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Portage Invitational
October 8, 2011
Pioneer is 5th at Portage!
| Place |
Team |
Points |
| 1st |
Hartland |
97 |
| 2nd |
Saline |
145 |
| 3rd |
Grand Blanc |
153 |
| 4th |
Brighton |
155 |
| 5th |
Ann Arbor Pioneer |
174 |
| 6th |
Rockford |
176 |
| 7th |
Dexter |
222 |
| 8th |
St. Edward |
238 |
| 9th |
Grand Haven |
238 |
| 10th |
Bedford |
279 |
39 teams competed in the Men's D1 Varsity race.
Varsity
Highlights
The Pioneer Men's Cross Country Team
traveled to Portage Michigan, the site of the Portage Invitational Meet. The race at Portage is a good indicator of the competition
the team will face at the State meet in November, if they qualify at Regionals. Many age groups run here, so the venue
is loaded with runners, officials, vendors and spectators. This year, ths sun was brilliant, the sky clear, the temperatures
quite warm, in the upper 70's and the course was dry.
The starting line is quite a sight to see, starting on
the crest of a mild slope, with hundreds of racers crowding to get to the front of the pack. When the starting gun sounds,
the men charge off straight towards a shallow valley, then up a hill to the edge of the school grounds. Pioneer's
varsity team was right in the thick of things, with Galen, Costa and Eddie pushing the pace for good position. After
the second turn, which takes them around a stand of trees at about 800m, Galen, Costa and Eddie followed the lead runners
from Saline, Dexter, Heartland and Grand Blanc in around the twentieth position, then came Dean, Max, Nick and Lucas.
Up the slope they went again to head into the woods where they narrowed into a line at the first mile marker. At this
point, Galen still led the Pioneers, but Eddie and Costa were right on his heels. Max stayed up well followed by Dean,
Nick and Lucas.
The front two racers from Saline and Dexter were battling in the third mile, and Pioneers had moved
into around the eighteenth position overall. The final stretch is a wide-open field, with two L-turns toward the chute.
When the guys put their kick on, some exciting switches took place, most notably the Dexter runner overtaking the Saline man
to win the race, and Eddie edging out Galen at the line and claiming Pioneer's number one spot. Galen had a brilliant
run, strategically moving into the top fifteen and keeping pace with the top racers all along, bettering his time by more
than five seconds. Eddie was weaving nicely through traffic, making it look easy to glide into 14th place position overall.
Eddie chopped a huge 13 seconds off his last best time. Costa and Max kept their focus and pushed as hard as they could. Dean
dropped back, perhaps the result of the heat, which affected many runners here today. Nick claimed fifth-man here and
earned himself a new personal record, well done, Nick! Lucas wasn't phased by competing as freshman in a varsity
race of this magnitude. He sliced almost twenty seconds for his new personal record. It's great to see that progres,
Lucas. The Pioneers took fifth place here, with 174 points. Coach Sleeman, who celebrated his birthday with the
team today, sees a lot of potential with these guys and will keep them focused and trained for the big races ahead.
Varsity Results
| Place |
Name |
Time |
New PR? |
| 14 |
Eddie Codrington |
16:24.8 |
PR! -13.8s |
| 15 |
Galen Burrell |
16:25.1 |
PR! -5.3s |
| 29 |
Costa Willets |
16:44.4 |
|
| 48 |
Max Shpilband |
16:55.6 |
|
| 68 |
Nick Aukerman |
17:17.6 |
PR! -13.4s |
| 114 |
Lucas Arrivo |
17:42.9 |
PR! -19.8s |
| 126 |
Dean Brigham |
17:50.6 |
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JV Highlights
The reserve team ran a couple hours after the
varsity race, and the day was even sunnier, if that is possible. Coach had talked to the guys about hydration earlier
in the week, and everyone was careful to drink water. Although Pioneer's team didn't have any instances, there
were some kids passing out during or after the races here in Portage.
