This week saw cross country action in the Blue Water Area heat up…literally. With temperatures hovering around 90 degrees and humidity and heat indexes upwards of 100, it was a very hot week for athletes; in fact, several scheduled meets were canceled due to the weather. Here's a look at results for the last week of running action in the Blue Water Area.
Lake St. Clair Earlybird Invitational @ Lake St. Clair Metropark (click a meet title for full results).
8/28/24
Photos courtesy of Macomb Lutheran North Instagram.
The early bird gets the worm, so the saying goes, but for many athletes, the Lake St. Clair Earlybird Invitational was their season opener and an opportunity to see how the summer training played out. The top 50 runners medaled on a brutally hot and humid course.
Macomb Lutheran North’s Joshua Macri continues to meet the pre-season expectations, winning the race in 16:41 and retaining his spot at the top of the area performance list from last week. Xavier Roman was 10th in 17:36 and the team finished second to D1-Utica. Other medalists for the Mustangs included Samuel Kochensparger (24th; 18:28 PR), Jack McMahon (35th; 19:00), and Oliver Alef (45th; 19:23).
Garrett and Ian Potts of Michigan Athletic Club for Homeschoolers (MACH) were in the top 20, with Garrett running a PR to take 14th in 17:46, a great time for a freshman. Ian was 20th in 18:07. Greg Vogt of Anchor Bay was 18th in 17:59 and his teammate Brandon Ziehmer just missed a medal, placing 51st in his season best of 19:34.
Evan Jacobs of Cardinal Mooney Catholic (30th; 18:50 PR), Andrew Rosso (34th; 19:00) and Nico DiPonio (47th; 19:29) of Austin Catholic were also medalists.
Stella Behnan of Cardinal Mooney had a 2023 PR of 24:14 but started her season off this year with a 22:10. Despite the adverse conditions, she dropped her PR again (21:58), finishing in fifth place as the first runner after a dominant Utica front four-pack. Her fellow Cardinal Maya Ferguson snagged a season-best time and a medal in 21st place (23:22). Freshman Cassidy Bowers of Austin Catholic set another PR in 22:02, finishing sixth.
In what might be the closest pack running around the area lately, Macomb Lutheran North’s top five were less than 30 seconds apart, finishing 9th, 10th, 13th, 14th, and 15th. Samantha Whitlam (22:22), Avery Stallmann (22:23), Evelyn Buckley (22:34), Lucy Gump (22:39 PR), and Isabella LaPerriere (22:47) all earned medals for the Mustangs, and only LaPerriere is a senior: Gump is a freshman and the rest are sophomores. Their number six and seven runners also placed in medal spots, with Chloe Boright 38th in 24:04 and Katya Anderson 43rd in 24:13. Anchor Bay’s Mary Wright finished 22nd (23:27 PR) and Tenaya Jendza in 25th (23:30 PR), while 35th place was Amber Watta of MACH (23:58) to round out the medals for Blue Water Area athletes.
8/28/24
Colton Grzyb of Almont placed 10th to lead off area medalists at the Cass City Invite on Wednesday. Fellow Raiders also medaling were Gavin Campbell (12th in 18:58), Adam SaintOnge (17th in 19:38 PR), and Benjamin Kline in 19th (19:42 PR). Cooper Hoyt of North Branch was a medalist for the Broncos, running 19:46, a personal best. His teammate Wyatt Opperman just missed out on the top 20, finishing 21st in 19:54. On the girls’ side, Rowan Conley of North Branch was the lone Blue Water Area medalist, placing 11th in 22:24.
8/28/24
Photos courtesy of Cros-Lex TF/XC Instagram; Leo Bearss, Yale Bulldog Girls XC - Facebook.
After being postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday due to heat and storms, the Brown City Invitational featured several area teams, including Capac, Cros-Lex, Port Huron, and Yale. The top 30 finishers received medals. Matthew Dusett of Yale was the highest area finisher, taking fifth in 19:04, a personal best for him, leading a total of 11 Bulldogs in the medalist spots. Capac’s Donovan Glasgow opened up his season by finishing 23rd in the boys’ race.
In the girls’ race, Eva Thompson of Cros-Lex won in 20:04 and Brynn Hurley, her teammate, was right behind in 20:59. The entire Pioneer top five medaled and were second as a team. Yale won the meet with 33 to Cros-Lex’s 38 points, but took almost half of the medaling places, putting an astounding 14 girls in the top 30.
