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Most of powerhouse teams, individuals, confirm status going into state series
Story by SteveU
 | Senior Dan Culbertson led the charge for D1 champ Pioneer. Photo by Davey, runmichigan.com
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Besides simply being the biggest, highest quality invitational in the state, the massive 11th Annual Portage Invitational can also serve as a good barometer. For many teams, it’s the last big invitational of the season, with conference, regional and state action in the four weeks to follow, leading up to the state final. Each of the varsity races had their own drama and storylines, but if you were looking for conclusions among the state’s top powerhouses, this is what you learned by the end of the day:
Ann Arbor Pioneer’s boys squad is the team to beat this season. Traverse City Central’s girls crew was the team to beat this week.
Translations: First of all, Pioneer looks like it has developed the depth to sustain a drive to the championship. With a 31-second spread and a sixth-man at 16:20, Coach Don Sleeman’s bunch scored 67 in the D1 race and won by 43 over a strong field, even if it wasn’t quite as deep in terms of ranked teams as some of the other races. No other team in Michigan is this deep and if they stay healthy, they look to be the favorites at MIS in a month.
“The most important thing is that we run as a team, we train as a team, and we compete as a team,” said Pioneer senior Dan Culbertson, who led the effort in 7th (15:49). “That’s a credit to Coach Sleeman.”
But as good as Traverse City Central’s victory in the girls D1 race was, no such conclusions can be drawn. Every time a group of the top girls D1 teams have met – and they have done so several times in different combinations – it’s been an unpredictable Wild West shootout with the win falling to whoever had the best combinations on that day. Saturday, it was the 4th-ranked Trojans, with a strong group of five in the top 26, with 35-second spread, that carried the day. They scored 90, with #3 Rockford (98), #1 Saline (109), and #2 Grand Haven (133) following.
Her team had been beaten by Rockford and Grand Haven the previous week at Carson City, but Coach Lisa Taylor never puts too much emphasis on the big invites, anyway, keeping the focus firmly on the preparation for the big finale in November. “I think one thing that helped this week is just that we were regrouping on the reality that we really do have a fine team. Sometimes I think we forget that.”
 | 5th girl Sam Ehle (center, #699) was a key player for the winning Trojans in D1. Photo by Davey, runmichigan.com
| The favorites and top-ranked teams came through in most of the other team battles. Brad Ferrara led D2 #1 Linden to a triumph by more than 50 points, while the top-ranked D2 team on the girls side, Grand Rapids Christian, topped East Grand Rapids. In D3 girls, #2 Jackson Lumen Christi was the top-ranked team there and overcame Allendale, while the #1 boys team in that division, Hillsdale, rolled to victory. The leading powerhouses in D4, the Hesperia girls and Potterville boys, both scored very convincing wins.
The best team and individual performances in this day-long affair don’t always come in the state’s biggest classification, but this time they did in every case. In the D1 boys race, Warren De LaSalle sr Ben Miller took out the first mile in 4:41 and held on for the victory in a meet-best 15:24. Dundee Crown OH’s Anthony Manfrin was 2nd in 15:33; they were the only two to break 15:40 Saturday. The other individual winners were Linden’s Brad Ferrara (15:46) in D2, Albion’s Paul Lewis (15:48) in D3, and Concord’s Kyle Stacks (15:43) in D4.
Meanwhile, the girls got faster with each progressive race. Defending D4 and D3 state champs Lindsay Neal (North Muskegon) and Devan John (Allendale) started it off with 19:11, then 18:12, respectively. In the D2 race, Milan’s Jordan Tomecek ripped a sub-18, stopping the clock at 17:55. But Grand Haven sr Becca Addison came through in the final race of the day, scorching the course in 17:50.
“I felt really good out there,” said Addison. “I usually stay back until later in the race, but I felt good in front of the pack today.”
By the end of the day, which included several JV and middle school races, there were a lot of happy faces – and a lot of PRs. The day had been perfect, weather-wise, with temps starting out in the 40s in the morning, but warming to around 60 in the afternoon. With sunny skies and little wind, you could not have hoped for more in early October. And in a meet that has seen brutal Indian Summer heat (nearly 90 last year) and snow (2000, when Dathan Ritzenhein set the boys course record), there was indeed a lot of joy.
The meet has grown into, and continues to be the premier meet in the state. Saturday, there were PRs and great performances to match the prestige.
