Gobles girls fifth, Smith is state champ

By John Raffel Correspondent GOBLES — The Gobles girls cross country team capped an extraordinary season with a school-best 5th-place team finish at the MHSAA Division 4 State Finals at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday. Competing against the state’s top programs, the Tigers posted a team score of 216 points, with a cumulative time of 1:43:08.7 and an average time of 20:37.8. “The historic day was highlighted by a dominant front-of-the-field showing, as Gobles placed three individual runners in the top ten to earn All-State honors,” coach Marc Kline said. “Senior Libby Smith delivered a monumental performance to win the Division 4 individual state championship, breaking the tape with a winning time of 18:18.9. Smith established control right from the gun, surging through the first mile in 5:30.1 and holding a commanding lead at the two-mile mark (11:41.5) before pulling away to secure the title.

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