OGEMAW HEIGHTS - Oct. 13, 2006 - Frigid wind and muddy conditions offset some gorgeous Fall colors Saturday as Ogemaw Heights hosted its annual Northern Lower Peninsula cross country invitational. At 36 degrees, Ogemaw boys coach Doug Grezeszak called it "typical Ogemaw cross country weather."
Ten teams participated, with 117 boys and 81 girls competing.
Petoskey won both the boys and girls overall team titles and had senior Pat Liederback win the boys race with a time of 16:29, 43 seconds better than Tawas Area's Tyler Bischoff (17:12). The Northmen captured four of the top five and five of the top 12 spots.
Charlevoix's Alina Dhaseleer (20:17) earned a 21 second victory over East Jordan's Kristi Werner (20:38).
Ogemaw Heights had the best teams cores of local squads, taking fourth place in both the boys and girls races.
The Northmen won the boys title with a score of 25 to top Charlevoix (54), Cadillac (114), Ogemaw (133), John Glenn (134), Tawas Area (136), Alpena (168) and Roscommon (214). Charlvoix's score was good enough to win the small school division.
On the girls side, Petoskey (44) got past Cadillac (71), East Jordan (84), Ogemaw (101), Charlevoix (108), Tawas (120), Alpena (172) and Rosco (203).
Running without Bobby Brent (out with the season with an injury) and Zach Lynch (resting a minor injury for the league finals next week), the Falcons were not at full strength.
"The rest of the boys ran very well for the conditions," Grezeszak said. "I was very pleased with the team and the way they are keeping their spirits up and attacking with whatever they have that day."
Topping the Falcons was sophomore Mike Lentz, who finished 10th in 18:15). Other top Falcons were Martin Nelkie (21st, 19:03); James Padden (30th, 19:25); Erik VanOosten (19:51); Mike Morris (57th, 20:31) and Garret Benjamin (60th, 20:33).
The Falcons were closely followed by NEMC foes John Glenn and Tawas Area.
The Braves were topped by Bischoff's second-place finish, but also had strong finishes from Guy Cotter (23rd, 19:06); Jordan Smith (33rd, 19:33); and Jacob Winn (45th, 19:56).
Glenn was led by Tyler Wejrowski (6th, 17:30); Justin Clark (25th, 19:11); Kelsey Allen (26th, 19:13); and Justin Knox (50th, 20:15).
Hale, which didn't fill out a full team, was led by Ethan Parent (47th, 20:05) and Zach Putnam (68th, 21:05).
On the girls side, Tawas Area's Sandy Brandt topped local finishers with a time of 21:00, good for sixth place, followed closely by Hale's Ashley Malin (7th, 21:02).
The Falcons were led by Noelle Mester (11th, 21:31); Lindsay VanOosten (14th, 21:43); Chelsea LeForce (16th, 22:35); Maggie Edward (30th, 24:13) and Trista Keezer (41st, 24:58).
"We are still trying to heal up some runners," said Ogemaw girls coach Rick Frank, who was most notably missing no. 1 runner Holly Mester. "We are really hoping to have all the girls running (for the league meet this Saturday). I don't think we'll be running at 100 percent, but for some 90 percent might be good enough to bring home our fourth title in a row.
"Tawas is greatly improved and if we are not ready to race it will be a lot closer than it should be. If they win they would get the league title outright."
Other top Tawas finishers on Saturday were Ashton Cotter (20th, 22:53), Abbie Hutchinson (21st, 23:16); Bethany Britt (44th, 25:09) and Brittany Combs (45th, 25:09).
Full Boys Results
Full Girls Results
