The EGR Boys Cross Country team wrapped up their season this past weekend at Michigan International Speedway for the state finals. Led by Evan Bishop ‘20, Andrew Periard ‘19, and Joe Meston ‘18, the boys managed to take 18th place in the Division One race.

The previous week the boys earned their spot at the state finals with a third place finish at the Allendale Regional meet. The team was led by Meston, Bishop, and Periard. Allendale could have been the last race for the seniors because qualifying for states in Division One is significantly harder than in Division Two.

“It made us shoot high and set our expectations higher,” Jonathan Yepez ’18 said.

The boys trained harder than they ever have before, earning them the spot at states.

“Moving to D1 made us a better team; we were up to the challenge as soon as we heard the news,” Yepez said.

The challenge definitely pushed the boys to faster times, with 5 new times on the top 20 record board this season alone. Bishop earned the top spot on the record board at Allendale with a time of 16:03.

“This season we took a new approach in training. We have a very talented top group which allowed us to run as a pack and get through workouts together,” Bishop said.

The underclassmen this year are looking to improve their times even more from this past season, and will continue the Division One aggressiveness and competitiveness in seasons to come.