TAWAS AREA - Oct. 8, 2008 - Standish-Sterling swept the first-place trophies at the Tawas Invitational on Oct. 8, edging out Tawas Area for the top spot on both the boys and girls races.
Karina Pierce paced the Panther girls with a time of 21:02, outlasting Emily Short (2nd, 21:16) for the top individual position. The Panthers' Ashley Pickvet (4th, 22:45), Ashley White (6th, 23:27), Sara Stanley (7th, 23:34) and Alyssa Pruder (12th, 24:29) rounded out the scoring for the Panthers, who finished with 30 points to the Braves' 41.
Pinny (79) took third, followed by Oscoda (138), Hale (148) and AuGres-Sims (179).
Chelsea Smith finished third for Tawas (22:20). Emily Podgorniak (5th, 23:01) led Pinconning, with Kelsey Scott (8th, 23:46) pacing Hale, Mary Wood (13th, 24:38) leading Oscoda and Emily Lutz (25th, 27:55) leading AuGres-Sims.
"Karina Pierce, Emily Short, Chelsea Smith and Ashley Pickvet ran very well today," said Standish-Sterling coach Dennis Pruder. "The four of them have been battling all year. We spend a lot of time with Tawas and it's a friendly rivalry. It makes them all better. Helping out each other makes everybody stronger."
On the boys side, the Panthers were led by Ryan Pickvet (2nd, 18:03) and Qwinn Shorkey (4th, 20:02). AuGres-Sims' A.J. Baker (17:54) won the individual race, but with just one teammate the Wolverines weren't in the running for any team honors.
The Panthers finished with 40 points to top Tawas (62). Hale finished third (67), followed by Oscoda (91), Pinny (97) and AGS (118).
"I was impressed with how the men attacked the course," Pruder said. "They are really shooting to do well. Tawas always comes on strong at the end of the year, and A.J. Baker has been running very well for AuGres.
"Ryan, Qwinn, Cole Manning and Frank Michalke turned in big races and Aaron Colamarino has been coming on strong."
Manning (7th, 20:51), Michalke (8th, 20:55) and Colamarino (19th 23:59) rounded out the Panthers' scoring.
Tawas was led by Guy Cotter (3rd, 18:42) while Hale was paced by Caleb Parent (6th, 20:41) and Nathan Turland (9th, 21:12).
Derrek Lucynski (5th, 20:31) was Pinconning's top finisher, while Travis Taylor (10th, 21:41) led Oscoda.
Pruder said the wins give his squads a shot of confidence heading into the NEMC and regional meets over the next couple weeks.
"We're winding down on the third phase of our training this season and have to be ready," he said. "We're working to be at the point where we can go into every meet as a race, not just a run. Every meet is a race."
