Many local runners punched their tickets to the MHSAA Cross Country State Finals at Michigan Speedway: here’s a wrap-up of regional meets featuring athletes from the Blue Water Area.
Oh, what a night…late October in 2023. The race was everything we’d thought it’d be…and there’s no sleep till Brooklyn. All song puns aside, the championship season is full of victories and heartache and Friday afternoon’s D1/2 regionals at Anchor Bay High School had plenty of both. It was 74 degrees when the first gun sounded and parts of the course had long grass and thick mud, so finish times were slower than normal, even with the last 300 meters of the race finishing on the track. The adage “place matters more than time” rang true.
D2 Girls - Surprises Abound
The first race of the afternoon kicked off at 3:30 pm. with the D2 girls’ race. While the expected Cros-Lex team win still happened, many other predictions were upset. For starters, Cros-Lex’s Eva Thompson (the undefeated BWAC champ and heavy individual favorite) had lots of company even by mid-race, at which point she normally would have gapped the field. By mile two it was clear it was anybody’s race and Thompson’s teammate Morgan Newton moved into the lead, closely followed by Marysville’s Lillian Rutallie, Armada’s Ava Baltierra, and another Pioneer, Brynn Hurley. Newton pulled away for the win with a half mile remaining and finished in 20:06. Rutallie ran very well, entering the race ranked ninth but taking second place, running close to her PR in 20:31 while challenging for the win. Baltierra was third in 20:36 and Thompson fourth in 20:42. Hurley rounded out the top five in 20:45.
Newton stated, “I felt pretty good considering all the work I’ve put in these past few months. I went into the race hoping for second behind Eva but unfortunately, she had been sick earlier this week and wasn’t fully recovered. Thankfully she was able to go out and compete for the team today. I realized I was about to win the last 300 on the track. Lillian (Rutallie) was right behind me and I really had to make sure I had a kick at the end. I’m definitely excited to finish my senior year as regional champ and I’m so proud of my team for winning regionals!”
Another interesting development was St. Clair finishing second as a team (by one point over Warren Regina) even without their number-one runner. Freshman Ella Thornton stepped up and was the top Lady Saint, placing 12th in 21:57, with two more teammates finishing within seven seconds. Pauline Chapman of Richmond was the lone Blue Water Area athlete in the entire race - and the only state qualifier - to run a personal best at Anchor Bay, emphasizing how much the heat and course conditions affected finish times. Brianna Albers finished 16th for Richmond also, taking the last individual state qualifying spot in 22:16 once team finishes were finalized.
Despite one of their runners experiencing a medical issue on the track right before the finish line, Warren Regina still was able to qualify as a team in third place with 82 points. Armada’s team was fourth with 103 points. Marysville finished sixth, Richmond seventh, and Yale eighth. The top runner for Marine City was Emma Erdmann, taking 30th in 23:16. Yale’s top runner was Isabelle Goulding, finishing 32nd in 23:38.
Girls’ D2 State Qualifiers:
1 - Morgan Newton, Cros-Lex. 20:06
2 - Lillian Rutallie, Marysville. 20:31
3 - Ava Baltierra, Armada. 20:36
4 - Eva Thompson, Cros-Lex. 20:42
5 - Brynn Hurley, Cros-Lex. 20:45
9 - Brooklyn Khon, Armada. 21:32
10 - Pauline Chapman, Richmond. 21:34
12 - Ella Thornton, St. Clair. 21:57
13 - Allie Komarowski, St. Clair. 22:02
14 - Gabriella Komarowski, St. Clair. 22:05
16 - Brianna Albers, Richmond. 22:16
18 - Molly McNabb, St. Clair. 22:23 Team qualifier
20 - Eliza Nelson, Cros-Lex. 22:29 Team qualifier
21 - Abagayle Barkley, Cros-Lex. 22:36 Team qualifier
24 - Aubrey Sargent, St. Clair. 22:39 Team qualifier
29 - Clair Bacon, St. Clair. 23:13 Team qualifier
44 - Eden Brewer, St. Clair. 24:24 Team qualifier
47 - Carly Old, Cros-Lex. 24:46 Team qualifier
52 - Jaylynn Maduri, Cros-Lex. 25:13 Team qualifier
D1 Girls State Qualifiers:
19 - Lauren Thomas, Anchor Bay. 20:49
Top BWA Finishers:
32 - Samantha Langolf, Port Huron Northern. 21:36
51 - Miley Caughel, PHN. 22:59 (the only person in the entire D1 race to run a season-best time).
D2 Boys - The Yale vs. St. Clair Show
Coming into Friday’s D2 boys' regional race, it was all about the Bulldogs versus the Saints, and even until the finish line, it was hard to tell who was going to take home the team trophy. Yale ultimately won the D2 title, defeating St. Clair 37-46 for the first time in a regional cross country competition since 2019. Both teams had all five scoring runners in the top 15 spots, which are also individual state-qualifying finishes. After pulling out the team placements, Armada’s Tyler Buckland and Marine City’s Alex Robertson were moved into state qualifying spots, as well. Macomb Lutheran North finished third as a team and Brewer Snay was the individual winner in 16:42.
