is high as we continue to press on and attempt to dramatically drop times over the next six weeks. Great job tonight and lets keep getting faster.
Saturday, September 13
The Broncos ran at the Comstock Park Invite today on a soggy Riverside Park course. We competed well and placed even better! The boys placed second without our fourth runner in the pouring down rain. The girls brought home the championship with some great races! Alexis Yost ran a big Peronal Record and took second overall in the race! Emily Childers and Dayna Smith also ran great races with Emily running a big Personal Record too! The Broncos are in action again on Wednesday at Johnson Park against Cedar and Sparta.
Wednesday, September 17
The boys and girls competed at Cedar Springs because of a washed out Johnson Park. We had high hopes but then when the race was mysteriously delayed as the result of a random spiking, we didn't perform as we wanted to. It was a rough night dropping both races to Sparta and Cedar, whom are talented squads, but we'll be back in the next league meet as well as our other races to make ammends for that performance! Our next race is at Carson City on Saturday, where coach MAY run a 5k as well-- stay tuned!
Saturday, September 27
We visited Carson City for the first time in several years. The course is now a bit different and much nicer than it used to be. Our tent is a bit of a mess but the runners had a pretty good day. Dylan Powers had a nice personal record and so did Jill Sabo. Marcy VandenHeuvel also had her fastest time as a Bronco.
On a sadder note, former cross country runner Catherine Brown passed away Monday morning in a house fire. She will be dearly missed by all.
Wednesday, October 1
The boys and girls ran in Bedling at Lightening Bend Park today. We ran great times but also ran into a great team in FHN. Dayna and Marcy really ran great times both running PR's. Jill also ran a PR again today. The boys were paced by Connor who ran a big PR as did Cameron Hill who had a huge PR as well. Many of the boys ran really fast tonight on the first cool night of the season! Great job to all!
Saturday, October 4
It was Allegan day again. We ran well. We were in the BIG school division so that wasn't so fair but we do what we can. Katie had a big PR and Cameron Hill led our boys on a big race for him. Marcy ran a great race and our two "crazies" (G and Emily) led their races for at least 400 meters:) Good job on a fun day.
Tuesday, October 7
We ran at the Belding Invite for the first time and had some big races! Cameron had a big PR of 17:55 and all of the girls ran fast!! Emily had a huge PR of 22:07 by nearly 40 seconds! Lots of the young boys ran well too along with G and Jim C.! Good job. It was a fun afternoon in Belding.