Varsity highlights
The Ann Arbor Pioneer Cross Country team brought home the Regional
championship for the first time in many years, as they completely
dominated the field on a beautiful day at Willow Metro Park. In what
can only be described as a true "team" victory, Pioneer finished with
seven runners in the top 22 places, as they ran away with the title.
In a classic duel, Senior Captain Peter Christmas (15:41) tied his
personal best time as he defeated Monroe's Cole Sanseverino (Portage
Invite Champion) for the individual title. Peter ran a very smart
and well paced race as the early leader from Huron set a blazing pace
for the first mile and a half trying to run away from the field
early. Not taking the bait, Pete had enough juice left in him to
pull away from Sanseverino in the last 800 meters to win the race.
Congratulations Pete! On any other team, Senior Captain Craig
Marlatt would be a #1 runner as he proves week in and week out that
he can run with the best in the state. Craig had his best race of
the year as he finished in 5th place and once again ran to a personal
best time of 16:09. Great job Craig! Senior Captain Eric Anderson
(16:32) also ran a great race with a personal best time and finished
in 9th position, allowing Pioneer to have another big meet with three
finishers in the top ten. Great race today Eric! Pete, Craig and
Eric were also named to the All Regional team!
And in another display of this team's incredible depth, Coach Sleeman
had to change his normal lineup because of injuries to two runners.
This would normally spell trouble for most teams, but our four
through seven runners really rose to the challenge. Senior Leo
Callender (16:47) had his best race of the year dropping 23 seconds
off of his previous best time and finished in 16th place. Leo seems
to be on track for a great finish to the year! Senior Will Barden
(16:54) also ran his best race of the year and also dropped 23
seconds off of his PR, as he finished in 18th place and makes his bid
for the state meet team. Sophomore Eric Hubbard (16:55) surprised
everyone with his 24 second drop and 19th place finish, as he also
makes a statement for running next Saturday. All three of these guys
broke 17:00 for the first time with huge drops in their times, as
they really came through for the team. Freshman Dan Culbertson
(17:03) continues to run well and gain valuable experience for the
state meet as he rounded out the scoring in 22nd place.
This team has set the table for next Saturday's state meet and seem
to relish the role of underdog heading to MIS. Each week Pioneer has
made progress toward their ultimate goal of bringing home a state
championship, and this Regional victory gives them the momentum and
confidence in themselves to accomplish this objective.
Junior varsity highlights
In what turned out to be a very fast JV race (with times 30 seconds
faster than last year), Pioneer ran extremely well, taking 8 of the
top 20 places. Junior Paul Versluis ran a tactical race, overtaking
a Saline runner the second time around on the big hill. Battling to
the end, Paul won in 17:14. Senior Mark Antonuk (17:33) was in close
pursuit all the way, taking 4th place. Sophomore Taylor DeLuca
(17:46), still sporting a sore Achilles, gave it all he could and
finished in 8th place. Senior Paul Corbett and Junior Mike Weisbuch
(18:04) came in 14th and 15th, followed in 16th place by Sophomore
Jonathan Henrichs (18:11), finishing with a personal best. Juniors
Jamie Fogel (18:14) and John Strader (18:17) had great races,
finishing 18th and 19th. Excellent race by the whole JV team!
For some of our runners, it was their final Pioneer cross country
meet. What a bittersweet moment for all. On the one hand, it is sad
to think this is their last cross country race at Pioneer. On the
other hand, they have much to be proud of and will have fond memories
of their high school cross country days to carry with them over the
years. They have contributed so much to the team over the years and
have served as inspiring role models for the underclassmen. Four of
those seniors have run all four years. This is an incredible
accomplishment. We know the rigorous demands of training for cross
country and many a runner has dropped out after a year or two. But,
these four stuck it out for the duration. Lang Burghardt (voted most
promising Freshman in 2002), Mark Antonuk, and Paul Corbett have had
great cross country careers at Pioneer, often running on the varsity
team. And, Paul Kimeldorf has improved over the years, saving a
great PR of 21:59 for his last race. Paul embodies the heart and
soul of Pioneer cross country. It won't be the same without these
guys!
Five seniors ran three years of cross country - also quite an
achievement! Yan Charniauski, David Del Zoppo, David Hanss, Jon
Levinsohn, and Lars Zwaanenburg have all seen tremendous improvement
over the last three years. They represent what cross country is all
about - hard work, commitment, setting and meeting goals, and working
together as a team.
Thank you, seniors, for your devotion to Pioneer cross country. We
will miss each and every one of you very much.
Final notes
The State Meet is this Saturday November 5th at the Michigan
International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. We think the Men's
Division I will start around 2:00. It would be great if we could
have a big turnout from our parents and runners, like we have all
year long. So make a point to drive down to MIS next Saturday, and
support our team. Go Pioneer!
PR! - new personal record, refers to all-time
PR, not just the best time of the season
Go Pioneers!