Tag Archives: cross country

Potter’s House Christian runner a quick learner to the top

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(From left) Logan Swiney, Lezawe Osterink, Jackson Rodriquez and Ian Palacios after winning the 3,200-meter relay at last spring’s D-4 track and field finals in Hudsonville. (Courtesy)

By Cris Greer, WKTV Managing Editor and Anna Johns, Contributing Writer

Only running competitively since his freshman year, incoming senior Lezawe “Moses” Osterink has racked up some big titles in high school.

Four state titles to be exact running for Wyoming Potter’s House Christian.

Lezawe “Moses” Osterink (far left) stands atop the podium after winning the 1,600-meter run at the D-4 state track and field finals last spring. (Courtesy)

Last spring, the Potter’s House runner was a state champion in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs at the MHSAA Division 4 track and field finals in Hudsonville.

In addition, Osterink was a member of the winning 3,200-meter relay with teammates Ian Palacios, Jackson Rodriguez and Logan Swiney. The Pumas placed third at the track and field finals.

Cross country state champ in D-4

Osterink also won the D-4 boys cross country individual title last fall with a time of 15:50.60 in the 5k race, while the team finished 12th in state.

“Winning state was great,” said Osterink, who was born in Ethiopia and adopted in the United States in 2007. “The first title was definitely more special because I wasn’t able to run at state since freshman year, and to complete a good season and then cap it off with a win was really cool. 

“The track titles were a lot more fun since I was able to win with my teammates and perform better the previous year, but also really go after that team title.” 

Originally, he was supposed to run at the D-4 cross country finals in 2020, but a collarbone injury sidelined him. Luckily, he was able to get back at it the following season and won all 13 races in the fall of 2021 on top of the title.

Peanut butter and honey

“This (injury) definitely was kind of like a spark that motivated me to train even harder than I had previously and want to go achieve the goals I had set for myself,” said Osterink, who eats his favorite peanut butter and honey sandwich almost daily.

Not always a runner

It wasn’t until the summer before his freshmen year that he became interested in the sport. At first he played basketball, but when he learned Potter’s House was starting a cross country team he wanted to join.

The Potter’s House boys track team took first place in its D-4 regional and finished third in the state finals last spring. (Courtesy)

“It really just started out as I’m going to run to stay in shape for basketball to then quitting basketball so I can run more,” said Osterink, who enjoys watching sports and hanging out with friends.



“It’s a unique sport that intrigues me especially for being one of the purest sports, and the fact that there is so much to learn from training to racing and just the mental and competitive battles.

“One of the biggest things that has lured me is the community aspect of running. I have met so many cool people through this sport.”

Interested in running in college, Osterink is undecided on where he’ll attend, but is contemplating studying sports management or business.

Potter’s House runner Lezawe “Moses” Osterink prepares for the 1,600-meter run. (Courtesy)



Potter’s House Athletic Director Kara Haskill said Moses is a tremendous athlete with a humble personality.

“He works hard in school to maintain his 3.8 GPA,” she continued. “He’s a strong leader with a calm disposition.”

“We love having Moses as a part of our community and we’re so proud of all of his accomplishments. He has a bright future ahead of him.”

Taking a deeper look at South Christian’s cross country team

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The 2020 South Christian cross country team is currently ranked third in Region 13. (Supplied)

By Anna Johns
WKTV Intern


It has been a challenging season for both the South Christian boys and girls cross country teams, however; the teams are thriving and both are currently ranked third in Region 13.

“All of our seniors have done a phenomenal job of leading our team and have run faster this year than ever,” said head cross country coach Kori VanderKooi.

The varsity boys cross country team is currently led by seniors Sam Westra, Hendrik Nykamp and Ethan Luurtsema. This is only Luurtsema’s second year and he has a personal record of 17:14.8 in the varsity 5,000 meter run.

This year the boys have been running consistently at times close to 17 minutes and VanderKooi said she would love to see them lower their times. 

