Cross country continues to make history in the area.
In the past five years, the West Ottawa girls, Holland Christian girls and Holland Calvary boys have won state championships.
The Maroons and Owls look poised to repeat this season.
The area has seen 20 regional title teams in the past three years and 10 individual regional champions during that time.
Last year, the Holland girls made the state finals for the first time in 30 years. They made it again this year, but it was the Holland boys' turn to make some history, making their first state finals as a team in 30 years.
More: Five cross country teams claim regional titles; 9 teams, 8 individuals qualify for state
Ten of our 19 high school teams made state last year and this year, it is nine - and that was close to being 12 as three teams missed by a single spot, including the Fennville boys who were looking to qualify for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Success has become commonplace around the entire area.
It started with Saugatuck, which has enjoyed two decades of contending teams, both the boys and girls.
The other schools have followed with four individual state champions on the girls side and nearly 100 all-state performances - and that is coming from every school.
This year, it was the Holland boys turn to snap a long skid and get back to state.
The Dutch are lead by two multi-sport athletes.
Aiden Lambers has qualified for state as an individual, but is also a state qualifier in swimming.
Meanwhile, Caelen Gray plays on the soccer team, which could make for a crazy Saturday if he runs in the cross finals at Michigan International Speedway and Holland is in the soccer finals. The Dutch have to win in Wednesday's semifinal for that to happen.
Holland has a lot of young runners on this team, so the Dutch are looking to make this a regular thing, as the girls have.
State championships will likely be won by area teams and nearly all of our schools will have at least one all-state runner.
It is incredible that this level of talent has been sustained in one area for so long. And based on this year's group, the underclassmen and the middle school success - it isn't going anywhere.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland boys cross country qualifies for state for first time in 30 years as area's historical run continues