Huron girls take tenth place at state finals

The Rogers City High School girls cross country team traveled to Brooklyn for the State finals last Saturday and made a very respectful tenth place showing. Of the 64 division four schools represented at the state finals this year, Rogers City was the only team to have two runners in the top ten finishers. Freshman Kaylee Kreft took second place overall followed by her sister, senior Lacey Kreft, in ninth place. Kaylee Kreft had to contend with butterflies and nerves in her first state final cross country competition. She also had to settle for something less than her usual first place finish; she took second place (18:36.60) behind junior Marissa Treece (17:57.25) of Maple City Glen Lake. Treece also won the event last year. Lacey Kreft finished in ninth place (19:08.55). Shy and a little bit embarrassed to be talking about herself, Kaylee said it was the first time she had so many people in front of her in a race. ?I started out in a crowd and it took me a while to move up,? she said.

SHE KEPT the pressure on through the race and made her move in the last 600 yards, in a three-way race for second place. Kaylee finished her first state final race with 226 runners behind her and only one in front of her. It is shaping up to be a repeat contest as both runners should return next year. Coach Rob Kortman was pleased with the performance of the girls? team at the state finals in Brooklyn on Saturday. ?I was very happy with the way the girls ran today. It kind of threw us off having extra days off at school this week. It made for a little bit of a trouble during practice,? Kortman said. ?We are losing five seniors on an eleven member team this year so we will be looking for new runners to come out next year. Running in the boys? individual state finals for the second year was senior Derek McLennan. He finished in 47th place (17:24.00) out of a field of 241 runners. It was a perfect day for a cross country race with the sun hidden behind a white cloud cover most of the morning. The temperature was cool and there was no wind.

THE DIVISION four boys? race was the first race of the day, getting under way at 10 a.m. McLennan was the only Rogers City runner in the race. His time was a bit off hi

s best but he crossed the finish line in 47th place. The girls? race began at 11 a.m. with a fast start; at the first mile marker Rogers City?s Kaylee Kreft was in a pack of about 12 runners. The leader of the pack was Marissa Treece, last year?s winner. Treece led throughout the race and finished strong with a time of 17:57.25. A real battle for second place was fought on the last stretch with three runners vying for position and trying to call up every bit of strength for the final kick. In the end, Kreft showed her stamina and speed by pushing ahead a few strides and maintaining that pace across the finish line.

Lacey Kreft overcame shin splints in the beginning of the season to turn in a stellar performance. She kept up the pace and fought off a surge of runners right at the finish line to take ninth place. Last year Lacey just missed the cut of the top thirty runners. The next runner across the line for the Hurons was Sara Bruning in 78th place (21:16.95), followed by Chelsea Kreft 126th (22:13.55), Sara Belusar 180th (23:40.10), Cynthia Belusar 181st (23:41.40), and Janna Schaedig 209th (25:21.15). Coach Rob Kortman was pleased with his team and heaped praise on the girls for a great season, second in the SAC, first in the regionals and tenth in the state standings. The best state finish for the girls? team was fifth in 2001. ?That gives us the goal for next year. I am hoping the team?s successes will encourage some new runners to join the team next year,? he said.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.