|
By Dan Wytko
Four years since the inception of the Portage Invitational, this
meet has become Michigan's largest meet in the state. Over 260 high
school and middle school teams will be in attendance, including
six of Michigan's state championship teams from 2001. Here is a
pre-season look at each of the varsity races.
Division 1
Everyone is wondering what life will be like in Rockford after Dathan
Ritzenhein. Well, we will get to see a first hand experience. The
defending state champions and invitational champions of Rockford
graduated their top six runners. The question will be if any of
the contenders from Saline, Traverse City West, Traverse City Central,
Portage Northern, or Ann Arbor Pioneer can knock off the Rams. This
year's top individuals look to be Jake Hammerle from Woodhaven,
Tyson Warner of Portage Northern, Lance Vanderberg from Muskegon
Mona Shores, and Ian Mayne of Pickering, Ontario. All of these runners
have cracked sub sixteen minute 5k's in their careers.
The 2000 women's national champions and defending invitational
champs from Rockford will be competing again. Rockford looks to
be fully loaded again when looking at this past June's Adidas Outdoor
Championships, placing first and second in the 4 x 1-Mile Relay.
Other top teams competing are Saline, Grand Haven, Kalamazoo Loy
Norrix, Brighton, Portage Central, and Traverse City Central. This
year's top individuals are two sophomores, Nikki Bohnsack of Rockford
and Elisa Zemlick of Loy Norrix. Grand Haven senior, Jentry Soule
will have her eyes set on these two. Sarnia, Ontario will be looking
to bring in a host of runners to contend up front, including Nikki
Reckman who has competed for the Canadian Junior World Cross Country
Team. Eighteen of last year's top twenty-five finishers will be
returning, so the competition looks to be heated.
Division 2
The DII race should be a highly contested rematch of last year's
state championship. St. Clair will be hoping to knock off Big Rapids,
defending state champs and invitational champs. A mere seven points
separated the two teams in the 2000 state championships. Should
these two teams not be up to par on race day, Fremont, Ionia, Gull
Lake, and Tecumseh would be more than happy to take top honors.
Tim Ross, the defending champion from Caledonia, looks to be at
the top of the winner's board again, but he will have to contend
with St. Joseph's Adam Ludwig.
Talk about a loaded race, six of the state's top twelve teams will
be competing, including two-time defending state champs Middleville,
Gull Lake, Battle Creek Lakeview, Big Rapids, St. Clair, and Plainwell.
Whitehall is moving up from D3 to D2 and should fit right into this
mix. Jill LeBlanc of Gull Lake, Carrie Davis from Eaton Rapids,
and Caledonia's Tricia Meidema will be the top returnees. There
is always the speculation of a super frosh entering into this mix.
Division 3
This year there will be a separate race for D3 and D4 due to the
expansion of the meet. The D3 men's race could be a show down between
Stockbridge, Jackson Lumen Christi, Goodrich, Spring Lake, and Wyoming
Kelloggsville. Look for Elk Rapids junior Ben Hammer and Delton
senior Kyle Williams to lead the pack. Stockbridge will have Brandon
Brybas on their heels.
Wyoming Kelloggsville, one of the state's top ten overall women's
teams, will be aiming to repeat as champs. The Rockets were D3 state
champs last year and look to repeat this year. Their main competition
will be Edwardsburg, Jackson Lumen Christi, Hillsdale, and Suttons
Bay. Kelloggsville has sophomore Nicole Bush looking to blaze the
course this year after having run to a 17:53 state title last fall.
Krishawna Parker from Detroit Crockett would like to avenge her
losses to Bush, so lets keep an eye on her.
Division 4
The D4 race could be considered a pre-state championship meet, as
seven of the top ten teams from last year are entered in this race.
Ubly, Lawton, Rogers City, Vandercook Lake, Grass Lake, Concord
and Glen Lake will all duke it out in this October match-up. Top
individuals look to be Keith Longusk of Ubly and brothers Steve
and Elliott Shay from Central Lake. Don't count out any of the runners
from the team contenders either.
This is a race that many people have been looking forward to for
a long time. Defending state champ Glen Lake will be looking to
take home it's first Portage Invitational championship this fall.
Glen Lake has bolstered their line-up with incoming freshman Cassidy
Edwards. Last summer, Cassidy recorded an 18:36 women's overall
first place finish at the Cherry Festival 5K in Traverse City, and
she was only going into the eighth grade. Cassidy has won the girls
middle school race the past two years and holds the record for the
best middle school time on the course. Ann Arbor Greenhills, state
runner-up, Concord, and Rogers City will be hoping to clip Maple
City. Defending state champion Lauren Fairbanks of Rogers City is
hoping to take top honors, but don't count out Jennifer Leichtman,
from Ann Arbor Greenhills, as she was the runner-up to Fairbanks.
Return to Portage Invitational page
|
