*Special thanks to SC4 Cross Country Coach Andrea Rheaume for her race report contributions.
The women and men Skippers started their cross country season with a home opener at the Skippers Cross Country Showcase, located at Goodells County Park. The rainy forecast throughout the week made for muddy racing conditions.
The women placed fourth behind high-level competition that included one NCAA DII school; Wayne State University, and two NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) schools, University of Michigan – Dearborn and Rochester University.
Leading the Skippers was newcomer Jessica Denver (22:48.8). Unfortunately, a wrong turn by most of the field added several hundred meters to her race distance and negatively affected her finish time. Following closely behind was Grace Wessel (22:24.5), who was also misled and added significant distance to her race. Mary Kaminski raced strong and completed the 5k course in 22:47.1, which is 56 seconds faster than her season opener last year. Ava Zobay, Elizabeth Baldwin and Elizabeth Sliman rounded out the squad and battled the course despite some nagging injuries.
“I’m proud of how the ladies raced today,” said Head Coach Andrea Rheaume. “They continued to fight through the tough conditions in the woods and some wrong turns and that’s what racing is all about. This is our first meet of the season and we are battling some injuries, so we did not race our full team. Kayla McIntyre will join the squad in our next meet at Grand Rapids. I know these girls have high expectations for this year, so I’m excited to see how our season unfolds.”
The men battled the same high level competition as the women, placing fourth overall as a team behind Wayne State University, Rochester University and University of Michigan – Dearborn. Mason Wildie was the Skippers' only returning runner that toed the line. He was joined by five of his new teammates, Glen Davis, Michael Paoletti, Matt LaFreniere, Lance Kowalski and Joe Edgemon. Davis placed 10th overall with a time of 26:46.5, ranking him the second-fastest Skipper of all time. Paoletti (28:05.9) was next in line for the Skippers, with LaFreniere, Kowalski, Wildie and Edgemon bringing in the remainder of the team. “Basically, our whole team is freshmen, with the exception of Mason, so five out of the six guys that raced today, this was their first time racing an 8k,” said Rheaume. “We also have three guys that didn’t race today due to some injuries. Knowing that, I think they did well and now have a starting point to improve on for the rest of the season. I have no doubt the freshmen will improve on racing an 8k as the season unfolds and we’ll see more guys get on the Skippers Top 10 list.”
The Skippers return to action Friday, September 15th at the GRCC Raider XC Invite hosted by Grand Rapids Community College. The race is located at Douglas Walker Park in Byron Center, MI. The SC4 Cross Country schedule can be found at: https://www.sc4skippers.com/sports/mxc/2023-24/schedule.
Full results for the Skipper meet are linked below.
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