Gantt earns All-State honors

Published 7:39 pm Monday, November 7, 2011

Dowagiac’s Chris Gantt earned Division 3 All-State honors with his 29th place finish Saturday. (Daily News Photo/File)

When Dowagiac senior Chris Gantt crossed the finish line at the MHSAA LP Cross Country Finals he capped a brilliant career at Dowagiac.

Gantt earned a 29th place finish at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn with a time of 16:35, which equaled his personal best.

By finishing in the top 30, he earned both a medal and All-State honors.

The Dowagiac standout was seeded 38th out of the 244 runners who competed in the Division 3 race.

“He came through with his best race of the year tying his personal record,” Dowagiac coach Ken Jordan said. “Fantastic. We’re very happy for Chris, his family and the program. It’s very difficult to have your best performance at that level of competition and Chris did it.

It really was a fitting culmination to a fine cross country career. He really showed much of what made him a competitive cross country athlete for Dowagiac during this race.”

It was Gantt’s second straight trip to the state finals.

But there came a point a little over a year ago when it looked as if he would never have a chance to compete in cross country at all.

The program itself was nearly cut, but thanks to the efforts of former Dowagiac Athletic Director Scott Lawler and the generosity of Martha Hassle and the support of the cross country parents, the Chieftains were able to keep the cross country team.

“We were concerned that Chris could not get an opportunity to earn this honor for himself and the community,” Jordan said. “Through the hard work of our supporters, Scott Lawler and the parents, especially Martha Hassle, our program was restored and for this we are very thankful.”

Gantt also run track for the Chieftains and Jordan is looking forward to a big spring from his senior standout.