Boys cross country

NATHAN MEGGE

GRAND LEDGE junior

All-state in two sports: After earning all-state in the 800-meter run at the Division 1 state track and field meet in June, Megge decided to run cross country this fall rather than compete for starting quarterback on the football team. Megge finished 10th at the Greater Lansing meet, second in the CAAC Blue meet, third at the Portage regional, and then 23rd in the Division 1 final on Saturday to earn all-state with a personal-best 5K time of 15:43.

From coach Tim Hoshal: “He made an awfully difficult mature decision to run cross country, and he embraced and loved the hard work. And he had a lot of work to do, because — even though he’s a gifted athlete — this was his first year in cross country. He became a really good 5K runner, and his times kept getting lower. He’s so goal-oriented that he knew statistically what it would take to be all-state, he had his eye on that, and then he did it.”