Rogers City boys take second; off to state meet

by Angie Asam, Staff Writer

The runners were off in a sea of colors for the first one- half mile inside the walls of the Speedway before crossing the track and winding around the back area of the Speedway for nearly two miles. Just after crossing the two-mile mark of the 3.1-mile race the boys reentered the speedway to run the last three-quarters of a mile along the side of the racetrack finishing near the actual finish line for the racetrack.

In qualifying for the state finals the team became the first boys? team under coach Rob Kortman to qualify. ?I am proud of them for making it. I thought we ran well. I do think we were a little star struck with the number of runners there and the atmosphere,? said coach Kortman.

The Hurons finished 26th as a team. Junior Joe Sobeck led the Huron finishers as he finished the course in 18:34.8 for 145th place overall. Sophomore Paul Wilbert was just nine seconds behind Sobeck at 18:43.7 for 156th. Posen sophomore Warren Beach, competing with the Hurons through a co-op was 179th at 19:02.8 while freshman Colton Fessler was 187th at 19:15. Posen senior Patrick Schuch, a late addition to the team rounded out the Hurons scoring as he was 202nd at 19:48

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Also running for the Hurons were junior Vinny Szczerowski, 227th at 21:26 and junior Vincent Kuznicki, 234th at 23:53. Fessler was one of just 27 freshmen running in the race and was 21st among them running at a mile pace of 6:12. Wilbert was 40th among sophomores with a mile pace of 6:02 while Beach was 46th out of a total 62 sophomores with a mile pace of 6:08. Sobeck was the 41st junior to cross the line with a mile pace of 5:59 while Szczerowski was 62nd pace of 6:54 and Kuznicki as 66th with a pace of 7:42. Schuch was 75th among the seniors to cross the finish line and had a mile pace of 6:23.

Schuch was the lone Huron to set a new personal record on the day and will be the lone member of the team lost to graduation. ?I am looking forward to a return trip next year with a better and stronger team as the runners continue to mature and new runners join the team,? said coach Kortman. The top 30 finishers in the race received all-state honors with the final time of those top 30 at 16:48.1. Senior Kyle Tait of Big Rapids Crossroads Charter Academy won the race with a time of 15:25.4. Harbor Springs, who took first at regionals in Ellsworth took third as a team and had two all-state runners and five runners in the top 40.

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