Laker
boys, girls qualify for
state finals
Posted by
Matt Wenzel,
Manistee
News Advocate
BENZONIA — Jaylee Brown
could have been
satisfied finishing
eighth, and Tyler
Groenwald content with
seventh.
Neither was, and that’s
what it’s all about at
this time of the year.
Despite having already
logged three miles, both
found an extra gear late
to pass a runner in the
final few feet during
Saturday’s Division 4
regional at Benzie
Central.
“They dug deep to finish
it out, not to be
content with what they
had,” said Bear Lake
coach Eric Ross. “They
truly understand that
every runner is worth a
point — get them and
you’ve got a point. We
need every single point
we can possibly get.”
The Lakers got the
points they needed as
the girls took second
and the boys third to
qualify both teams for
the state finals at
Michigan International
Speedway.
“That’s the best third
place I’ve ever seen,
that’s the best second
place I’ve ever seen,”
Ross said. “To me,
they’re two first-place
finishes.”
Brown, who battled a
back injury at the start
of the season, closed
strong Saturday by
passing Abby Fifarek of
Grand Traverse Academy
just before the finish
line to take seventh in
20:31.
“I don’t know where that
came from,” Brown said
of the late push. “I
think it was more
adrenaline than
anything. It’s just a
little more pain — it
won’t kill you.”
GTA won the seven-team
girls race with 36
points, Bear Lake, which
co-ops with Onekama, was
second (62) and Traverse
City St. Francis third
(77) to round out the
qualifiers for the state
finals.
|
“I’m really
happy our team could go (to the state finals) this year because we’re
all really close, we get along very well and we just wanted it all for
everybody,” said Jaylee Brown, who will be making her fourth trip to
MIS. “I want the freshmen to experience state because they’ll love it.”
Keena Gilbert finished ninth (20:33), McKaya
Groenwald 20th (21:26), Kelly Babcock 21st (21:27) and Alycia Peterson
25th (21:57) to round out the Bear Lake team score, while Meredith Hengy
30th (22:31) and Taylor Anderson 43rd (23:26) also ran for the Lakers.
“As a team total, they cut five minutes
off,” Ross said. “That’s insane, that’s awesome. It was a week of rest
and mental preparation, diet — they did phenomenal.”
In the Division 4 boys race, Tyler
Groenwald took a cue from Brown by passing Frankfort’s Felix Sartorius
in the final couple steps to take sixth in 17:14.
“It’s a lot of will and determination,”
Groenwald said. “Especially being a senior, I wanted to go out on a good
note, be happy with the way I ran and not look back and say, ‘wow, I
could have run so much harder.’ That’s pretty much all I did.”
Rounding out the Bear Lake team score was
Shane Peterson (12th, 17:40), John Girven (16th, 18:04), Alex Barto
(20th, 18:12) and Kyle Nettler (22nd, 18:16), while Jared Bair (25th,
18:31) and Alex Ringel (31st, 18:52) also ran for the Lakers.
Evart, which dropped down from Division 3
to 4 this year, cruised to a regional title with the first four
individual finishers en route to 22 points while GTA was second (56) and
Bear Lake third (68) in the 10-team race. The Lakers won nine of the
last 10 regional titles but couldn’t keep up with the Wildcats. However,
Ross certainly wasn’t disappointed.
“It’s always been assumed that they’ll
win a regional title but them finishing third was the most satisfying
race to watching them run — better than watch them win the title because
they had to work for what they got,” Ross said. “It’s the first year
they actually had to work to get to state.” |
