BROOKLYN
The Lower Peninsula
TMichigan High School Athletic Association Cross Country Finals were held on Saturday, November 5th, at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
There were eight races on this 20 mph windy Saturday, November 5, with gusts forecasted to reach much higher. Temperatures were in the mid 60s and it looked like it could rain at any minute.
Beaverton High School, Division 3 Boys, cross country athlete Taj Spencer senior, was scheduledto run at 10:10 a.m. at MIS. One race, the Division 4 Boys had run at 9:30 a.m. so the track was still in excellent condition.
The runners were, in what appeared from a distance, a huge moving mass.
Spencer was running in a continuous group of athletes five or six runners wide at the 0.5 mile mark.
Around the 1.25 mile mark he was taking long running strides and was doing well in the event.
The media van left this stop without me, consequently I was not able to see Spencer’s finish.
Spencer represented Beaverton High School and the community very well with his outstanding performance in the race. Spencer, his first trip to the State Finals, completed the extremely competitive race with a time of 18 minutes 3.62 seconds finishing 124th out of 259 competitors.
Gladwin High School Cross Country, Division 2 Boys had two athletes qualify in Shepherd last week for a second year, junior Caleb Palmreuter and sophomore Seth Mead. Two additional Flying Gs qualified for the finals this year, sophomore Elijah Christensen and sophomore Abby Robinson. Gladwin was well represented with these four athletes competing for their school and community.
There were 258 runners in the boys 5k race held at 1:30 p.m. The MIS area had been hit by rain for maybe 20 minutes around the lunch break time frame. The rain had stopped before the boys event was to start and the course fortunately still looked dry and solid.
It was impossible to see where Mead and Christensen were .25 mile into the race, the group of athletes were still tightly packed together. Palmreuter was in the first row or two off to the left side of the pack, a clear path in front of him at this point.
Palmreuter ran the 3.1 miles in 16:34.73 which was 8.16 seconds faster than his prior trip to states. Just prior to the finish, a final push brought him to within 0.74 seconds of passing a runner from Otsego. Palmreuter finished the race in 44th out of the 258 participants.
Mead another returning runner, had a stellar course performance completing the relatively flat course in 17:00.3. He was running hard at the 1.25 mile point as well. A sprint to the finish brought Mead in at 77th, 0.54 seconds ahead of another runner.
At the 0.5 mile mark the Division 2 boys runners were still in a continuous mass of athletes. There had to be contact made between runners as crowed as they were, fortunately no one fell. Christensen was the only Gladwin boys runner that I could clearly see at the 0.5 mile mark.
At the 1.25 mile point Christensen was running very well. I was fortunate to catch a photo of Christensen as I looked back one last time before boarding the Media van to depart to the next photo opportunity location. The van driver had a tight schedule to keep, he sprinted us to the track driving clockwise through turn 2 and turn 1 stopping at the oval track finish line which corresponded to the cross country finish line.
Christensen completed the 3.1 mile course in 17:28.63, 127th out of 258 runners. The finish line seems to be a place where finishing positions are gained or lost. Christensen successfully gained a position by pushing hard at the end, finishing 0.32 seconds ahead of a runner from Fruitport.
Gladwin High School Abby Robinson sophomore qualified to compete in the cross country state finals as well. Robinson’s race started at 2:50 p.m. She and 249 other athletes from the lower peninsula were ready to compete in the event. Around 0.25 mile into the 3.1 mile event Abby was deep in the pack of runners not visible to me. At the 0.5 mile mark I was able to see her for the first time, and she appeared focused and determined. Around the 1.25 mile mark she came into view again, now entering a slight down hill with numerous runners visible in this section. The final time I saw Robinson was at her sprint to the finish line, long strides, knees high and using her arms to help pull her along. Robinson’s efforts at the finish line brought her past two other runners in the final feet of a long race season. She completed the 5k with a time of 20:50.45, ahead of two other competitors by 0.11 and 0.26 seconds each. She finished 127th out of 250 athletes, her final sprint at the end of the race made a difference.