Hurons run in Petoskey Invitational
The Rogers City cross-country teams traveled to Boyne Mountain Saturday to run in the Petoskey Invitational. ?This is one of the biggest meets of the year with some of the strongest competition we have seen yet,? said coach Rob Kortman. He expressed satisfaction with the times and performance of all the runners. ?The race is broken down by grades so I only had one full team to score,? he said. In the boys? 11 and 12 grades race Derek McLennan took 12th (17:40), Mike Mierzwinski was 24th (18:18), Andy Tulgestke was 57th (20:03), and Brian Krueger took 67th (20:39).
THE BOYS? 9 and 10 grades race had Zak McLennan earning his varsity letter by placing 18th (18:57), Tharin Wilk was the next Huron across the line at 26th (19:21), Travis Lafferty was 81st (22:31), and Justin Lalonde was 86th (23:14). ?All of the boys showed a strong effort and good team spirit on Saturday,? the coach said. ?In the girls? 11 and 12 grades race, we had five runners which allows for a team score and the girls took fifth out of nine full teams. That was the highest ranking of any Division Four school,? Kortman said.
He added that all the divisions ran together and were not separated according to school size. In her first race of the year senior Lacey Kreft took fifth place (20:35), next was sister Chelsea at 17th (22:18), followed by Sara Belusar at 45th (25:14), Jessica Hempel was 49th (25:39), and Katy Fryske was right behind at 50th (25:44).
THE GIRLS? 9 and 10 grades race Kaylee Kreft took first place honors again as she begins to close in on the Rogers City freshman girls? record. Her time of 18:51 was just two seconds off the school record. Following Kreft was Sarah Bruning in 19th (22:44) and earning her varsity letter. Cynthia Belusar was 46th (26:16). In the boys? 7 and 8 grades race seventh grader Corey Hentkowski placed 12th (12:17). In the girls? 7 and 8 grades race seventh graders Leilani Kortman was 19th (13
The sixth grade boys and girls ran together with John Belusar ninth among the boys (13:54) and Sierra Centala was seventh among the girls (14:55). The coach?s runner of the week is Sarah Bruning. Bruning was the ?most improved? runner on the girls? squad last year and Kortman says she continues to improve steadily this year. ?SARAH IS way ahead of last year and we are only half way through the season. She was a solid member of the first place regional team last year and I see her going down to the state finals in Brooklyn again this year,? he said.
Kortman?s pick of the week for the boys? team is Tharin Wilk. Wilk is a first year runner and is a sophomore. ?Tharin is a wrestler who is using the opportunity for some cross-training to stay in shape. He improves with every race and brings plenty of strength to the team. His hard work in practice inspires other team members,? Kortman said. The coach added that he expects Tharin to become a major part of the Huron boys? team in the years to come.