REMUS CHIPPEWA HILLS - Oct. 28, 2006- For the first time in awhile, Ogemaw Heights will not be sending any runners to the state cross country finals.
The girls team finished fourth at Saturday's Division 2 Region 15 run in Remus, one spot shy of securing a berth as a team at the state finals next weekend. It was their highest team finish at a regional since 2000, but none of the Falcons cracked the top 15, which would have earned individual spots in the finals.
"It (the season) did end a week earlier than usual," said Falcon girls coach Rick Frank. "With the goals and expectations the seniors set at the beginning of the season it was kind of an unfortunate way to end."
That said, the senior class accumulated more than their share of accolades, including four NEMC titles, and three that have run in previous state finals. Late-season injuries contributed to a finish that wasn't quite what they had hoped for.
Chelsea LeForce led the Falcons with a 19th-place finish with a time of 21:15. Also running were Noelle Mester (22nd, 21:23.1); Holly Mester (25th, 21:29.2); Lindsay VanOosten (32nd, 21:43.8); Heather Villarreal (43rd, 22:27.3); Maggie Edward (67th, 23:41.0); and Trista Keezer (80th, 23:43.6).
"With potentially nine girls to return to next year's team, plus hopefully some incoming freshmen, the future does have some promise," Frank said. "These nine girls have hopefully learned from the seniors that they have been so successful by the amount of off-season running they have done and the dedication they have shown to the sport. If these returners can give some of that dedication and off-season training we should be able to put a team on the course for next year that can compete with the top teams in the NEMC."
The boys team finished ninth, but for coach Doug Grezeszak, Saturday's meet was more about giving his young but talented team the experience of running in what annually is a very tough region.
"When you look at the times, we really ran quite well for the conditions," he said. "It was very cold and windy and very wet and slippery. Without spikes on you couldn't even walk on some areas of the hills without falling down."
Sophomore Mike Lentz (31st, 18:22) led the Falcons, followed by three freshmen: Erik VanOosten (41st, 18:36), James Padden (49th, 18:44) and Martin Nelkie (64th, 19:14). Mike Morris (65th, 19:16), Garrett Benjamin (80th, 20:07) and Casey Taylor (89th, 21:36) followed.
"These young guys just have a ways to improve before we can compete well at this level," Grezeszak said. "That is what summers were made for. I am sure next summer we will do something about improving to this level of competition."
John Glenn's Tyler Wejrowski also earned a state berth, finishing 11th in 17:33.5. The Bobcats took 10th overall, one point behind the Falcons.
Full Division 2 Region 15 Results
Division 3, Region 27
BAD AXE - Oct. 28, 2006 - Standish-Sterling's Derek Welmers and Tawas Area's Tyler Bischoff again paired off at Saturday's Division 3, Region 27 race. This time, Bischoff finished ahead of Welmers, but both have moved on to repeat last year's state cross country appearance.
Bischoff finished second behind Freeland's Anthony Miller, running with a time of 16:52.2, while Welmers finished third in 17:05.4.
Bischoff's Tawas teammates helped the Braves run to a fifth-place team finish, two spots shy of making the state finals as a team. Other Tawas finishers included Guy Cotter (23rd, 18:24.5); Jordan Smith (33rd, 18:47.7), Jacob Winn (50th, 19:43.4); Matt Hughes (53rd, 20:11.4); Shane Whitford (71st, 21:36.1); and Timothy Glasgow (79th, 22:54.0.
SSC finished 11th as a team. Panther finishers included Ryan Pickvet (47th, 19:36.4); James Conway (62n,d 20:36.2; Kevin Shaffer (84th, 24:25.7); and Frank Michalke (85th, 25:13.6).
Oscoda, which didn't field enough runners to be scored as a team, was led by David Wood (48th, 19:39.8); Kyle Myers (56th, 20:21.8); Jeremiah Johnston (76th, 22:04.5); and Daniel Vandruska (81st, 23:14.9).
On the girls side, both Tawas and SSC boasted a state qualifiers. The Braves' Sandy Brandt makes a return to the finals after matching Bischoff's second-place performance, finishing in 20:46.0. She'll be joined by the Panthers' Noelle Lentz, who took 11th with a time of 21:48.5.
Also running for the Braves (fifth overall) were Ashton Cotter (22nd, 22:35.5); Abbie Hutchison (32nd, 23:10.2); Brittany Combs (52nd, 24:27.0); Bethany Britt (54th, 24:31.8) and Angie Tripi (59th, 25:02.0).
For the Panthers, who finished ninth overall, finishers were Sarah Schwinck (42nd, 23:45.0); Heather Hergott (46th, 23:56.8); Courtney Pierce (55th, 24:36.8); Kit Lindhardt (57th, 24:42.7); Alyssa Pruder (61st, 25:26.2); Samantha Poirier (62nd, 25:26.4); and Alicia Trombley (65th, 25:53.2).
Maggie Ungurean (45th, 23:56.1.) led Oscoda, followed by Emily Schwedler (50th, 24:23.6); Tricia McDonald (24:40.2); and Arielle Jackson (72nd, 30:42.4).
Full Division 3 Results
Division 4, Region 28
ELLSWORTH - Oct. 28, 2006 - Hale's Ashley Malin earned her third state finals appearance with an eighth-place finish at the Division 4, Region 28 race on Saturday.
Malin finished with a time of 22:56.4. The Eagles, who didn't field enough to be scored as a team, also had Rachel Parent finish 50th in a time of 29:04.1.
For the boys, the Eagles finished 11th overall, led by Ethan Parent's 31st-place finish (20:20.1). Parent was joined at the finish by Zach Putnam (50th, 21:37.9); Larry Thayer (54th, 21:53.6); Nathan Turland (62nd, 23;08.5); and Wes Rhein (74th, 28:46.1).
Among other area runners, Fairview boasted two state qualifiers as Titus Brown (5th, 18:06.6) and Ryan Kauffman (6th, 18:34.6) earned individual spots. Fairview finished fifth as a team.
Full D ivision 4 Results
