Cadillac HS Cross Country members help create new course at Veterans Community Park

Two years ago, the Veterans Serving Veterans in Cadillac group donated part of their park to the Cadillac High School cross-country team to build a new course.

“We’ve never had a course before that we were necessarily proud of,” said assistant cross country coach Trevor Thiebaut. “When all is said and done, this will be one of the top five courses in Michigan.”

In addition to veterans, members of the cross-country team volunteered their time on weekends to help out on the course.

“We’re currently crossing and picking the big sticks and rocks that will get in the way when they cross again and until it’s all over,” said senior Brayden Oberhaus.

Logan Boolman, a member of the cross country team, has been running cross country since 6th grade. Although he is a senior this year, he is always happy to help with the new course.

“The last course we had was at Mackinac Trail,” Boolman said. “Very few teams were able to come to the competitions because it wasn’t the most pleasant course to run. Now to build this with a flat course and it’s like a nice place in the woods where we can run, I think it will be really good for the team and the courses going forward.

The team said that without the generosity of veterans, they would not have this opportunity.

“They didn’t have to, but they are, and with our help, I think we can both create something amazing,” Boolman said. “It also shows a lot to the community what cross country and what vets really do for us.”

Veterans at Veterans Service and the Cadillac Cross-Country Team hope to complete the course by the first week of August for a special 5K Memorial Run honoring Olympian and Cadillac native Paul McMullen.