It was a weekend full of personal records and season-bests for runners across the Blue Water Area as athletes look toward the second half of the cross country season.
Hanson’s Invitational - Freedom Hill
At the Hanson’s Invitational at Freedom Hill, high school runners were divided into three separate races based on time: the first race of the day at 9:30 a.m. featured sub-23 minute girls in the Red Division. Port Huron Northern’s Samantha Langolf snagged a top-20 finisher’s t-shirt with a personal-best time of 20:47, close to four minutes faster than her performance here last year. Her teammates improved upon their personal/season records, with Haley Sharp taking 58th (and medaling) in 21:46 and Jane Mossett 73rd in 22:15. Marysville’s Lillian Rutallie was 31st in her season-best of 20:56, along with Vikings Ella Deshon (81st; 22:29) and Carlee Woolum (91st; 22:58). The Port Huron Northern ladies mentioned how they enjoyed the flat, fast course (minus the large hill of years past) and the cooler morning temperatures.
In the boys’ Red Division (sub-19 minutes) Ian Potts from Michigan Athletic Club for Homeschoolers finished 62 in 17:46, also a personal record (PR). Trent Glass led the Marysville boys’ team in 65th place with a time of 17:48. For Marine City, Alex Robertson was the top Mariner in 122nd place (18:40).
The Black Division saw faster-than-predicted times for many runners. Freshman Kai Fisher of Memphis won the race in 18:30, even though this boys’ division was slated for 19-minute-plus 5K times. Dalton Ross of Marine City ran his season record of 18:41, along with Oliver Howie of Port Huron Northern in 18:58. The same was true for the girls’ race as several ladies went under or close to an expected 23-minute standard: Joselyn Chapman of Marysville (8th; 22:43), Emma Erdmann (15th; 23:04), Aubrey Pilon (22nd; 23:27), and Emma Terhune (27th; 23:32) of Marine City, and Emily Edwards of Port Huron Northern (23rd; 23:28).
The Hanson's Running Shop, well-known and respected for their efforts
supporting and promoting local running and athletes at the professional level, raised $10,000 for charity as a result of parking and entry fees from over 1,500 participants.
FULL RESULTS:
Shepherd Blue Jay Invite - Shepherd High School
Shepherd High School is home to one of the premier cross country courses in Michigan, hosting large meets with excellent competition like the post-season MITCA Meet of Champions and consistently producing a fast field on race day. The Blue Jay Invite delivered on all counts. The Elite Boys’ division featured T.J. Hansen of Freeland, who won in a state-leading 5K time of 14:46: this also places him 29th overall in the NATION for high school runners. Thomas Westphal of Anchor Bay ran his season-record (SR) time of 15:16 to place second, with the Tars finishing 15th as a team. Westphal is ranked fifth in Division 1 and seventh in the state. Zachary Rubicz (48th; 16:22), Greg Vogt (109th; 17:03), Gabe Rusch (118th; 17:10), and Aidan Leslie (119th; 17:11) rounded out the top five. Rubicz, Vogt, Rusch, Aaron Osterman (158th; 17:41), and Brandon Ziehmer (180th; 18:01) all had a season or personal best at Shepherd. For the Lady Tars of Anchor Bay, Lauren Thomas had a breakout race to place 44th with a 19:15 in the Girls’ Elite race, running 16 seconds faster than last year’s PR.
In the Blue Girls’ division, St. Clair took 7th as a team and had the lowest team spread between runners of any other school at 1:03. Lilyana Bratt took 31st in 20:48 to lead the Saints with a tight pack right behind her. Season and/or personal bests were run by Gabriella Komarowski (46th; 21:29), Molly McNabb (47th; 21:36), Allie Komarowski (48th; 21:41), Aubrey Sargent (50th; 21:52), and Clair Bacon (58th; 22:13).
The St. Clair boys similarly had a low team spread at 1:35, taking 4th as a team. Vinny Schweihofer (11th; 16:42) and Dylan Schumann (31st; 17:23) ran personal bests, followed by Ethan Kreger (37th; 17:39), Jerry Westrick (53rd; 18:17), and Korbyn Thornton (55th; 18:23).
Imlay City ran in the Gold Division, with the girls taking 12th as a team. Charlotte O’Brien finished 45th in 21:33 (her season record) and her teammates set personal records as they finished. Laela Bhatti was 55th in 21:54, Lauryn Donahue 84th in 22:46, Kendal Donahue 87th in 22:48, and Alice Johnson 105th in 23:16. Spartan Elliot Whitney saw his season best fall by almost a minute in the boys’ race, finishing 26th and setting a new PR by 11 seconds in 16:44.
FULL RESULTS:
Wagener Park Invitational - Wagener Park, Harbor Beach
A majority of runners at the Wagener Invitational reset their personal or season records, but it was once again the Yale boys and Cros-Lex girls setting the pace.
After Tuesday’s BWAC Jamboree, Blake Ferguson (Yale) said one of his season goals was to break the 16-minute mark in the 5K, and on Saturday he came very close to doing just that. Ferguson won the boys’ race in a time of 16:10 and the Bulldogs won the team title, as well. Gio Pardo-Keegan was second in 16:19 (PR), Acer Campbell in ninth (17:08), Wyatt Murtos 13th (17:36; PR), and Lucas Peltier 23rd in 18:00 (PR). Yale continued their team dominance with a total of 12 boys in the top 50. Cros-Lex’s Jack Kerrigan led the Pioneers with a 48th-place finish in 19:06. His teammates Thomas Jensen (53rd; 19:15), Devon Chisholm (55th; 19:32), and Peyton Taylor (58th; 19:39) ran personal/season best times.
With Eva Thompson (Cros-Lex) finishing first in every race but one this season, it was only a matter of time before she dipped into the 18-minute mark, which she did handily on Saturday to win with a 24-second PR of 18:29. Everyone in the top five for the Pioneers either had a season or personal best on the Wagener course as the Cros-Lex girls took the team win. Morgan Newton was fourth in 19:29, Brynn Hurley sixth in 20:03, Abagayle Barkley 19th in 21:12, and Eliza Nelson 24th in 21:30.
Yale’s girls’ team saw huge improvements, too. Lillian Bender (23rd; 21:29), Isabelle Goulding (35th; 22:41), Audrey Tolan (39th; 22:58), Ava Childers (44th; 23:28), and Lydia Hallay (45th; 23:33) all ran PRs. The Lady Bulldogs were sixth as a team.
FULL RESULTS: