Dowagiac cross country coaches Dan VandenHeede and Doug Pearson are trying to build a program that has struggled for several years.

The Chieftains have struggled to get numbers out in a sport that is predicated on quantity as well as quality.

Although Dowagiac has had several outstanding individuals throughout the years, putting together a full team that can be competitive in the very tough Wolverine Conference has been a struggle.

But this year, VandenHeede and Pearson have put together a middle school program, which competed in its first race last Thursday — the Dowagiac Rock N Run.

“This is a significant mile stone for Dowagiac school’s running program,” Pearson, who is the middle school coach, said. “We have 10 boys and 12 girls on the club team. They ran their first meet in the Rock N Run. Two of the boys finished in the top 15 and got a medal. The boys and girls teams have worked hard and ran a great race.”

Shawn Little and Cole Parker were the top Chieftains in the top 15 at the Rock N Run. Little ran a time of 12:48 and Parker 13:07.

Rounding out the top six finishers for the boys team were Korey Kinyon (15:16), Karsen Kinyon (15:40), Ryan Kiggins (16:42) and Billy Leonard (17:05).

The top six finishers for the girls were Kenya Lee (15:41), Riley Stack (19:54), Ruby Maggert (20:04), Gabbi Munson (20:34), Maria Meza (21:51) and Kirstin Felthouse (22:53).