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Coldwater's Yearling and Omar qualify for XC state finals; boys finish 10th, girls 12th

troy tennyson, coldwater daily reporter
·4 min read
Coldwater's Lainey Yearling (left) and Haroon Omar (right) both qualified for the MHSAA State Finals with their efforts at Saturday's Regional competition.
Coldwater's Lainey Yearling (left) and Haroon Omar (right) both qualified for the MHSAA State Finals with their efforts at Saturday's Regional competition.

BANGOR, MI. — The Coldwater Cardinal cross country team made the long trip to Bangor on Saturday looking for some postseason glory as they competed in the MHSAA Division Two Regional 13 meet.

When all was said and done two Cardinals managed to keep their season alive for one more week, as the duo of Haroon Omar and Lainey Yearling punched their respective tickets to the MHSAA State Finals to be held this coming Saturday at Michigan International Speedway (MIS).

In the women’s portion of the event the Cardinals finished in twelfth place overall, finishing with a score of 311 points. Otsego brought home yet another regional title, winning with a score of 29 points after taking the top two spots in the individual race and four of the top seven. Otsego was followed by St. Joseph in second place with 45 points and Vicksburg in third place with 126 points.

Coldwater was led by Yearling, a sophomore, who earned her first trip to the MHSAA State Finals thanks to her seventeenth place finish in the race. Yearling traversed the 3.1 mile course at Bangor High School in a time of 20 minutes, 42.08 seconds to punch her state finals ticket.

Also running well for Coldwater at the regional competition was sophomore Abigail Robison who finished in sixty-sixth place in a time of 24 minutes, 12.97; senior Macy Stout who finished in seventy-eighth place in a time of 27 minutes, 36.93 seconds; junior Taylor West who finished in seventy-ninth place in a time of 27 minutes, 52.68 seconds; and senior Heidi Katz who finished in eighty-second place in a time of 30 minutes, 6.22 seconds.

Taking home the individual regional title was Otsego freshman Emma Hoffman who finished with the gold medal in a time of 18 minutes, 38.89 seconds. Hoffman was followed closely by junior teammate Logan Brazee who finished with runner-up honors in a time of 18 minutes, 45.47 seconds.

In the men’s side of the meet it was Otsego making it a sweep for the Bulldogs, winning the regional title with a score of just 28 points. The Otsego team was dominant, sweeping the top three spots overall and another in the top 10. The team from St. Joseph finished in second place with a score of 119 points while Plainwell finished in third place with 121 points.

The Coldwater Cardinals finished in tenth place in the team standings, finishing the day with a score of 289 points.

Leading the way for Coldwater was senior Haroon Omar who qualified for the MHSAA State Finals with a twelfth place finish, his first trip to the state finals competition. Omar finished inside the medals in a solid time of 17 minutes, 15.91 seconds.

Also running well for Coldwater at the regional event was junior James DeWitt who finished in forty-fifth place in a time of 18 minutes, 50.36 seconds; freshman Aiden Parker who finished in seventy-first place in a time of 20 minutes, 29.70 seconds; junior Ethan Parker in seventy-fifth place in a time of 20 minutes, 47.03 seconds; sophomore Hunter Barnett who finished in eighty-sixth place in a time of 22 minutes, 34.13 seconds; senior Skiler Horn who crossed the line in ninety-fourth place in a time of 23 minutes, 49.62 seconds; and sophomore Kazzier Lindblom who finished in ninety-ninth place in a time of 26 minutes, 31.38 seconds.

Taking home the individual regional championship was Otsego senior Colin Wesseldyk who finished in first place with a time of 16 minutes, 19.79 seconds, followed by senior teammate Pierce Bentley who took runner-up honors in a time of 16 minutes, 25.09 seconds.

Yearling and Omar will now advance on to the MHSAA State Finals to be held at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) this Saturday, with the boys race taking place at 1:30 p.m., followed by the girls at 2:50 p.m. The first race will take place at 9:30 a.m. with the Division Four boys race, followed by Division Three boys at 10:10, Division Four girls at 10:50 a.m., and Division Three girls at 11:30 a.m., with awards for the first two divisions taking place at 12:15 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater Cross Country sees two qualify for state finals