The gun sounded and hundreds of runners stampeded
off to set the pace for the JV competition. Out front were Rob, Dan and Jake, followed closely by Tyler. Co-captains
Mark and Stephen were excited to match their racing skills at Portage. This is the first race of the season for Stephen,
coming off a stress fracture in his foot. Welcome back to Fall racing, Stephen! Mark and Stephen indulged in some pre-race
razzing, each wanting to best the other, all in good-natured fun. After the first mile, there was some trading of position,
with Dan, Jake and Rob testing each other at the front, and Stephen, Ancel, Tyler and Jacob close on their heels. Will
was moving along very well, especially in heavy traffic. William, Mark, James, Nick and Dario ran along in the string
that was about three abreast at this point. Soon after, we spotted Zach, Stone, Maro, Jerry and Jackson – all going
at their fastest pace and negotiating around other runners on the way.
At the finish, Dan Fonte came on strong
with his kick, gliding over the finish line in first place for the Pioneers. Dan took a big chunk out of his last best
time: over sixteen seconds! Nice work, Dan! Rob was passing other guys all along the home stretch.
Dan and Rob came in 27th and 37th overall. Jake kept a nice steady pace and finished third for the Pioneers, 39th overall.
Ancel and Jacob kept pace with each other for most of the run, but today Jacob was triumphant. However, both guys were
happy because they set new personal records. Well done, Jacob and Ancel! Stephen, happy to have been able to finish
the whole race without a flare-up and happy to have passed Mark on the trail, looked strong out there. Tyler, with his
flair for the finish doesn't appear to run but rather to fly over the line! Will and Dario, both freshmen, did very well
on the course, especially Dario, who bettered his time by almost twelve seconds. Keep up the good work, Dario!
James was smiling all through the last 200m, happy to finish this race and remembering how close he came last year, only to
black out just shy of the finish. Not only did he finish, he took a hefty chunk off his time, almost half a minute.
Way to go, James! Mark looked controlled and confident finishing his race. Nick Liu had a great sprint at the
end of the race, with an exciting kick passing competitors all the way in. Nick is really doing well race to race, this
time taking almost a quarter of a minute off his best time. William Yang and Zach Fogel were trading places a bit on the course
today, coming in really close at the end, William just a second in front of Zach. Glad your Achilles is letting you
run, Zach! Stone Mathers had a very healthy showing, lopping off twenty seconds plus! Wow, keep that up, Stone!
Jerry Chen also set a new personal record and always looks happy out there on the run. Jackson, just back from a terrible
bout with an upper respiratory infection, did really well here at this big race. Glad you're feeling well enough
to run again, Jackson!
JV Results
| Place |
Name |
Time |
New PR? |
| 27 |
Dan Fonte |
18:05.9 |
PR! -16.6s |
| 37 |
Robert Frakes |
18:17.8 |
|
| 39 |
Jacob Johnson |
18:20.7 |
|
| 82 |
Jacob Norton |
19:02.2 |
PR! -10.8s |
| 83 |
Ancel Kalakailo |
19:03.0 |
PR! -2.5s |
| 90 |
Stephen Doll |
19:08.6 |
|
| 99 |
Tyler Leach |
19:16.1 |
|
| 109 |
Will Jibson |
19:24.8 |
|
| 124 |
Dario Potter |
19:35.2 |
PR! -11.7s |
| 154 |
James Oh |
19:50.9 |
PR! -26.2s |
| 192 |
Mark Flamme |
20:16.3 |
|
| 206 |
Nicholas Liu |
20:28.7 |
PR! -12.6s |
| 216 |
William Yang |
20:34.3 |
|
| 281 |
Zach Fogel |
21:21.4 |
|
| 317 |
Stone Mathers |
21:49.9 |
PR! -21.4s |
| 375 |
Maro Roh |
22:45.8 |
|
| 376 |
Jerry Chen |
22:46.1 |
PR! -10.8s |
| 396 |
Jackson Hall |
23:28.5 |
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437 runners finished the Men's D1 JV race.
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