Montague's boys cross-country team put its best feet forward Saturday at the Division 3 regionals in Allendale, turning in five personal best scoring runs to qualify for the state meet.
The Wildcats scored 107 points, five better than NorthPointe Christian, to finish third and pick up the last automatic state qualification.
Two top-10 finishers led the Wildcats' brigade of personal bests. Nolan Kessler took fifth place in a time of 16:38.5, and Gibson Smith was close behind in seventh place, with a time of 16:52.2; Smith was barely edged out for sixth by Lakeview's Cooper Tiffany.
Brock Hunter was the third Wildcat to cross the finish line, posting a time of 17:45.3 to finish in 29th. Wesley Mair took 31st and had a time of 17:48.1. Closing out the scoring was Matthew Leatherman, who finished 35th in a time of 17:56.3.
The Montague girls' team finished in 14th place. Erica Hansen was the team's top scorer, placing 55th in a time of 24:03.99. Carmen Howard was 64th and had a time of 24:51.4. Carlee Gillis set a new personal best time of 25:37.8, finishing 71st.
Willa Van Loon and Arianna Mueller finished back to back to close out Wildcat scoring and each set new personal bests. Van Loon was 80th (26:50.6) and Mueller was 81st (27:01.0).