Highlights
- D1 Girls - Grand Haven sr Becca Addison, the NON 800 runner-up last spring, tops Jordan Tomecek's D2 time and a tough D1 field with an unofficial 17:50. In by far the best team competition of the day, D1 MI#4 Traverse City Central (once #1) wins the latest (and final pre-state) clash among the D1 powers, scoring 90 points. They were followed by #3 Rockford (98), #1 Saline (109) and #2 Grand Haven (133).
- D2 Girls - Jordan Tomecek of Milan first under 18 at 17:54. D2 MI#1 Grand Rapids Christian's depth takes them to a 17-point win, scoring 89 to runner-up #2 East Grand Rapids 106.
- D1 Boys - Warren De LaSalle sr Ben Miller best time of day in 15:24. Top-ranked Ann Arbor Pioneer rolls with 67 points, putting 6 runners between 15:49-16:19.
- D2 Boys - Linden's Brad Ferrara comes from behind to win in 15:45, with Alejandro Arroyo of Culver IN coming up late for 2nd in 15:48. D2 MI#1 Linden takes Vicksburg for team title, 105-159.
- D3 Girls - D3 MI#2 and defending state champ Jackson Lumen Christi, the highest-ranked team in the race, used its 32-second spread and a PR by Bekah Stanton in 6th to overcome #4 Allendale's 1-2 punch in 1st and 5th. Lumen Christi was 2nd here last year. The "1st" was defending Portage and D3 state champ Devan John, who blazed a PR 18:11 for the best effort of the day so far, winning by 38 seconds.
- D4 Girls - Defending state champ Lindsay Neal of North Muskegon, coming off shin splints problems, led almost wire-to-wire in winning with 19:10. North Pointe Christian's Grace Campbell took 2nd in 19:28. Using a pack in 3-4-5 with a senior and 2 freshmen, D4 MI #1 Hesperia crushed the field with 40 points, winning by 68 over defending champ North Pointe Christian.
- D3 Boys - Up-and-coming star Paul Lewis of Albion outkicked Calvin Christian's Edwin Wainaina for the win as both clocked 15:47. Lewis was just 21st at state last year, and beat several that finished ahead of him from last year. D3 MI#1 Hillsdale, just 7th here last year, rolled to the title with 79 points as some of the other favorites fell off. That left room for #6 Shepherd and #9 Whitmore Lake to get 2nd and 3rd.
- D4 Boys - Concord's Kyle Stacks won a terrific battle of D4 stars over defending Portage champ Christian Birky, 15:42-15:48, as both PR'd. Stacks reversed a 26-second loss to Birky last year here. The team battle was not as close with D4 MI #1 and defending state champ Potterville winning by 37 with 88 points. #4 Concord topped #2 Saugatuck for 2nd, 125-146.
Event
Click on link
| Winners
| Division 4 Boys
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Kyle Stacks, Concord, 15:42; Christian Birky Saugatuck, 15:48
Potterville 88, Concord 125, Saugatuck 146
| Division 3 Boys
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Paul Lewis, Albion, 15:47; Edwin Wainaina, Calvin Christian 15:47
Hillsdale 79, Shepherd 130, Whitmore Lake 132
| Division 4 Girls
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Lindsay Neal, N. Muskegon, 19:10; Grace Campbell, N.Pte. Christian, 19:28
Hesperia 40, North Pointe Christian 108, Kalamazoo Cougars 114
| | Division 3 Girls |
Devan John, Allendale, 18:11; Holly Baird, Wauseon, 18:49
Jackson Lumen Christi 71, Allendale 88, Kent City 132
| | Division 2 Boys |
Brad Ferrara, Linden, 15:45; Alejandro Arroyo, Culver, 15:48
Linden 105, Vicksburg 159, Forest Hills Eastern 192
| Division 1 Boys
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Ben Miller, De LaSalle, 15:24; Anthony Manfrin, Dundee Crown, 15:33
Ann Arbor Pioneer 67, Lyons Township 110, Bay City Western 120
| Division 2 Girls
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Jordan Tomecek, Milan, 17:54; Waverly Neer, Culver, 18:08
Grand Rapids Christian 89, East Grand Rapids 106, Gaylord 155
| | Division 1 Girls |
Becca Addison, Grand Haven, 17:50; Jennifer Snelgrove, Grand Ledge, 18:13
Traverse City Central 90, Rockford 98, Saline 109
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