With over 40 schools across four divisions competing from the junior high level through JV and Varsity on Saturday (9/9), the Algonac Muskrat Classic Invitational featured many local teams and clubs from the Blue Water Area, and for several, it was their cross country season debut. The race was originally scheduled to be held at Algonac High School, but due to flooding was relocated to Eastwood Beach at Stony Creek Metropark.
DIVISION 1
In the Division 1 girls’ race, Jayden Harberts of Macomb Dakota handily won with a time of 18:26. Port Huron Northern was seventh as a team, led by Samantha Langolf (10th; 20:53) and Haley Sharp (18th; 21:18).
In cross country, a low score wins and a tight team pack can make the difference. New Baltimore Anchor Bay showed how to execute this strategy in the boys’ D1 race. Placing fourth as a team, their top five runners were separated by a time spread of only 22 seconds, led by Zachary Rubicz (24th; 17:32), Greg Vogt (26th; 17:34), Aidan Leslie (28th; 17:36), Aaron Osterman (40th; 17:52), and Gabe Rusch (42nd; 17:54). Still competing without frontrunner Thomas Westphal, the Tars seem poised to present a strong team front.
Port Huron Northern placed sixth in the team standings, led with a top-ten finish and D1 Blue Water Area-leading time by Luke VanderHeuvel in 16:42. Luke Maher was 18th in 17:10 for the Huskies.
DIVISION 2/3/4 Girls
In both girls’ and boys’ Division 2/3/4 races, first and second-place teams were separated by slim margins. The girls’ first-place team was Regina with 36 points, followed closely by Croswell-Lexington with 43. Between the Saddlelites and the Pioneers, they swept seven of the top ten spots. Regina’s top five scoring runners went 4-5-7-8-13, separated by a time spread of 45 seconds. Cros-Lex’s Eva Thompson remained undefeated so far this season, winning by 40 seconds in 19:24. “My goal was 19:40,” Thompson said, “so I am happy with that time.” Her teammate Morgan Newton wrapped up second place in 20:04, Brynn Hurley was sixth in 20:58, and Eliza Nelson 20th in 22:14.
St. Clair raced for the first time this fall with a strong showing, placing third as a team. Lilyana Bratt was third in 20:26, Gabriella Komarowski 12th in 21:40, Allie Komarowski 19th in 22:11, Molly McNabb 21st in 22:18, and Aubrey Sargent 29th in 22:48.
Other notable Blue Water Area girls’ performances:
Lillian Rutallie: 10th (21:53) for Marysville.
Paulina Chapman: 17th (22:00) for Richmond.
Casidhe Flesher: 22nd (22:23) for Marine City.
Jasmine Walker: 31st (22:52) for Algonac.
Isabelle Goulding: 34th (23:06) for Yale.
DIVISION 2/3/4 BOYS
The boys’ division was the much-anticipated match-up of regional powers Yale and St. Clair and the race didn’t disappoint. Yale narrowly defeated St. Clair by only three points, 43-46. The Bulldogs placed three runners in the top five, and the Saints had four in the top ten.
Giovanni Pardo-Keegan led Yale with a third-place finish in 16:39, followed closely by Blake Fergason (4th; 16:41) and Acer Campbell (5th; 16:57). Also placing in the top 20 were Wyatt Murtos (16th; 17:51), Teddy Rutkofske (17th; 17:55), and Kale Kovach (20th; 17:59).
“Goal number one today was to get the win and we were able to accomplish that,” said Yale boys’ coach Jared Shutko. “Our front trio ran great and Gio (Pardo-Keegan) ran a PR. We trained through this meet…all in all, I couldn’t be more proud of the guys; lots of PRs today for some of our younger runners as well.” It is worth noting that Yale's top runners all dropped approximately a minute or more off their last race times from the Mike Jackson Invitational.
For St. Clair, Vinny Schweihofer was sixth in 17:05, Dylan Distlerath eighth (17:17), Jerry Westrick ninth (17:33.3), and fractions of a second behind was Ethan Kreger in tenth with a 17.33.7. Dylan Schumann was 14th in 17:46. The Saints had a time spread of only 41 seconds between their top 5 scoring runners.
Tyler Lenn of Marine City Cardinal Mooney maintained his status as the fastest runner in the Blue Water Area this season so far, winning the race in 16:27. He led his team to a fourth-place finish overall. When asked his opinion on the meet location being moved and racing a new course, Lenn mentioned, “The course had some rollers (hills), but nothing too bad. I was kind of surprised by the gravel because my spikes were slipping around a bit. I liked finishing on the track at Algonac because you can see all the fans all the way around, but there were a lot of spectators cheering here and it was a good atmosphere. My goal was to win and my time was pretty good, so I’m happy with it.”
Other notable Blue Water Area boys’ performances:
Julian Walker 7th (17:16) and Zach Witherspoon 34th (19:01) for Algonac.
Ben Gura: 21st (18:14) for Kimball New Life Christian.
Isaac Zammit: 22nd (18:18) for Cardinal Mooney.
Trent Glass: 23rd (18:20) and Nathan VanderMeulen (25th; 18:40) for Marysville.
Kai Fisher: 28th (18:46) for Memphis.
Alex Robertson 30th (18:48) and Jayden Robertson 35th (19:02) for Marine City.
Kaleb Manska: 36th (19:15) for Richmond.
Many local teams begin league competition this week. The first Blue Water Area Conference jamboree is Tuesday, Sept. 12 at North Branch. https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/224267/info
The MAC Red and White also race on Tuesday at Stony Creek Metropark, while the MAC Blue is at St. Clair Metropark.
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