On Saturday, September 14, the JV teams for the Red Hawks competed in the Sparta Invitational held at Fruit Ridge Hayrides.  

On the boys side of things, six members competed in the Blue Varsity race and the team placed 7th out of 10 varsity teams.  Gabe White (13th) had his breakout race with a time of 17:59, breaking into the 17s for the time time. Clayton Akerman (30th) had a personal best by 45 seconds with a time of 18:45 and Cayden Steinebach (33rd) had a season best of 18:49. Justin Voskuil (19:59, 49th) and Caleb Menefee (19:59, 50th) both broke into the 19s for the first time this season. Eli Malon round out the Blue Varsity race action for the Red Hawks with a time of 21:09 placing 54th.

All six of the boys who ran in the Blue Reserve race each had season bests. This team placed 7th out of 8 teams. Ben Mallory (35th) had a 52 second personal best time finishing at 20:08. Gabe Minnich (41st) ran his best race of the season in a time of 20:18. Logan Douglas (61st) finished in a time of 21:04. Connor Skelonc (63rd) finished with a 26 second PR at 21:06. Jonathan Reed (120th) had a 31 second PR coming in at 23:16 and Matthew McQueen (130th) ran nearly a minute faster than his first race with a new PR of 23:38.  

“Every one of our JV runners ran their best races of the season at Sparta. This was a really fun course, and it was exciting to watch these guys clip some fast splits. Our JV squad beat quite a few varsity teams as well. The future of our program is bright, and our community should be very proud of the way these boys competed,” said Coach Justin Jones.  

The girls team ran in the Blue Reserve race but only had four girls run which was not enough to score as a team; however, each girl running had either a season best or a lifetime personal best. Madison Golliver ran her season best of 25:12 coming in 21^st; Cloe Shoffner ran her lifetime PR of 25:38 placing 23^rd; Izzy Smith moved up as the race went on and finished strong in a time of 30:02 placing 57^th; and Rachel Gallup, who has not ran since her freshman year, ran a season best of 31:10, placing 62nd.  

“The weather was wonderful and the course was flat and fast but extra mud from the rain the day before didn’t help much in some spots. It was a good and fun race for them though,” said Coach Melinda Stressman.  

The Red Hawks will compete at home in the Red Hawk Invitational this Saturday, September 21.  

Left: junior Alex Robinson
Right: freshman Dane Conely

The Cedar Springs varsity boy’s tennis team began their new season by traveling to Sparta on August 19, for the Sparta Invitational.

The Red Hawk singles and doubles tennis players competed against Sparta, Coopersville and Fremont, which ended in a third place finish for the team.

This year’s tennis team consists of 12 players and is coached by Katie Unsworth and assistant coach Mike Gariepy. Returning players from last season are seniors Ethan Brown and Blake Fisk; juniors Jon Baculy, Karsen Dingman, Drew French, Dylan Kolasa, Jared Liggett, Austin Nielson, and Tim Shovan; and sophomore Nick Hibbs. New to the team this year is junior Alex Robinson, and freshman Dane Conely.

“We have a very solid team this year and all the boys are playing well,” said Coach Unsworth. “It should be another great season for varsity boys tennis.”

The Lady Red Hawks tennis team won the Sparta invitational by the score of Cedar Springs 13, Sparta 8, Fremont 5, and G.R. Union 2.

In OK Bronze conference play, Cedar Springs won one over Greenville, tied with West Catholic, and lost to Forest Hills Eastern, Forest Hills Northern, and Northview.

In regional competition, Cedar Springs had four players advance to the second round: #2 double Kellsie Rypma and Jordan Ackerman; #3 singles Katie Schumann; and #4 singles Rebecca Williams.

Competing in singles for the Red Hawks this year was #1 Shannon Leal; #2 Megan Brunett; #3 Katie Schumann; and #4 Rebecca Williams. Competing in doubles play was #1 Emma Schut and Julie Schut; #2 Kellsie Rypma and Jordan Ackerman; #3 Kat Scrivner and Jessica Brunett; and #4 Anna Behrenwald and Mariah Rios.

The Red Hawks graduated two seniors this year, Shannon Leal and Megan Brunett.

The Varsity girls tennis team won the Sparta Invitational on Saturday, April 19th. The final team scores were: Cedar Springs 13, Sparta 9, Fremont 8, and Grand Rapids Union 2.

All four singles players for the Red Hawks brought home first place medals: Shannon Leal (#1), Megan Burnett (#2), Katie Schumann (#3), and Rebecca Williams (#4).

The #1 doubles team of Julie Schut and Emma Schut also were winners for Cedar Springs.

The Varsity girls will be in action on Thursday, May 8th at Northview High School at 4:15 and at the OK Bronze conference tournament on Saturday, May 10 at Forest Hills Northern High School at 9:00 a.m.