RC cross country placing high in competition and conference
The Rogers City cross country teams have been heating up the course, and running down the competition. On Saturday, both teams traveled to the Ellsworth Invitational, and last Tuesday, Rogers City hosted the first of three Straits Area Conference meets.
THE ELLSWORTH Invite boasted 19 schools, broken into Class B/C division, and Class D division. Rogers City raced in the Class B/C bracket. The boys? team ran very well in Ellsworth, placing a solid second place behind Harbor Springs. ?The boys ran their best race of the year at Ellsworth,? said head coach Rob Kortman. ?In the varsity race, I had eight boys break under 20 for the first time this year.? Kortman said the course at Ellsworth was difficult, making it a challenge for the runners. ?It was a difficult course, but not as hard as our home course,? said Kortman. ?Our course has a better running surface.? Placing fourth place for the Hurons at Ellsworth was senior Mike Mierzwinski, who finished in 18:09. Zak McLennan earned eighth place (18:21), while Tharin Wilk placed 15th (19:14). The girls? team tackled the tough course with ease, placing third overall ? missing second place by only three points. ?The girls ran well, and all of them ran their best times of the year so far,? said Kortman.
Senior Chelsea Kreft placed sixth with her time of 22:19. Sarah Bruning earned tenth place (23:31), while Cynthia Belusar finished in the 14th spot (24:41). Becky Hopp finished in 20th (25:53), while Elly Plath earned 22nd (26:06). The JV team raced well at Ellsworth. Justin LaLonde placed 12th (21:25), and Andy Derry earned 18th (24:56). Laureen Muszynski placed fifth in the JV girls? race with her time of 28:44, while Danielle Roeske placed eighth (29:42). The Middle School team raced also raced well in Ellsworth. John Belusar placed 13th (15:57), and Leilani Kortman placed fourth (15:26). Jami Horn earned seventh place (15:57). ?The nice part about racing in Ellsworth is that we get to experience the course,? said Kortman. ?Ellsworth is hosting the regional meet this year, and so it gives us an idea of what to look forward to.?
LAST TUESDAY, the Hurons found out how they matched up against their conference rivals. Eight teams make up the SAC, including Rogers City, Sault Ste. Marie, Rudyard, Cheboygan, St. Ignace, Cedarville, Newberry, and Pickford. Rogers City placed second overall with 80 points, while Sault Ste. Marie won with 31 points. Rudyard earned third with 95. There were 73 runners in the boys? race, which according to Kortman, is up from last year. McLennan placed sixth with his time of 19:10, while Mierzwinski followed close behind for seventh place (19:15). Wilk earned 20th place with 20:23, and Andy Grambau placed 22nd with his time of 20:38. Aaron Wilbert earned 25th (21:00), while Jake Vogler placed 27th (21:12). Travis Lafferty placed 28th (21:16), Mike Vogler placed 29th (21:21), and Eric Kieliszewski earned 32n
The Middle School teams ran both boys and girls together. There were a total of 50 boys, and 35 girls. John Belusar earned 29th place (15:46), while Jesse Hopp took 44th (19:43). For the girls, Leilani Kortman earned first place (15:07), Horn took seventh (15:49), Michelle Belusar earned 12th (16:32), Sierra Centala took 17th (17:12), and Alysse Hempel earned 29th (19:08). The next SAC meet is scheduled for September 26 at the Cheboygan High School at 5 p.m. The Huron runners will compete at Delta College this Saturday.