Bear Lake’s Alycia Peterson approaches the finish
line on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn
during the Division 4 state finals. (Matt Wenzel/News Advocate)
BROOKLYN — The Bear Lake girls headed south on Friday
with hope. They came back Saturday with hardware.
The Lakers finished second in the Division 4 state finals
on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway to record their best
finish since 1998.
“At the pep rally (Friday), we talked about hanging a
banner in the gym,” said Bear Lake coach Tony Shrum, who was a senior on
the 1998 team. “So, now we get to hang a banner.”
While the girls’ runner-up trophy matched their state
ranking heading into the meet, the Bear Lake boys finished where they
were projected, in ninth place.
“We didn’t lose or gain anything,” said junior John
Girven.
A year after taking 12th, the Bear Lake girls finished
with 142 points, behind state champion Homer (118) and ahead of third
place Harbor Springs (157), which came in ranked No. 1.
“Second is awesome,” said Taylor Anderson, the lone
senior on the girls team. “I can’t be more proud of my team this year.
We worked really hard.”
Individually, sophomore Keena Gilbert (25th, 20:07) and
junior Faith Moerdyk (28th, 20:09) earned All-State honors by finishing
in the top 30. McKaya Groenwald (43rd, 20:33), Kelly Babcock (46th,
20:38) and Alycia Peterson (51st, 20:46) rounded out the team score
while Anderson (102nd, 21:29) and Meredith Hengy (167th, 22:41) also ran
for the Lakers. |
“If they wanted to do what they thought they could do,
they had to run as a pack,” Shrum said. “For them to finish first
through fifth in less than 40 seconds, that’s all you can ask. That’s
the pack they had to run in and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Coming off a 15th-place finish last year, the Bear Lake
boys totaled 267 points in taking ninth while Concord won with 61.
Girven, who won a regional title last week, took 48th in
17:05 to pace the Lakers.
“I would have liked to have run a little more like I did
at regionals, but what can you do?” he said. “The course seemed a little
bit slower, but maybe that was just me.”
Jordan Anderson (76th, 17:25), John Michael Schoedel
(86th, 17:34), Shane Peterson (111st, 17:51) and Alex Barto (115th,
17:56) completed the team score while Jared Bair (154th, 18:27) and Cole
Verrett (160th, 18:34) also ran at MIS.
“It was an awesome day for the guys,” Shrum said. “They
ran a great pack race too.
“We talked about it last night and I said you remind me
of my team when I was in high school,” he added. “When I was a junior,
we finished fourth here. We had four juniors in our top seven, they’ve
got four juniors in their top seven.
“We’ve got some good young guys that are going to be
faster and stronger next year, so next year is going to be a great year
for the guys. It was a great way for them to finish the year. They ran a
great race today and it’s a great launching point for next season.”
The same could certainly be said for the Bear Lake girls.
Like the boys, all five who scored points on Saturday are coming back
next season.
“I hope we’re able to come back as a team again,” Moerdyk
said, “and do just as good or better.”
Posted by Matt Wenzel,
Manistee News Advocate on-line |
