The Ionia boys’ cross country team took on strong competition at the Cougar-Falcon Invitational at the Gainey Athletic Complex on the campus of Calvin University on Saturday.  The boys finished in 9th place out of 13 teams in the Cougar division.  Jacob Montgomery paced the Bulldogs with a 24th-place finish in 17:12. He was followed closely by Ellis Yokom who covered the course in a season personal-record time of 17:36 to place 37th.  Alex Bushee ran a lifetime pr of 18:51, placing 65th. Tyson Evans was right behind him, placing 68th in 18:58. Lincoln Denis also ran a lifetime pr of 18:58 to place 69th. Jaxxon Thelen rounded out the varsity lineup, placing 85th in a lifetime pr of 20:48.  Five Bulldogs ran in the freshman race and all 5 earned lifetime pr’s.  They were led by Dalles Bailiff in 19:59 to place 45th.  Also earning pr’s were Cadence Denis-Griffith in 21:54, Tony Shattuck in 22:00, Gabe Hollman in 25:23, and Payton Baker in 29:39.  The Bulldogs will travel north to Shepherd for the Blue Jay Invitational on Saturday, October 1st.