The seniors on the South Christian Varsity Boys Cross Country Team have done a phenomenal job this season according to Coach Kori VanderKooi. (Supplied)

“Our girls varsity team has shifted throughout the season, as we have a lot of depth, and a lot of solid, young runners,” VanderKooi said, adding that all of the girls are strong runners, especially sophomore Emily Langerak.

Langerak is the most consistent runner on the team and currently has a time of 20:50.2 in the varsity 5,000 meter run. 

Also on the varsity girls cross country team are senior Moriah Lanning and junior Abby Winkle. Winkle currently has a time of 20:26.8 in the 5,000 meters, making her fastest on the South Christian girls team. 

VanderKooi began coaching in 2011 for the South Christian Middle School Cross Country team and last year she moved up to coaching the varsity team. She had many of the runners on her team at the middle school.

“It’s a unique opportunity to see their development as runners over the span of so many years,” she said.

Recently, the team competed in the Bengal Invitational at Riverside Park on Oct. 9. The boys varsity team competed against nine other area schools and placed 7th. The girls competed against six other teams and scored 140 points. 

Next week, they will be determining the final roster to decide which runners will be heading to districts and regionals. Their next race will be the OK Gold Championships on Oct. 20 at Thornapple Kellogg High School.

COVID’s changes to meets, spectators cannot stop Potter’s House cross country from improvement goals

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Wyoming Potter’s House cross country team after winning the 2019 Regional championship (Courtesy of Paul J. Hart)

By Zach Cantalice, WKTV intern

ken@wktv.org
 

Wyoming’s The Potter’s House Christian High School started their cross country program last year but their success looked like an established program which has been winning for years.

Coach Kristopher Koster led the first-year high school boys’ team to the state finals, where his team made a statement about their arrival. The Potter’s House boy’s team finished 6th overall as a team in all of Division 4.

But this season, like many other sports and teams around the area, cross country is tasked with adjusting to the changes caused by Covid-19, according to coach Koster.

For starters, warmups for events have been cut down to as short as 15 minutes for a race. The limit of competitors has also been cut down to 70 racers. Each school races their top seven runners so this new rule limits 10 teams to a race at a time. Bigger cross country meets are now splitting up meets over a long day or even multiple days to complete the meet.

“Teams now have team boxes their team must stand in at the starting line,” Koster told WKTV. “Each team box has a box or two to separate a team from another team.”

“This trend of separating teams also occurs at the finish line,” he said. “Usually following the race, teams would gather together and have an award ceremony to hand out medals and team awards. COVID-19 has eliminated award ceremonies as medals are handed out as soon as you finish your race. After being handed your award, you are required to immediately go to your team’s bus and leave. Teams are not permitted to even do a cool-off jog on the site of the meet.”

Coach Koster also said that “most meets have no spectators due to the difficulty regulating two guests per runner. If the meet sees a spectator from your team then they will disqualify your team.”

Despite changes, coach and team expects success

Even with all the changes, coach Koster is confident in his team’s ability to have continued success.

The Potter’s House top three boys’ team returners — senior Andrew Blum and sophomores Moses Osterink and Logan Swiney — are expected to be big for this year’s team.

Coach Koster says the there make the team “so much better from last season that it’s almost like we have three guys who maybe aren’t as good as Caleb Stout last year. But it could be. by the end of the year, instead of just having the one guy who consistently finished at the top of races.”

The boys team, overall, has high goals for this season.

“I am confident we can place much higher in states,” another senior, Eli Hart, said to WKTV.

Coach Koster also coaches the girls’ cross country at the high school and the middle school team at the elementary school. The girls’ high school team had one runner, Ester Cole, attend the state finals last year. But the girls hope to attend as a team this season.
 

“Our team goal, the girls want to go to states,” Erika VerBeek said.

Coach Koster has also installed a mindset into this team to push each other everyday, no matter what your spot on this team is.

“If the 12th guy gets better that pushes the 11th guy and the dominoes keep falling all the way to the top,” coach Koster said. “Everyone has an impact.”

This mindset has connected with his runners.

“We are trying to become stronger runners, stronger people, and stronger followers of Christ,” said Joshua Lundberg.