Click the thumbnails to see photos, and click the AUDIO buttons to hear comments from Soo's Gabe Litzner, Gladstone's Tanner Howes, and Escanaba's Alisha Maibe.
GLADSTONE---Eight boys high school cross country teams and six girls teams ran at the Gladstone Farmhouse meet on Tuesday, with the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils winning both races and the Gladstone Braves taking second in both.
It was somewhat of a preview of the U.P. Finals, which will be held on this course on Oct. 21. But all of the teams who partipated on Tuesday knew that the U.P. Finals could be tougher, with Marquette's teams coming (among others).
Still, it was a chance for the kids to familiarize themselves with this course, and a chance to test their endurance and conditioning running under unseaonable-hit 85 degree temperatures.
In the boy's race, Sault Ste. Marie's Gabe Litzner cruised to the championship, running the course in just over 17 minutes, 2 seconds. That was 27 seconds clear of the second place finisher, Gladstone's Tanner Howes. Litzner won on the same course where he captured the Upper Peninsula championship last year, and is hoping to repeat on later this month.
"It was really hot out there, and I didn't get a great warm-up coming into it," Litzner said. "So, it was kind of difficult. I think he (Howes) ran a great race. I was trying to gap him, but he stuck with me. Then, I just kind of came up that hill hard and started to gap him a little bit."
Howes, meanwhile, was happy with his runer-up finish.
"Second place ain't bad, especially being behind last year's champion," Howes said. "On this course, in this heat, especially, I think I actually did really good. I'm proud of it. I mean, this kid (Litzner) has been under 16 minutes like three, four times this year. So, I mean, hanging with the best, it's always a really good experience."
One notablie fimish came from Michael Rexford. The young sophomore from the new Escanaba Holy Name High School broke the top ten, finishing ninth overall in 19:32. It was his best time of the year, beating his time at last week's Munising race by seven seconds.
Besides Litzner, Sault High had the third place (Shea Armstrong, 17:49) and fourth place (Eli Hills, 19:22) and fifth place (Evan Huyck, 19:23) runners. Gladstone's Grady Nelson (19:26) took seventh and finished with Howes in the top ten.
Escanaba did not have enough boys for a team score, but the Eskymos got the usual strong run from Ben Smith, who took eighth in 19:27.8. Fellow Eskymo William Weise was the tenth place finisher in 19:36. Kingsford's Joey Lundholm also cracked the top ten by taking sixth place, finishing the mostly-flat course in 19:26.
On the team scoreboard, Sault Ste. Marie won with 22 points. Gladstonw was second with 47, Kingsford third with 63, and Menominee fourth with 102 points.
GIRLS RACE: SAULT DOMINATES; ESK'S MAIBE WINS TITLE
While the boys varsity race saw 40 runners all together, the girls race had only 30. The Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils had four of the top six runners, finishing third through sixth, to easily take the team championship with 25 points. Gladstone was second.
Escanaba's Alisha Maibe was the champion, winning the race in 21:34.9. She was 40 seconds clear of Menominee's Winley Brandt, who finished second at 22:14.5.
"Winley Brandt is super good, and I didn't know how far back she was, so I told myself to keep running because she was close to me for the first little bit," Maibe said. "I'm pretty happy with it. It's like my third fastest time. I like running on this course. So, hopefully, I can get faster for U.P. Finals."
Sault High's Abigail Walther finished third, well behind Maibe and Brandt, crossing the line at 23 minutes and nine seconds.
Gladstone's top runner was Mayce Hanson, who navigated the course in 24 minutes, 50 seconds, good for seventh place. Braves teammate Kristy Karl was eighth, and teammate Lauren Sundquist took ninth place. Escanaba's Mary Hook finished in tenth place.
GLADSTONE---Eight boys high school cross country teams and six girls teams ran at the Gladstone Farmhouse meet on Tuesday, with the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils winning both races and the Gladstone Braves taking second in both.
Still, it was a chance for the kids to familiarize themselves with this course, and a chance to test their endurance and conditioning running under unseaonable-hit 85 degree temperatures.
In the boy's race, Sault Ste. Marie's Gabe Litzner cruised to the championship, running the course in just over 17 minutes, 2 seconds. That was 27 seconds clear of the second place finisher, Gladstone's Tanner Howes. Litzner won on the same course where he captured the Upper Peninsula championship last year, and is hoping to repeat on later this month.
"It was really hot out there, and I didn't get a great warm-up coming into it," Litzner said. "So, it was kind of difficult. I think he (Howes) ran a great race. I was trying to gap him, but he stuck with me. Then, I just kind of came up that hill hard and started to gap him a little bit."
Howes, meanwhile, was happy with his runer-up finish.
One notablie fimish came from Michael Rexford. The young sophomore from the new Escanaba Holy Name High School broke the top ten, finishing ninth overall in 19:32. It was his best time of the year, beating his time at last week's Munising race by seven seconds.
Besides Litzner, Sault High had the third place (Shea Armstrong, 17:49) and fourth place (Eli Hills, 19:22) and fifth place (Evan Huyck, 19:23) runners. Gladstone's Grady Nelson (19:26) took seventh and finished with Howes in the top ten.
Escanaba did not have enough boys for a team score, but the Eskymos got the usual strong run from Ben Smith, who took eighth in 19:27.8. Fellow Eskymo William Weise was the tenth place finisher in 19:36. Kingsford's Joey Lundholm also cracked the top ten by taking sixth place, finishing the mostly-flat course in 19:26.
On the team scoreboard, Sault Ste. Marie won with 22 points. Gladstonw was second with 47, Kingsford third with 63, and Menominee fourth with 102 points.
While the boys varsity race saw 40 runners all together, the girls race had only 30. The Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils had four of the top six runners, finishing third through sixth, to easily take the team championship with 25 points. Gladstone was second.
Escanaba's Alisha Maibe was the champion, winning the race in 21:34.9. She was 40 seconds clear of Menominee's Winley Brandt, who finished second at 22:14.5.
"Winley Brandt is super good, and I didn't know how far back she was, so I told myself to keep running because she was close to me for the first little bit," Maibe said. "I'm pretty happy with it. It's like my third fastest time. I like running on this course. So, hopefully, I can get faster for U.P. Finals."
Sault High's Abigail Walther finished third, well behind Maibe and Brandt, crossing the line at 23 minutes and nine seconds.
Gladstone's top runner was Mayce Hanson, who navigated the course in 24 minutes, 50 seconds, good for seventh place. Braves teammate Kristy Karl was eighth, and teammate Lauren Sundquist took ninth place. Escanaba's Mary Hook finished in tenth place.
