Alyica Peterson was the fifth Laker to cross the finish line in last week’s regional. On Saturday, she was the first.
“We hit the second mile and we were running as a pack and I just got excited,” she said with a laugh. “I was pretty pumped.”
So were the Lakers, who hoped to contend for Division 4 state titles. Both teams made bids to bring home a trophy before coming up short at Michigan International Speedway as the girls placed third and the boys were fourth.
“They came out good, they pushed hard and I don’t think any of them had anything left at the end, and that’s all you can ask for,” said second-year Bear Lake coach Tony Shrum. “The last two years it’s been a blessing and a privilege to work with them.”
Beal City finished with 120 points to claim the girls state title while Breckenridge was second (136) and Bear Lake, which was the runner-up last year, was third (158) in the 27-team field.
“I am pretty happy with that; I think we ran really well,” said junior Keena Gilbert. “We were all really close together and that’s what we wanted.”
Peterson took 37th in 20:33 to lead the Lakers while McKaya Groenwald (47th, 20:44), Gilbert (50th, 20:47), Kelly Babcock (53rd, 20:50) and Faith Moerdyk (69th, 21:08) completed the team score and Alyson Fink (96th, 21:35) and Meredith Hengy (167th, 23:10) also ran for the Lakers, who were ranked No. 7 in the final michigancrosscountry.com poll.
“I think they ran great as a team,” Shrum said. “We talked last night that the key for them today if they wanted to place well was they had to run in a close pack and they did.
“The order was different than it was a week ago, but given everything they’ve gone through this year — we dealt with some injuries here and there — to come in ranked seventh and finish third I thought they ran fantastic.”
Shrum said he felt bad for Schoedel missing out on an All-State medal by just three places in his senior season, but commended his performance and improvement.
“That’s the type of effort collectively these guys have put in over the last two years,” Shrum said. “Same goes for the girls.”
It’s the second straight year both teams have finished in the top 10 and the first time both were in the top five since 2002.
“We’ve got a tradition here, obviously, that’s been built for a long time,” Shrum said. “I think we should be a top-five team every year — that should be the goal. I think we have the right athletes to continue that tradition.
“I think it’s great to see the way our community gets behind our kids and really encourages them and I hope some of the kids have seen what’s happened over the last few weeks and it will inspire them and things just continue to progress and we’ll keep that tradition going.”
The girls lose two seniors (Babcock and Moerdyk) and the boys three (Girven, Schoedel and Peterson).
“Most of the best teams across the board, they’re all losing seniors,” Shrum said. “Next year we reload. I think the future is bright on both sides.”
