MIDLAND - Sept. 28, 2007 - Ogemaw Heights' cross country teams ran at the highly competitive Midland Invitational on Saturday, which consisted of eight Division 1 and five Division 2 teams.

The Falcons (Division 2) earned an eighth place finish in the boys meet and were 12th in the girls race.

The boys were second among the Division 2 schools, defeating Flint Kearsley, John Glenn and Mt. Pleasant while finishing behind East Lansing. The Falcons also were running without their top runner, Tim LeForce, who was nursing a sore leg.

"We had many runners have dramatic improvements in their best times ever," said Ogemaw coach Doug Grezeszak. "A big congrats to Martin Nelkie, who took the sophomore record for this course at 17:20. The record had stood for about 15 years and was owned by Jerry Howard."

Nelkie's finish was good for 21st place. He and Mike Lentz (25th, 17:27) earned medals for their efforts, which went to the top 30 finishers. Pete VanOosten just missed out on a medal by taking 35th (17:49.2).

Tyler Wejrowski of John Glenn took third in 16:17, behind race winner Stephan Walker of Midland Dow (16:09).

For the girls, 13 of the 15 Falcons turned in their personal bests.

"They took advantage of a fast course and an extremely fast competition to 'race' for 3.1 miles," said girls coach Rick Frank. "I felt the girls got out well, pushed the race to two miles and found they could keep going. Many of the top seven have never run in the 24-minute range and just skipped over those times and jumped into the 23's."

Colleen Wren led the Falcons by finishing 61st (22:21.3), just ahead of Heather Villarreal (64th, 22:41.6) and Brianne Price (65th, 22:42.1).

Grand Blanc's Gabrielle Anzalone won the race in 18:34.8.

Ogemaw races Tuesday in Pinconning in the second North East Michigan Conference jamboree. The boys will more than likely retain spot atop the league but will be looking to further improve their individual performances, while the girls, who took third in the first jamboree, need to finish first this time around to hold onto any realistic hopes of a league title.

Ogemaw boys: Martin Nelkie (21st, 17:19.5); Mike Lentz (25th, 17:27); Pete VanOosten (35th, 17:49.2); Bobby Brent (45th, 18:08.10); Casey Taylor (47th, 18:08.70); Brian Valley (64th, 18:41.20); Erik VanOosten (72nd, 19:12.40). JV Run - Mike Morris (10th, 18:26.2); Steven Wysocki (47th, 19:38.60); Reuben Nelkie (49th, 19:43.50); George Farmer (53rd, 19:49.80); Gerret Benjamin (88th, 20:49.50); Patrick Eagan (116th, 22:03.80); Allen Good (125th, 22:38.60); Alex Jones (127th, 22:50.0); Jay Boycott (137th, 23:32.90); Mike Connolly (153rd, 26:05.0); James Davidson (154th, 26:17.0); Ian McKindles (157th, 28:15.0).

Ogemaw girls: Colleen Wren (61st, 22:21.3); Heather Villarreal (64th, 22:41.6); Brianne Price (65th, 22:42.1); Jorie Diehl (73rd, 23:13.8); Amber Lovett (74th, 23:22.9); Morgan Stansberry (78th, 23:33.8); Hannah LeForce (81st, 23:44.4). JV Run - Trista Keezer (31st, 23:56.2); Ashley Thompson (65th, 26:16.8); Lindsay Maser (69th, 26:36.0); Ganae Zettle (86th, 28:39.8); Kaitlyn Bertram (87th, 28:55.6); Ariel Miles (89th, 29:09.3); Amanda Montague (90th, 29:10.7); Danielle Miller (94th, 29:54.4); Lauren Steinhurst (97th, 30:35.0).

Full Girls Results (runmichigan.com)