Boys’ D2 State Qualifiers:
2 - Gio Pardo-Keegan, Yale. 16:52
3 - Blake Ferguson, Yale. 16:56
4 - Acer Campbell, Yale. 17:10
5 - Dylan Distelrath, St. Clair. 17:27
7 - Jerry Westrick, St. Clair. 17:47
9 - Ethan Kreger, St. Clair. 18:01
10 - Dylan Schumann, St. Clair. 18:04
11 - Teddy Rutkofske, Yale. 18:16
12 - Luke Nawrocki, Armada. 18:24
14 - Jayden Robertson, Marine City. 18:27
15 - Brayden Prieskorn, St. Clair. 18:28
16 - Alex Robertson, Marine City. 18:29
17 - Wyatt Murtos, Yale. 18:43 Team qualifier
21 - Kale Kovach, Yale. 18:57 Team qualifier
22 - Tyler Buckland, Armada. 19:10
24 - Korbyn Thornton, St. Clair. 19:25 Team qualifier
42 - Colin Boullard, St. Clair. 20:31 Team qualifier
44 - Leo Bearrs, Yale. 20:49 Team qualifier
Richmond’s top finisher was Sawyer Rosberg in 19:20, finishing 23rd and just missing the last state finals qualifying place. Colton Stevens of Marysville was 31st in 19:55 and Thomas Jensen of Cros-Lex finished 32nd in 19:56. Blue Devil Kayden Griebe was the only Blue Water Area athlete to run a personal best in the boys' race, finishing 63rd in 22:40.
D1 Boys
After last week’s MAC meet, Anchor Bay’s Greg Vogt said, “A thing we focus on as a team is not peaking in the earlier parts of the year and that is shown by how we are running this championship season. Our eyes are set on the regionals and making it out as a team. Anchor Bay hasn’t been able to qualify a team since 1977 and we are trying to change that.” It was a story 46 years in the making: the New Baltimore Anchor Bay Tars took third to secure their first team berth to the state meet, which is no easy feat with Utica, Dakota, and state power Romeo in their regional. Thomas Westphal led the way with an individual title (15:54) and the rest of the pack finished the job in 24-27-28-29 with less than 20 seconds between their second and fifth runners.
Port Huron Northern’s Luke VanderHuevel and Luke Maher also qualified for the state finals, continuing what they refer to as, “The Luke and Luke Legacy Tour”. VanderHuevel finished ninth in 16:59 and Maher was 11th in 17:03. Uncannily enough, they finished exactly four seconds apart at last year’s regional too, just in reverse order. Their team finished sixth.
Boys’ D1 State Qualifiers:
1 - Thomas Westphal, Anchor Bay. 15:54
9 - Luke VanderHeuvel, Port Huron Northern. 16:59
11 - Luke Maher, PHN. 17:03
24 - Zachary Rubicz, AB. 17:34 Team qualifier
27 - Gabe Rusch, AB. 17:36 Team qualifier
28 - Greg Vogt, AB. 17:39 Team qualifier
29 - Aidan Leslie, AB. 17:53 Team qualifier
35 - Aaron Osterman, AB. 18:17 Team qualifier
57 - Brandon Ziehmer, AB. 19:03 Team qualifier
Full results:
D3 at Milford/Kensington Metropark
Siblings Julian and Jasmine Walker of Algonac both qualified for the state finals in their regional at Kensington Metropark. Julian was third in 18:19 and the Muskrats narrowly missed a team qualification, finishing fourth by only five points. Teammate Owen Beindit was 20th in 19:45 to join Walker at States. Jasmine finished tenth in 22:58 in the girls’ race to secure her qualifying spot.
D3 at Dewitt High School
Colton Grzyb of Almont qualified for the state meet, placing 23rd in 19:08, a personal best for him. The Almont boys were seventh. Memphis’ Kai Fisher finished 25th in 19:18, just missing the last qualifying spot after team finishes were calculated. In the girls’ race, Almont’s Laila Evola (12th in 21:52; season-best) and Ayla DeLaurier (17th in 22:32) also qualified to run at MIS next weekend. The Almont girls’ team was fourth overall. Ella Starnes of Memphis was the highest finisher for the Lady Yellowjackets in 24:14, taking 28th place.
D4 at Royal Oak Shrine
Cardinal Mooney won their first-ever regional championship, beating Royal Oak Shrine by eight points. Tyler Lenn was runner-up in 17:55 and Isaac Zammit was fifth in 18:04. They will be joined at the state meet by Max Procissi (19th; 19:10), Evan Jacobs (23rd; 19:17), Brennen Demeulenaere (43rd; 20:24), John Bailey (51st; 20:59), and Conor Guyor (73rd; 24:04). Maya Ferguson was the Cardinals’ only runner in the girls’ race, taking 23rd in 24:51.
D4 at Wagener Park
Kimball New Life Christian had two state qualifiers: Ben Gura was 12th in the boys’ race in 17:44 and Julia Rogers was sixth in 20:59 in the girls' division, personal bests for both.
Other Blue Water Area Regional Results:
D2 at Shepherd
Top Area Boys:
23 - Elliot Whitney, Imlay City. 17:01
61 - Wyatt Opperman, North Branch. 18:48
Top Area Girls:
39 - Rowan Conley, North Branch. 21:38
50 - Charlotte O’Brien, Imlay City. 22:14
State qualifying athletes will run on Saturday, November 4 at Michigan International Speedway.
XC STATE MEET SCHEDULE:
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