The competition was stiff as 41 teams throughout Oakland County brought their best seven runners to battle it out at the Oakland County Cross Country Championships at Kensington Metropark on Saturday, Oct. 9.
The Wildcats were represented well, as the girls finished third overall, which was the highest finish ever for a Oxford girls cross country team according to head coach Ray Sutherland.
The boys came in 12th.
Oxford was only two points behind Rochester Stoney Creek for second place. Stoney Creek finished with 194 points to Oxford’s 196. Troy won the event with 173 points.
‘The girls were the big surprise and really put together a great run,? Sutherland said.
Sophomore Brooke Kovacic took home fifth place overall with her time of 18:59 while junior Brittany Johnson was 33rd (20:56) and junior Chelsea Johnson was 36th (21:06).
Freshman Alora McCoy finished in 56th place with a 21:36 and sophomore Abby Wrobel was 66th with a 21:45.
On the boy’s side, senior Dylan Smith was all Oakland County with his 24th place finish in 17:05. Sophomore Ryan Gillespie finished 44th, missing all Oakland County by 14 spots.
‘He was only thirty seconds behind, which goes to show how tough the competition was,? Sutherland said.
Senior Captain Curtis Kocher finished with an 18:08, followed by freshman Noah Jenkins and junior Alec Smith with an 18:31.
?12th out of 41 is not bad at all,? Sutherland added.