St. Louis girls’ varsity cross country had an excellent finish to its season Saturday, Nov. 7, at the MHSAA Division Three State Championships held at Michigan International Speedway. The girls performed exceptionally well to finish highest in program history with a fourth-place finish out of 27 teams.

St. Louis finished with 195 points to secure fourth-place. Grandville Calvin Christian was third with 121, Ithaca was runner-up with 114, and Hart was the champion with an impressive 59. First for the Sharks, and earning All-State honors, was junior Mikenna Borie in 13th place overall with a 19:221.38 finish. Also earning All-State for the Sharks for the third year in a row was junior Libby Munderloh in 24th place with a time of 20:02.54. Next was freshman Jaiden Dickman in 70th place with a time of 21:03.62, freshman Monika Borie in 78th in 21:08.23, junior Sela Degado in 112th place in 21:38.46, sophomore Laney Pestrue in 131st with a 21:58.61 finish, and senior Mikaila Borie in 185th place with a 22:56.25.

Mikenna Borie said, “The course conditions were amazing compared to previous years, which led to a lot of people having a good race. There were no spectators, which made it a little difficult, but the boys’ team being out there cheering us on made up for it. I’m very proud of both the boys’ and girls’ teams this year!”

Monika Borie was the sole Shark to run a personal record (PR) at the State meet. She improved her best by 20 seconds to help the team tremendously. She shared, “I had a great day, and I’m glad I was able to help out the team. I’m really proud of this group, and I’m excited for the future.”

With only one senior graduating and half of the varsity squad consisting of underclassmen, the girls’ team has a very bright future. This is exciting considering they were already a top-five team this season.

The team had fantastic performances all around to earn fourth place. Though the season is over, this meet was an experience that the team will never forget. Coach Jay Puffpaff shared, “Fourth place is an amazing accomplishment and is the highest placing finish in program history. Anytime you can do something that has never been achieved before is special. This group battled all year long, never giving up on each other. I’m proud of the way this group competed on the day!”