Eskymos Finish Second At U.P. Cross Country Finals

MUNISING----The Escanaba Eskymos closed a successful cross-country running season by taking second place in both the boys and girls races at the U.P. Finals on Saturday.

The boys finished the Division One race seven points behind Sault Ste. Marie (65-72), while the EHS girls were 21 points behind D-1 champion Calumet (21-42).

Esky's Andy Stenberg and Eric Cousineau.

In the boys race, the Eskymos were one of the favorites after winning the Great Northern Conference meet last week.

But Escanaba had to settle for second place in the team standings when Sault Ste. Marie placed three runners in the Top Eleven, led by freshman Scott Parker, who won the race in 16 minutes, 50 seconds. Blue Devil Sam Burtt finished tenth.

Escanaba's top runner was senior Andrew Stenberg, who navigated the sloppy Pictured Rocks course in 17:26, good for sixth place overall. Jordan Ogren (17:50) was 14th, Brad Derouin (17:53) was 15th, and Eric Cousineau was 16th overall in 18:00.

Gladstone finished in tenth place in the team standings, with Kyle Kleiman the Braves top runner in 46th place (19:20). Braves teammate Chris Sedenquist was in 49th place.

The Kingsford Flivvers were third at U.P.'s.

The Kingsford Flivvers finished in third place in the D-1 boys race with 101 points while Menominee was in fourth, just one point behind Kingsford. The Flivvers' Dan Kulas capped off a successful season by taking second overall in 16:58.

Houghton's Jacob Colling was third overall, Marquette's Lance Rambo finished fourth, and Menominee's Davey Lupow rounded out the top five.

CLICK HERE to see all of the Division One Boys Team and Indivdual results, provided again by Superior Timing and the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

In the Division One girls race, Escanaba's Aimee Giese finished in fourth place with a finish in 20 minutes, 7 seconds. Eskymo freshman Callie Heller was 11th overall (20:59), and Aubree Peterson was 13th (21:07). Jordyn VanPortfleit finished 16th in 21:21, and Eskymo teammate Isabelle Wellman was 18th overall (21:33).

That depth allowed the Escanaba girls to finish in second place with 62 points as Calumet won the race with 41 points. Calumet senior Tara Kiilunen won the race in 19 minutes, 44 seconds. It was her fourth straight Upper Peninsula championship.

Marquette was GNC champions, but the Redettes were fourth at the U.P. Finals

Freshman Leah Kiilunen gave Calumet a 1-2 finish by finishing the race in 19:50, six seconds behind her sister. Menominee junior Kameron Burmeister finished in third place in 19:53, before Escanaba's Giese in fourth place.

While Tara Kiilunen was three-time defending U.P. champion, Marquette freshman Lindsey Rudden was the favorite coming into Saturday's race.

She has dominated every race she has entered this fall, including last week's Great Northern Conference meet. And Rudden was leading Saturday's race at the two mile mark, but she suddenly got sick and passed out. She did not finish the race.

Marquette teammate Calla Martysz finished fifth, but the Redettes dropped to fourth place in the U.P. Finals team standings. CLICK HERE to see all of the Division One Girls Team and Indivdual results, provided again by Superior Timing and the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

In the Division Two boys race, the Stephenson Eagles had five runners finish in the top 17 to win the team title going away. Stephenson had 52 points, much better than Norway's second-place total of 67. Hancock was third and Ironwood was fourth.

Stephenson's Connor Cappaert finished #1.

Stephenson's Connor Cappaert won the race by a wide margin, finishing in 17:25.

That was 18 seconds clear of second place Jared Joki of Ironwood. Manistique had the #3 and #4 finishers: Tyler Pomeroy (18:13) and Bryson Lawrence (18:37), respectively.

The rest of the Eagles top finishers were Ken Truitt in fifth place at 18:42, Gabe Granskog in 19:22 in 14th spot, and Ryan Raboin (19:36) in 15th place. Kyle Raboin was 17th overall.

CLICK HERE to see all of the Division Two Boys Team and Indivdual results, provided again by Superior Timing and the MHSAA.

In the Division Two girls race, Ironwood had the top two individual finshers, but Newberry won the U.P. team championship by two points, 50-52.

Ironwood's Jessica Gering won the race in 20:40, and Red Devil teammate Hammah Palmeter was second in 21:27. Newberry's Natalie Beulieau was fourth (21:40) and teammate Bridgette Stoetzer was fith (21:41).

Manistique's Holly Blowers was tenth overall in 22:04 and Darby Denmers was 20th overall in 23:14. But they were the only Emerald runners, so no team score was kept.

CLICK HERE to see all of the Division Two Girls Team, Invidual Stats.

In the Division Three boys race, the Munising Mustangs cruised to the U.P. championship by 17 points over second place Cedarville. Munising's Brett Hannah won the race in 17:55, while Mustang teammate Izaak Mahoski was third overall in 18:00.8. Cedarville's Josh Hester finished just ahead of Mahoski, crossing the line in 18:00.2.

Carney-Nadeau's Dionte Blahnik finished in sixth place, in 18:22.8. He was a fraction of one second behind Dollar Bay's Brett Houle, who finished fifth in 18:22.5.

CLICK HERE to see all of the Division Three Boys Team, Individual Stats.

In the Division Three girls race, the St. Ignace Saints won the U.P. team championship for the first time in school history with 40 points. Dollar Bay was a distant second with 74 points. Rudyard was third and Munising finished fourth.

The Saints had the top two finishers: Sara Cullip was the champion in 19:36, winning by more than a full minute over her teammate, Lillian Calcaterra (second in 20:47).

CLICK HERE to see all of the Division Three Girls Team, Individual Stats.