The Advance Newspapers Grant Lofdahl, who doubles as first year coach of the Allendale Cross Country Programs, names the Grand Rapids all area boys and girls teams.

Congratulations to Pat Cassidy from Flushing on being named the Flint Area runner of the year. The article has a nice history of his involvement in the sport and this great quote:

“I was new to Flushing my sophomore year. I was home-schooled my freshman year. I knew kids, hung out with them and things like that. It also gave me a chance to meet more people. Because of cross country, I’ve met people I didn’t know beforehand. It’s the social aspect, the acknowledgment of your accomplishments that sort of pulled me in. I was new, but I wanted people to know me.”

That pretty much sums up my cross country experience over the years as well.

On the girls side, Freshman Gabrielle Anzalone from Grand Blanc with a sub-18:00 effort leads the girls all area team as the runner of the year.