On a cool September morning that quickly warmed up, the West Ottawa Men's Cross-country team placed first on their home course in a field of 6 teams at the 44th Annual Bredeweg Invitational. Sophomore sensation Max Post led the way for the Panthers as he took a commanding lead in the final 600 meters of the 5000 meter race and finished first overall with a time of 16:43. Post's younger teammate, freshman Silas Pinney continued the charge of the youthful West Ottawa team as he raced to the 4th place medal with a time of 17:20. Junior co-captain Brody Mulder was the third Panther to cross the line as he earned the 6th place medal with a time of 17:32. Senior co-captain Sebastian Ruiz finished closely behind Mulder to nab the 7th place medal in 17:38. Sophomore stalwart Henry Frederick took the 10th place medal with a time of 18:30. Miles Koch, another steady sophomore runner grabbed the 15th place medal in a time of 18:42. Both junior Thiago Solis (18:55) and freshman Collin Woudwyk (19:07) medaled as well for West Ottawa by taking 19th and 23rd places respectively. West Ottawa's JV men took 2nd place in their race over the same course as the temperatures were climbing towards the uncomfortable for the athletes. Sophomore Regan Luce and junior rookie Josh Ronne both earned medals by finishing in 2nd and 4th places respectively with times of 19:29 and 19:32. They were joined in the medal haul by sophomore Harrison Stolz and junior Adam Morales who finished side by side with an identical time of 19:59.6, good for 8th and 9th places respectively. The fifth JV man to earn a medal for West Ottawa was rookie sophomore Steven Vasquez (20:58) who crossed the line in 22nd place. In all, the Panthers took home the first place trophy, a total of 13 medals and raced to 6 personal records (PRs) at their only home meet of the 2026 cross-country season. Their next competition will take place in the first OK RED CONFERENCE "jamboree" on Tuesday, September 15 at 4:30 pm at East Rockford Middle School against the ENTIRE conference.