The Grand Ledge Girls  Varsity Cross Country team finished 7^th  in the 40 school field at the  Greater Lansing Cross Country Championship at Ledge Meadows Golf Course.  The Comets were hoping for a better overall team finish but still showed some improvement with three seasonal best times (Grace Buckland (10), Courtney Hughes (11), Kelsey Kehren(11) and one lifetime personal best time from senior Ainsley Vanderlaan. 

“Overall we ran decent today but we really needed to be great.  The schools that beat us today really ran great races,” said Coach Fred Hutchinson. "

The Comets had all seven runners in the top 50 early on but slid backwards as the race progressed.  “While I’m sure the girls are a little frustrated with their performance, it was certainly an improvement over our poor race the previous weekend.  We have two more big meets this year and we are at least trending in the right direction now.” Hutchinson said. 

The Comets were led by Grace Buckland who ran what her coach believed to be arguably her best race ever.  Buckland was 8th out of 235 runners with time of 19:05 on the soggy course.  Courtney Hughes was the second Comet to cross the line in 38^th place followed closely in 41^st place by sophomore Ella Baryo.  Junior Megan Schafer was the fourth finisher for GL with a 61^st place finish and the Comet scoring was rounded out by senior Ainsley Vanderlaan who finished in 70^th.  Close behind Vanderlaan were sophomore Ashley Witham in 72^nd and junior Kelsey Kehren in 75^th place. 

The Comets will compete on Thursday Oct 18 in the CAAC Championship also held at Ledge Meadows.