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Lakers Prep
for State
Manistee News Advocate Sports Reporter Matt Wenzel
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BEAR LAKE — For the Bear Lake High School cross country teams, the
last three months have been leading up to this moment. The Laker boys’
and girls’ teams are both heading to the state finals, which serves as
the ultimate focus for the storied program.
“It’s a great accomplishment to take both teams again,” said Bear Lake
coach Eric Ross. “They’ve been practicing hard the last couple weeks to
get ready for it. They’re all looking forward to it.”
Bear Lake, which co-ops with Onekama, qualified for the state finals by
finishing in the top three of a Division 4 regional race on Saturday.
The girls’ team placed third, while the boys’ team finished in second
place, just two points behind winner Traverse City St. Francis.
The narrow defeat came as a bit of a shock to the boys’ team, which
(according to a count of the trophies at Bear Lake High School by
athletic director Jeff Harthun), had won the regional each of the last
seven years and 14 of the last 16.
“I think it’s a kick in the butt for them,” Ross said. “I don’t know
if they took it for granted. It’s a wake-up call to let them know that
there are a lot of other teams out there. We’re a team that always wants
to knock another team off their pedestal, and it looked like when we
weren’t looking, someone did it to us.”
Ross commended the Gladiators for taking first place and said there’s a
silver lining to his boys’ team getting knocked off. |
“That’s a great accomplishment for TC St. Francis,” he said. “I don’t
know if we had a rivalry when we went to that meet, and now it’s on, and
I think that’s a great thing for cross country. I think it will put a
little bit of hunger in our kids to want to work harder over the
summer.”
While off season conditioning is a long way away, the Lakers are only
three days from running in the state finals at the Michigan
International Speedway in Brooklyn on Saturday. The Division 4 boys’
race begins at 10 a.m., while the Division 4 girls’ race starts at 11
a.m.
The Bear Lake boys team is comprised of John Evans, Jaron Llewellyn,
Chuck Schoedel, Ryan Pienta, Josh Goins, Cody Graf and Tyler Groenwald.
The Laker girls’ team is made up of Brenna Miller, Shelby Sidor,
Elizabeth Schoedel, Anna Veverica, Tobi Schoedel, Danielle Ward and
Jaylee Brown.
“We’ve tapered (practice) down this week so they’re going to go into
Saturday with some strong legs,” Ross said. “They’re prepared for it and
hopefully, with the mental aspect of it, they’ll run their best race.”
Last year, the Bear Lake girls placed 13th while the boys took 15th in
the state finals and both teams are hoping to improve on those finishes.
In the final poll of this year, the Laker girls and boys are ranked
seventh and 10th, respectively.
“The ratings don’t mean anything to me,” Ross said. “So much depends on
the day of (the race). That’s what is so great about this race, it
brings the best out of your runners. When they run, they’re probably
going to get an 80 percent boost in adrenaline. For the seniors, it’s
the last race of their careers. For others, they’re almost running
scared for a bit. It’s just the enormity of the event. We have a good
group of committed kids and I think they’re going to do great.” |
