Connell was far and away the best freshman boy during last year’s cross campaign
He was the only 9th grader to break 16:00, and by the ratings, was at least 40 seconds better on average than anyone else in his grade
That resulted in some accomplishments as well, an All-State performance at MIS (coupled with Chelsea’s 4th place finish as a team)
Making this all the more impressive, I know he was battling some nasal issues late in the season that needed correction… very tough
The accomplishments continued into track, as he doubled at the State Meet and medaled in both the 1600m and 3200m
And to the shock of no one, he had the fastest 1600m time of any freshman
He comes into this sport as an accomplished mountain biker, and I’m sure the fearless attitude those bikers display is an advantage on the cross course
Ottawa Hills always has a girl, whether it be Madison Ebright, Adit Dau, or now Selma Anderson
Selma had a solid middle school career with quite a few sub-13 races, along with a few mid-19 5k’s to her name
But nothing would’ve have foretold the massive drop between 8th and 9th grades
She dropped her 5k best from 19:27 to 18:24 and ran quite a few mid-18 races to prove that was no fluke
Ottawa Hills runs a very light schedule, but they tend to race very well when it matters – so did Selma with no subpar races in the mix
4th at Regionals, 2nd at OK Gold, and 27th at D1 State
Although she didn’t qualify for State in track, she was able to drop time (most notably 11:02 in the 3200m) that almost ensures an uptick in her cross country performances
