MONTAGUE — The Whitehall boys' team continued its excellent start to the West Michigan Conference Lakes season Tuesday by earning first place in the Montague jamboree, outdistancing Fremont 36-49.
Junior Bobby Jazwinski, of course, dominated again for the Vikings, winning the race by over a minute and posting a time of 16:14.1. Hunter Parsons and Rex Pumford, though, boosted Whitehall even further by each moving up a spot in the standings from last week.
Parsons placed third with a time of 17:19.6, edging out Oakridge's Bryce Falbe at the line, and Pumford was sixth in a time of 17:27.5, coming in less than a half-second behind Fremont's Isaac Romero.
Parsons said he would love to see Jazwinski, himself and Pumford earn the top three spots before the conference season is over.
"I love my team so much," Parsons said. "I want to go 1-2-3 at some point in all these races, and I think that day might come."
Prior to Jazwinski's transferring in, Parsons had been lined up to be the Vikes' top runner this year, but he's enjoyed holding down the No. 2 position and has been impressed with the now school-record holder going back to middle school.
"He's had a lot of training ever since middle school," Parsons said of Jazwinski. "I think the first time he got in the 17(-minute) range was in seventh grade or something. He was impressive. His family has (had) a long time of athletic success, so it's not surprising with all the conditioning he's gone through that he's as good as he is."
Parsons said Montague's is one of his favorite courses, especially the woods area, and with warm, dry temperatures, the ground was nearly ideal for running. He kept pace with Gabe Grierson of Ludington, the second-place runner, until the final mile and still ended up just over a second behind him.
"Pretty much right off the bat, I felt like challenging," Parsons said. "The whole time, I felt like I was really pressing, especially on that back section, which is all downhill."
The Vikings' final two scorers were Justin Jensen, who was 13th (18:35.3), and Ian Dennis in 15th (18:49.4). With a bona fide top runner leading the way and a consistent corps of good scorers providing support, the team is hopeful of potentially earning a spot at the state meet this year.
"It's very possible," Parsons said. "Last year, we were one place, team-wise, behind qualifying for state, behind Fremont. This year, we've been doing a bit better than Fremont, and it's probable that we'll get them at the regional. Whether it'll be enough for state, I don't know. As long as we keep putting in the work for the rest of the season, we'll probably get it."
Montague's boys finished in fourth place, led by a pair of top-10 finishers. Gibson Smith placed ninth in a time of 18:16.9, and Nolan Kessler was 10th in 18:25.8. Brock Hunter added a 23rd-place finish (19:17.1), and Matthew Leatherman was 27th (19:58.2). Wesley Mair rounded out the scoring in 31st (20:43.8).
Whitehall finished fourth in the girls' race, with Montague in sixth. The Vikes' Reese Hesse was the top local finisher, just missing the top 10 in 11th place (23:20.8). The next three Whitehall runners finished consecutively; Ella Nicholson (26:25.8), Kassidy Parmley (26:31.4) and Ryanne Ellsworth (26:35.8) occupied the 22nd through 24th positions. Kassie Sapp was 29th (27:34.2).
Montague's top finisher was Erica Hansen, in 25th place (26:52.6). Also scoring for the 'Cats were Carmen Howard (32nd, 28:33.5), Carlee Gillis (34th, 29:29.1), Peyton Sweet (43rd, 32:52.1) and Willa Van Loon (50th, 37:56.0).
