Niles’ Krueger sets new school record; Otsego sweeps Wolverine titles

Published 7:20 pm Wednesday, October 18, 2023

By Scott Novak

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NILES — There are few certainties these days. One of them is the Otsego cross country programs winning the Wolverine Conference championships.

The Bulldogs once again swept the titles at Madeline Bertrand Park Tuesday. For the Otsego girls’ team, it was its 11th consecutive championship, while for the boys’ team it was its ninth straight crown.

Normally, that would be the big news coming out of the final conference meet of the 2023 season. But not on this day. The biggest news was Niles senior Aiden Krueger breaking the all-time school record, which was previously held by Dave Crouch.

Krueger, who earlier set a new school record for chip timing with his run of 15:55 at the Berrien County Meet. On his home course Tuesday, Krueger smashed that record, and bettered Crouch’s 33-year-old hand-timed record of 15:43 when he ran a 15:41 to finish second overall.

“He smashed his record and broke any other record making that a moot point,” said Niles Coach Tony Todd. “He’s not done yet. He is done playing tennis. He’s going to go from 50 to 60 miles down to about 30 miles, and we are starting speed work for the next 10 days before regionals. He is going to be fully rested from tennis. I think he can run faster.”

Otsego, led by individual champion Caleb Wesseldyk (15:38) finished with 36 points to outdistance runner-up Plainwell, which finished with 44 points. Edwardsburg finished third with 105 points and Niles seventh with 145 points.

Edwardsburg’s Dane Bailey finished seventh overall with a time of 16:16.

The Bulldogs, led by individual champion Logan Brazee (18:07) finished with 21 points. Sturgis was a distant runner-up with 88 points. A short-handed Niles team finished sixth with 129 points, while Edwardsburg did not have enough runners to post a team score.

Charlie Drew led the Vikings with an 11th place finish and a time of 19:44.

Macy Andress was the top Eddies’ finisher as she placed 20th with a time of 20:49.

“I would have liked to place in the top four, but realistically I knew it would be tough as we were missing our No. 4 runner last night due to knee surgery,” said Niles Coach Jami Roden. “The team ran well and almost every single girl had a career PR. Charlie Drew was the only Niles girl to make all-conference last night. She placed 11th overall. Charlie ran a great race and PR’d with a time of 19:44. She’s been working hard to run under 20, and this is where we wanted her heading into the regionals next Saturday (Oct. 28).

 

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