MEDALISTS - BOYS | MEDALISTS - GIRLS |
5. Matthew Dusett 19:04.91PR Yale 7. Carter Krause 19:42.24PR Yale 8. Jack Kerrigan 20:10.96 Cros-Lex 9. Allen Gaines 20:19.28 Yale 13. Logan Carrier 20:57.64PR Yale 15. Johnathon Heim 21:28.19 SR PH 16. Travis Olejnik 21:31.65 SR Yale 17. Steven Foltz 21:45.18PR Yale 19. Draper McFadden 21:56.81PR Yale 21. Christopher Monroy 22:12.70 SR Yale 22. Nolan Kavanagh 22:32.55 Yale 23. Donovan Glasgow 22:34.56 SR Capac 26. Jon Hurlburt 23:22.92 SR Cros-Lex 27. John Goodwin 23:27.31 Port Huron 29. Thomas Schweihofer 23:52.25PR Yale 30. Hunter May 24:19.07 SR Yale | 1. Eva Thompson 20:04.13 Cros-Lex 2. Brynn Hurley 20:59.04 SR Cros-Lex 4. Saige Cole 22:43.57 Yale 5. Lillian Bender 22:47.11 Yale 6. Ava Childers 22:57.94 Yale 7. Madelyn Barkley 23:04.95 Cros-Lex 12. Zyana Wadsworth 24:56.17 Yale 13. Micayla McClelland 25:28.22 Yale 14. Penelope Persig 25:36.86 SR Cros-Lex 15.Padame Wadsworth 25:43.62 SR Yale 16. Lydia Hallay 25:55.62 SR Yale 19. Lauren Fowler 26:32.74 Yale 20. Noelle Marsh 26:59.75PR Yale 21. Amy Campbell 27:10.44 SR Yale 22. Grace Knox 27:35.87PR Yale 24. Nahla Marsh 27:54.81PR Yale 25. Jaylynn Maduri 28:00.81 Cros-Lex 26. Sophie Mongelli 28:10.10 SR Yale 28. Abigail Alva 29:28.71 Port Huron 30.Autum VanRyckeghem 30:21.42 SR Yale |
8/29/24
Armada was the only area team that traveled to the Rochester-hosted invitational at Bloomer Park, featuring mostly Macomb and Oakland County schools. The top boy’s finisher was Robert Carrigan in 19:51, finishing 32nd and just missing out on a top-30 place medal. For the girls, Brooklyn Khon opened her season with a seventh-place finish in 20:46, placing her third on the area performance list. Fellow Tiger Helena Reiff was one place off a medal, finishing 31st in 23:14.8.
8/30/24
The Skipper Cross Country Showcase was exactly what the name implied, showcasing local collegiate and high school teams. The morning’s races started with the junior college competition on the ladies’ side. Ava LaMilza of Macomb Community College was runner-up in 20:18. Two SC4 runners placed in the top ten: Grace Wessel was third in 20:22 and Lily Lemanski was 6th in 20:53. The team scores were close, with SC4 narrowly taking second with 66 points to Grand Rapids Community College in 60.
For the men’s 8K, the Skippers had a strong start to their season, with Jax Giannosa finishing as runner-up in 27:59. Acer Campbell was fifth in 28:32 and Ethan McCombs eighth in 28:45 to round out the top ten scorers. SC4 handily won the men’s meet with 55 points to runner-up Mott’s 87. Jack DeWaele was MCC's top runner in 28:58, finishing 12th.
The high school races started after noon and the heat had kicked up a notch, making the usually fast course sunny and humid. Algonac’s Julian Walker got out to an early lead and never looked back, winning by almost a minute and a half in 18:05. His teammate Owen Beindit was second in 19:25. Walker and Beindit are currently the top two male runners in the BWAC based on recent race times. Freshman Mason Pietrykowski led Richmond with his third-place finish in 19:36. Kimball New Life Christian debuted their race season at the Skipper Invite and had a top-ten finisher in James Nelson (10th; 21:18).
Eva Thompson (Cros-Lex) had the same strategy as Walker in the girls' race: get out fast and hold a large lead. She also won in over a minute and had a teammate follow in second: Brynn Hurley in 21:08. Thompson and Hurley have been a one-two punch in both of their last meets. Julia Rogers of New Life was third in 23:45 in her first race of 2024. By default, Algonac won the meet, since no other school had enough runners to field a fully-scoring team.
Top Ten Finishers - Boys | Top Ten Finishers - Girls |
2.Owen Beindit 19:25.30 Algonac 3. Mason Pietrykowski 19:36.80 Richmond 4. Connor Pepin 19:49.20 PR Cros-Lex 5. Nathan Clemons 20:25.90 Algonac 6. Donovan Germain 20:54.00 Richmond 7. Brayden Dalbec 20:58.20PR Cros-Lex 8. Jack Kerrigan 21:02.50 Cros-Lex 9. Kaleb Manska 21:04.50 Richmond 10. James Nelson 21:18.00 SR Kimball New Life Christian |
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Team Scores: 1.Croswell-Lexington = 44 2.Richmond = 45 3.Algonac = 48 | Team Score:
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You can view photos from the Skipper XC Showcase and other races at https://bluewaterrunning.zenfoliosite.com/. You can also view the top Blue Water Area times on the performance list at the homepage of www.bluewaterrunning.org.
Thanks to Elite Feet of Port Huron for sponsoring cross country coverage on Blue Water Running. If you need running shoes, spikes, or apparel, they have a friendly and knowledgeable staff to help you find the right fit. They are located at 327 Huron Ave in downtown Port Huron.
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