OGEMAW HEIGHTS - Sep. 19, 2006 - Ogemaw Heights took the early advantage in North East Michigan Conference cross country competition, winning both the boys and girls jamborees.

The girls, as expected, dominated the field with 18 team points, followed by Tawas Area (71), John Glenn (79), Standish-Sterling (87), Oscoda (123) and Pinconning (136).

The Falcon boys, considered a dark horse thanks to a lineup dominated by freshmen, surprised John Glenn 36-52. Tawas Area finished third with 62, followed by Standish-Sterling (102), Pinconning (141) and Oscoda (141, with Pinny winning the tiebreak).

Standish-Sterling's Derek Welmers won the race with a time of 17:04, building a big lead on John Glenn's Tyler Wejrowski and holding on for a 42-second victory.

The Falcons' top finisher was freshman Erik VanOosten (4th, 18:39), followed closely by freshman Bobby Brent (4th, 18:39) and sophomore Mike Lentz (5th, 18:46). Also scoring were Martin Nelkie (9th, 19:12), and James Padden (12th, 19:27), with senior Zach Lynch (6th, 19:52) putting the Falcons in good position if they had needed tiebreak points.

Wejrowski was followed by Kelsey Allen (10th, 19:20) and Justin Clark (11th, 19:25) to keep Glenn in second.

Tawas Area was led by Tyler Bischoff (3rd, 18:07), with Jordan Smith (16th, 20:09), Jacob Winn (17thy, 20:10) and Guy Cotter (19th, 20:30) cracking the top 20.

After Welmers, SSC's top finishers were Ryan Pickvet (14th, 19:56) and James Conway (20th, 20:44).

"Derek ran a very strong race from start to finish," said SSC coach Dennis Pruder. "He ran in a pack with Tyler Wejrowski and Tyler Bischoff early. He has really been working on his strength and focus, and it paid off."

David Wood (18th, 20:17) led Oscoda and Jason Morgan (24th, 21:20) led Pinconning.

In the girls race, the Falcons proved to be the juggernaut in league competition that everyone expected, taking five of the top six spots. Only Tawas Area's Sandy Brandt (3rd, 20:58) cracked the Falcons' top five.

Holly Mester (20:28) won the race, with Noelle Mester (2nd, 20:33), Chelsea LeForce (4th, 6:54), Lindsay VanOosten (5th, 21:33) and Heather Villarreal (6th, 21:42) completing the Ogemaw scoring. Trista Keezer (17th, 25:26) and Maggie Edward (20th, 25:31) cracked the top 20.

"FIve out of six was a nice accomplishment," said Ogemaw girls coach Rick Frank. "We tried to get Sandy Brandt behind us but she ran a nice race and broke 21 minutes, which is very good for her.

"As a team we ran good times, but we weren't very crisp and sharp. We had some with improved times over the Dwayne Rau (run on the same course), but some who did not improve. So we have work to do if we want to be considered a top-five team in the state."

For Tawas Area, Abbie Hutchinson (8th, 23:11) and Ashton Cotter (15th, 24:40) also were in the top 20, while Noelle Lentz (7th, 22:56), Kit Lindhardt (16th, 25:10) and Sarah Schwinck (19th, 25:30 topped Standish-Sterling.

Emily Schwedler (10th, 23:31) led Oscoda, while Emily Podgorniak (14th, 24:35) topped Pinconning.

Full Results