State Meet Highlights
Near-perfect conditions – dry, partly cloudy, temperatures just under 55 °F at race-time, minimal wind – promised very fast times for the 2008 State Championship Meet at M.I.S.  Expectations were extremely high - almost too much hype - for the Pioneers.  Senior Dan Culbertson and juniors Nick Kern, Adam Kern and Nathan Karr had competed here before and knew the pitfalls of this course and how strong the competition would be.  Senior David Wallington and juniors Andy Sanz-Guerrero and Joe Frakes had no direct experience, but also no "Ghosts of State Meets Past" to overcome.  The team campsite was almost eerily quiet pre-race as the varsity stretched and listened to I-pods and focused on achieving their common goal – winning.  As the Pioneers waited at the starting line, two former Pioneers asked for a quick photo op!  It might have broken their concentration, but instead seemed to break the tension when they once again took up starting positions in their box.
 
When the gun sounded, Pioneer knew that they needed to be near the front before the traffic jam hit at the first – sharp - turn (just before the course crosses the track to leave the infield).  When the runners emerged outside the track, Pioneer fans were elated to see Dan, David, Nick, Nathan and Adam all within the top 50 or so. Andy was only a few seconds behind, and Joe was battling his way through the traffic jam.  At the 1-mile mark, Dan, David, Nick and Nathan were only a second or so apart, with Adam a few steps behind the leaders, then Andy, then Joe about 10 seconds behind Andy.  The second mile was slower, and when it finished, Dan was leading the Pioneers, with Nick and Nate right behind and Adam and David about 10 seconds back.
 
As the 3rd mile approached, Dan still led the Pioneers, with Nathan a couple of seconds behind, and only about 5-10 seconds between Nick and Adam and David as they battled for final position, with Andy and Joe about 30 seconds further out.  Pioneer fans cheered as Dan challenged, then passed, the remaining Lake Orion runner.

And then a funny thing happened: Nathan remembered that he has one heck of a kick and ignited the jet engines.  He passed that Lake Orion runner and just kept going.  His amazing 27-second kick powered him past Dan just a few meters before the finish line, bringing him in at 8th place.  His 15:34.8 finish time chopped 15.2 seconds from his previous PR.  (Today’s time was almost 2 minutes faster than Nathan’s 192nd-place 2007 finish, on a day he could have called-in sick.)  .  Nathan has cut 55.8 seconds from his 2007 best this season, and we predict more of the same next year.  As the 2nd fastest junior in the 2008 State Meet, Nathan made a bold statement that he intends to battle for the championship next year.  Congratulations Nathan – and good luck next year.
 
Dan crossed the finish line in 9th place, perhaps a little surprised to see Nathan in front, but 2 seconds ahead of the Lake Orion runner he passed during his own kick.  Dan’s official time of 15:35.8 cut 9.2 seconds from his PR and gave him a total improvement of 14.2 seconds for the season.  Dan’s time today was also 56 seconds faster than his State Meet time in 2005, when he was the fastest freshman in D1, and more than a minute faster than his injury-compromised State Meet races in 2006 and 2007.  How sweet it must be to break that string of disappointments with a top-ten finish as a senior!
 
Junior Nick Kern stayed with the leaders for a long time – there are photos to prove it – but began to fade somewhat during the third mile.  Nick took 20th place in 15:46.2, a new PR by 4.6 seconds, and placed ahead of several well-known names.  Nick cut 10.6 seconds and 3 finish places from his 2007 State Meet results, earning him All State honors again this year.
 
Adam Kern officially joined his brother in the “under-16-minute” club, posting a finish time of 15:55.3 (a new PR by 4.8 seconds) which also earned him 29th place and “All State” honors.  Adam has dropped 31.5 seconds during this season.  As he has matured, Adam is becoming a very formidable competitor, and we expect both of these talented, dedicated athletes to make enormous contributions to next year’s team.
 
This year it was David’s turn to run in the state meet in spite of being sick.  After a rough 2nd mile dropped him back from Pioneer’s lead group, David dug deep and found strength to fight back with a faster 3rd mile – something that several well-known competitors, such as Ben Miller, were unable to do in this race.  Although clearly tired, David pushed on to claim 37th place in just 16:05.0, slicing exactly 2 seconds from his 2008 PR, and dropping 52 seconds for this season.
 
Andy’s 16:26.9 finish time earned him 80th place, but during his 29-second kick he must have passed “about a zillion guys” (according to our completely biased observers).  Could it be that Nathan has been giving Andy “kick” lessons in his spare time?  Stay tuned to see what Andy will accomplish in 2009 after dropping his times by almost 36 seconds this year!
 
After getting stuck back in the pack in the M.I.S. infield as the race began, Joe never gave up.  He kept plugging away and passing runners whenever he saw an opening until he had worked his way back to Andy’s territory.  He also had a very good kick to take 92nd place in 16:30.6, a new PR by 7.4 seconds.  Joe has really taken his running to a new level this year, one he might not have imagined when he joined the team as a sophomore.  He has shown steady improvement throughout the year which adds up to dropping an astounding 1:49.1 from his time this season!  Other teams had better watch out because Joe and Andy finished better than many teams’ 4th and 5th men!

2008 Senior Captains
We’d like to take a moment to recognize our senior co-captains, David Wallington and Dan Culbertson, as their high school cross country careers draw to a close.  These young men have put in countless hours of planning and strategizing in addition to regular practices, not to mention designing the awesome team T-shirts.  Yet, they became leaders via very different paths:
 
David, a Community High student, started his Pioneer career with a 23:49 5k time at Kensington as a freshman, finished his freshman year with a 19:43 PR, which became a 18:25 PR as a sophomore, then a 16:57 PR as a junior, and finally a PR of 16:05 as a senior.  He suffered from various running-related injuries and pains, and as a result, spent a lot of his time as a runner biking.  He ran in only one varsity cross country race (Holly, as a junior) before his senior year - and then did a fantastic job, typically as Pioneer's all-important 5th man.  Having been in their shoes, David has been the ideal captain to understand and inspire struggling runners, and a textbook example of how hard work and determination can pay off in the long run.
 
On the flip side, Dan Culbertson was promoted to Varsity after his very first freshmen meet, and stayed there for the rest of his Pioneer career.  He won 2 SEC Jamborees as a sophomore, won Kensington and placed 2nd by a half step at Holly as a junior - on track for a fabulous year.  Then, injuries sidelined Dan for several meets, and his slower times upon his return left him wondering whether he would ever reach his early potential.  With David away a lot during the summer, Dan led the summer workouts almost every day, asked questions about how other schools became successful, was never afraid to try new ideas and fresh workouts, and his tough road back in 2007 helped him motivate other runners when they ran into rough spots.   Dan compiled an impressive list of accomplishments for the 2008 season: third at Kensington, top-ten at Portage, second at Jackson, then winning Gabriel Richard, the SEC Conference Meet and Regionals (by a huge margin), before taking ninth place at the 2008 State Meet.  Yet even before he was elected as a captain, Dan’s goal was for the team, not for himself:  to be the winning team at the State Meet.  A 2006 Ann Arbor News article quoted Dan as saying “I want us to win states this year.  You can never feel a whole victory unless it is a real victory for the team”.  Looks like Dan’s wish finally came true this year.