Varsity highlights

Pioneer Men's Cross-Country team ran away with the Division I team championship at the Nike-Holly Invitational, giving notice to the rest of the state that they should not look past Pioneer on November 6th at MIS. On a perfect day for running, Pioneer outdistanced second place Howell by an astounding 71 points, to take home it's first invitational championship in six years!

Led again by Senior Co-Captains Morty Stensones-Fornaess (16:15) and Takashi Gould (16:23), and Junior Peter Christmas (16:50), Pioneer had three runners in the top ten finishing 2nd, 3rd, and 8th respectively. Morty continues to run consistently strong races, while providing the stability we need in the number one position. The Holly track, a loopy, round-a-bout course, with a finish up a very steep hill, made personal best times few and far between. Takashi however did drop :15 seconds from his time at Bedford in a well managed race with only :13 seconds separating his first, second and third mile splits. And Peter distinguished himself as the fastest junior at the Holly Invitational running an impressive race. Great job guys!

In those always important fourth and fifth positions, Juniors Eric Anderson (17:23) finished 24th and Craig Marlatt (17:32) finished 29th. Eric continues his steady improvement with an impressive run knocking :08 seconds off his best time. And Craig remains to be dependable race after race by finishing in the top thirty runners. Keep up the good work! Senior Kyle Kulseth (17:53) ran another strong race, finishing just :05 seconds off his season best time on a difficult course, and finishing in 45th place. Kyle's maturity and leadership will prove to be extremely beneficial as the season progresses. Junior Lang Burghardt (18:51) rounded out the varsity scoring by finishing in 80th place.

So congratulations on your dominating victory at the nationally recognized Nike-Holly Invitational. The celebration is now over, and it's back to work as Pioneer eagerly anticipates its next meet (wherever it is), and continue working toward achieving our final goal.

Varsity team results

Team	              Points
1. Ann Arbor Pioneer	66
2. Howell	       137
3. Troy	               142
4. South Lyon	       159
5. Brother Rice	       166
6. Sylvania Northview  172
7. Troy Athens	       189
8. Lake Orion	       201

Pioneer varsity runners

Place	Runner	                  Time
2nd	Morty Stensones-Fornaess  16:15
3rd	Takashi Gould	          16:23
8th	Peter Christmas	          16:50
24th	Eric Anderson	          17:23  PR! (:08)
29th	Craig Marlatt	          17:32
45th	Kyle Kulseth	          17:48
80th	Lang Burghardt	          18:51

Junior varsity highlights

For the third time in three straight meets, the Pioneer JV squad blew away the competition at Holly. Pioneer had an astounding eight finishers in the top fifteen places. Sophomore Ben Bross (17:55), Sophomore Nick Ochal (18:07), and Junior Leo Callender (18:09) led the way with a second, third and fourth place finish. Even more impressive is that all three of these runners ran PR's on a very difficult course! Freshman Charlie Clavell (18:17) continues to be a force with a seventh place finish, and Junior Mark Antonuk (18:34) and Senior Dale White (18:39) finished in ninth and tenth place respectively rounding out the top ten.

Sophomore Mack McDonald-Wilkens (18:47) continues to improve as he finished with an impressive PR and a twelve place finish. And Sophomore Jon Voiles (18:53) dropped an incredible 3:45 from his time at the Brother Rice meet to finish in fourteenth place. Only two other runners had personal bests at this meet, as the course was a bit slower than Bedford. Junior Yan Charniauski dropped 38 seconds and finished under the 20-minute mark for the first time. Great job Yan! And Freshman Andrew Copp (21:16) ran a solid race and solidified his spot as one of the top runners in the freshman class, taking 19 seconds off of his previous best time.

Other notable performances were Senior Adam Fisher (19:09) and Senior Jeff Nao (19:17). Sophomore Miles Atwell (19:52), Junior Jake Holmes (20:35), and Junior David Hanss (21:14) all turned in seasons-best times.

Name		        Time
Ben Bross		17:55  PR! (:02)
Nick Ochal		18:07  PR! (:03)
Leo Callender		18:09  PR! (:19)
Charlie Cavell		18:17
Mark Antonuk		18:34
Dale White		18:39
Mack McDonald-Wilkens	18:47  PR! (:11)
Jon Voiles		18:53
Adam Fisher		19:09
Jeff Nao		19:17
Will Barden		19:25
Tyler Vane		19:34
Zach DeGeorge	        19:47
Miles Atwell		19:52
Yan Charniauski	        19:57  PR! (:38)
Nick Rivard		19:59
Taylor Deluca		20:08
Joe Stapleton		20:09
Greg Johnson		20:17
Jamie Fogel		20:29
Jake Holmes		20:35
Jon Strader		20:50
David Hanss		21:14
Andrew Copp		21:16  PR! (:19)
RJ Stefl		21:17
John Boonin		22:17
Kinshuk Rajan		22:22
Tommy Held		22:37
Jack Durham		23:24
Paul Kimeldorf	        23:27
Chris Launius		24:13
Malte Herlitze		24:29
Lars Zwannenburg 	DNF

Final notes

As it stands now, our next meet will be October 2 at the Haslett Invitational. We do not have a lot of information at this time regarding this invite. During this two-week break we will have the traditional Cider Run scheduled for Saturday September 25th. For the freshman families, this is a fun workout, with the run ending at the cider mill, and of course that means cider and doughnuts for the guys! On an organizational note, we are looking for someone to spearhead organizing drinks and food at the meets. This responsibility includes receiving any drinks or food prior to the meet from families that cannot attend the meets, and getting it to the meet. Right now we are okay for supplies, but it is getting toward the lean side. If anybody would like to volunteer contact Bob Anderson at blek5@aol.com.

PR! - new personal record, refers to all-time PR, not just the best time of the season