Varsity Highlights
 
The varsity men’s team took 2nd place overall at the second SEC jamboree at Mill Pond in Saline.  Conditions were overcast and cool as the runners took their places at the start.  At the gun, the men jumped out with the fastest start yet this season.  Nick Aukerman was in front for Pioneer followed by Galen, Costa, Max and Dean and the rest of the men including Boris, Nick, Dan, Lucas and Rob.  The majority of the race was dominated by Saline’s Logan Wetzel and Nick Renberg.  Galen and Costa ran side by side up front for Pioneer as they rounded the sharp corner to scale the killer hill. Dean, Max and Eddie were next in a tight group followed by Boris, Nick, Danny, Lucas and Robbie spread out in a long string.  Coming down the hill in the first loop, Nick Renberg flew past Wetzel and maintained a 30 second lead ahead of any other runners.  Next out of the woods we saw Galen and Costa running down the hill together with Eddie, Dean and Max a few strides behind each other.

In the second loop, Galen and Costa maintained their collective pace.  Eddie followed 10 paces behind, followed by Max, Nick and Dean.  Rounding the last tight corner to the finish, Costa stretched out to take the lead and finished strong with a powerful sprint by 8-10 paces.  Galen and Eddie came in together neck and neck to take 4th and 5th places, respectively. Dean ran very well. He concentrated hard to stay up with Galen and Eddie.  Max had an unfortunate fall, losing his footing on the slick grassy slope.  He recovered and kept racing but it took precious seconds off his time and shook his concentration a bit.  Lucas Arrivo put in his first run on varsity and proved himself capable and ready for the task.

Read here for MLive report on the SEC Jamboree #2.

JV Highlights
 
A heavy drizzle fell as the JV runners lined up at the starting line.  Jacob Johnson shot out front at the gun to lead Pioneer and maintained this position for the entire race.  Close behind at the start were Tyler, Zach, Mark and Will; followed by the rest of the JV men. The Saline runners dominated most of the top ten positions.  Just before “Killer Hill” Jacob was in 12th place overall and held a look of focused intensity on his face.  Mark, Tyler and Ancel made the turn to attack the hill soon after Jacob.  Around the one-mile mark, Will Jibson pulled a hamstring, which caused him to slowly lose ground in the race. 

At mile two, Jacob continued his steady pace.  Tyler was running a strong race with determination.  Mark, Ancel, Will, Jacob, William, David, Josh, James, Tristan, Nick Liu, Zach Fogel, Dario, Alex, Stone, Maro, and Jerry followed in groups of two and three throughout the course.  By mile three, Saline and one runner from Bedford held the top 11 positions with Jacob in 12th.  The positions before mile 3 were as follows: Jacob J., Tyler, Mark, Jacob N., William, Will, Josh, James, Tristan, David, Ancel, Nick L., Zach, Dario, Alex, Stone, Jerry and Mario.  At the finish, Tristan edged out James by 5/10 of a second at the finish while Dario put in a strong kick to come in ahead of Zach and Nick Liu.  Zach ended up getting pushed into a park bench and suffered a gash that required stitches.  Although the rain had let up, Saline did not.  The JV Pioneer team earned 3rd place overall at this wet and challenging race.