The Ionia Boys’ Cross Country Team competed Saturday against all 39 high schools in mid-Michigan at the Greater Lansing Championships at Ledge Meadows Golf Club in Grand Ledge.  Ionia exceeded their seeding with a 17th-place finish that was a solid effort considering 4 of the 7 Bulldogs were competing in this big meet for the first time.  Personal bests were hard to come by on the hilly course under cold and windy conditions.  Junior Jacob Montgomery led the way for Ionia earning prestigious top-30 honors with his 16th-place finish out of 242 competitors in a time of 16:58.  He was followed by classmate Ellis Yokom who steadily gained spots throughout the last two miles and finished in 41st place in 17:28.  Junior Tysons Evans was the third Bulldog harrier across the line, placing 119th in 18:49.  Competing at Greater Lansing for the first time were juniors Lincoln Denis (139th in 19:08) and Alex Bushee (143rd in 19:14) as well as freshman Jaxxon Thelen (162nd in 19:39) and Dalles Bailiff (178th in 20:14).  

Greater Lansing was also used as a substitute CAAC White league jamboree since the Sept. 20 jamboree had to be canceled due to thunderstorms.  Scoring the meet with just their league rivals resulted in a 2nd-place finish for Ionia with 57 points, behind league-leader Eaton Rapids which had 39. Places in the league results were Montomery (2nd), Yokom (5th), Evans (12th), Denis (18th), Bushee (20th), Thelen (24th), and Bailiff (28th).  

The Bulldogs will host the final CAAC Jamboree on Thursday.  This meet combined with the previous two will determine the final team standings as well as individual all-league accolades.