On Friday afternoon, many local cross country teams participated in the James Cleverley Friday Night Invite at Anchor Bay High School, with the added bonus of racing the same course where D1/D2 regionals will be held at the end of October.
The New Baltimore Anchor Bay boys won the team race on their home course, with Thomas Westphal taking the individual title for the second year in a row in 16:12.
“The team win felt pretty good: it’s always nice to defend your home course,” said Tar runner Aidan Leslie, who finished 13th in 17:19. “The course felt a bit slow with the temps near 80 degrees in the late afternoon. Something we will all be looking forward to will be cooler temps in October. It was perhaps a slight advantage with the early (course) preview, but our top two competitors in Region 9, Romeo and Dakota, are very familiar with the course too. It will be very competitive for the top three spots to qualify for States in the region. Our primary goal is to qualify for states as a team. This has been a goal since our freshman year and we have the right pieces in place with some younger guys stepping up with their training this offseason. A few breakouts are waiting to happen very soon, putting us in a great position come October 27th.”
Along with Westphal and Leslie, Greg Vogt (7th; 17:09), Zachary Rubicz (9th; 17:10), and Aaron Osterman (39th; 18:17) were the scoring five for the Tars, earning medals for placing in the top 50.
Coming in second in the boys’ team race was Yale, with a low team spread between runners of 1:15. Blake Fergason led the Bulldogs in fourth place with a 16:50 and Giovanni Pardo-Keegan was right behind in sixth at 17:00. Acer Campbell (14th; 17:23), Kale Kovach (19th; 17:42), and Teddy Rutkofske (35th; 18:06) rounded out the top five runners. Wyatt Murtos also snagged a medal in 41st place with a time of 18:19.
Other Blue Water Area top-50 medalists in the boys’ race:
16th in 17:32: Julian Walker (Algonac).
23rd in 17:46: Isaac Zammit (Marine City Cardinal Mooney).
27th in 17:50: Thomas Perez (Michigan Athletic Club for Homeschoolers).
29th in 17:51: Ben Gura (Kimball New Life Christian).
30th in 17:57: Ian Potts (Michigan Athletic Club for Homeschoolers).
45th in 18:29: Alex Robertson (Marine City).
In the girls' race, it was another showdown between D2 regional powers Warren Regina and Croswell-Lexington, with the Regina Saddlelites edging out the Cros-Lex Pioneers 42-78. Eva Thompson continued her style of strong up-front running, winning in 19:52. Her teammates were right behind, with Morgan Newton second (20:19) and Brynn Hurley in fourth (20:30). Anchor Bay’s Lauren Thomas finished fifth in 20:34.
Richmond was fourth as a team, led by Brianna Albers (11th; 21:52) and Paulina Chapman (14th; 22:10).
Other Blue Water Area top-50 girls’ medalists:
13th in 22:09: Casidhe Flesher (Marine City).
16th in 22:20: Faith Wessel (Michigan Athletic Club for Homeschoolers).
20th in 22:48: Eliza Nelson (Cros-Lex).
23rd in 23:11: Jasmine Walker (Algonac).
25th in 23:15: Julia Rogers (Kimball New Life Christian).
28th in 23:22: Lillian Bender (Yale).
29th in 23:30: Erin Rowan (Michigan Athletic Club for Homeschoolers).
32nd in 23:43: Audrey Tolan (Yale).
38th in 24:02: Emma Terhune (Marine City).
39th in 24:03: Kelsey Pendry (Richmond).
42nd in 24:07: Emma Erdmann (Marine City).
43rd in 24:10: Natalia Pace (Richmond).
48th in 24:27: Madison Leslie (Anchor Bay).
49th in 24:31: Lauren Robinson (Michigan Athletic Club for Homeschoolers).
50th in 24:34: Kate Bennett (Algonac).
FULL RESULTS:
Many area teams match up again in their second league jamborees on Tuesday, Sept. 26.
BWAC: Almont High School.
Cardinal Mooney: Memorial Park, Royal Oak.
MAC White (Port Huron Northern): Stony Creek Metropark.
MAC Blue (Marine City, Marysville, Port Huron): Port Huron Central Middle School.
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