Gabriel Richard High School hosts a very nice invitational race at the beautiful Hudson Mills Metropark near Dexter, Michigan.  The course goes around an activity center, sand volleyball pit, tennis courts, and baseball diamond.  The open field for the start is surrounded by trees bearing their fall colors.  Although it had rained earlier in the week, the guys didn't have to deal with mud, but did have to work with strong gusts.  The team took a close second place to Plymouth with 55 points (Plymouth had 52).  Third place went to Clarkston with 70 points.

Varsity Highlights

The day was decidedly chilly with a relentless headwind cutting across the course.  Steely grey clouds kept the sun covered most of the morning.  Later in the day, when the sun did appear, the weather was almost comfortable, but the competing teams faced formidable cold and headwinds at this race, and the sun made is appearance only rarely.

Pioneer's varsity men took to the course and charged off the line, as usual vying for good position amid the competitors.  Eddie was getting his shirt tucked in 20m off the line, but that didn't slow him down one bit. Galen and Costa had really fast starts, and these three made sure to set the pace for the team.  Max looked confident and strong early in the race.  Nick, with his characteristic fast start,  got out well. Lucas had a great sprint off the line, positioning himself well up from the middle of the pack.  Dean was out injured today, struggling with a knee injury, so Dan was asked to join the varsity squad for the first time in the top seven.

At the first mile, Galen and Costa were about twentieth overall, with Eddie and Max just behind them.  They headed into a large circle around some wetlands, and then the spectators could see them charging back to pass behind the starting line.  By this time, they had moved up to around fifteenth place, with Galen and Costa pushing the pace to pass the front runners from Plymouth, U of D Jesuit, Grosse Pointe North and Clarkston.  Max was ahead of Eddie at this point, and Nick was right up there with his teammates.  Lucas and Dan pushed through the wind and gave their all to pass other racers.  At the second mile, Pioneer's leaders had moved into the top ten, and worked well in the wooded path to keep picking off competitors along the way.  It was gratifying to see that they had moved up so well through the second mile.

When they came to the flats just before the chute, Costa put on a flying sprint, accelerating the entire way and earning a third place finish overall.  Costa makes this sport look like a breeze!  He is always smiling and seems very pleased, as well he should because he just gets faster and faster!  Somewhere in mile three, Eddie made his move to get to the front of the pack.  He just edged out Galen at the end.  Galen was right with him, gritting his teeth to the wire.  They finished in 7th and 8th place overall.  Nick was able to put on his sprint and overtake Max; they took 15th and 22nd overall.  Lucas earned a 37th place finish and Dan came in 40th.  Nice work and congratulations on running so well at the varsity level, fellas!  Conditions did not allow for record times here, but the guys put up a valient battle on the course today.