Varsity Highlights
 
The Pioneer Men’s Cross Country Team won a decided victory today at the Jackson Invitational meet, held at Jarkson’s Ella Sharp Memorial Park.  The Pioneers took first place with 39 points, Saline came in second with 95, and Troy finished very close to Saline in third place with 97 points.  The misty morning air dampened sound as the Men’s Varsity teams thundered out at the start.  The course traverses a long grassy passage, squeezing past the baseball diamonds, around the perimeter to an upward gradient, around the rotunda, sweeping down again to a turn in the trees, then across the grassy lane and up the hill again.  The second time the runners go down the gentle gradient, they round the bend at the far end of the park, and funnel into the finish chute.  Times are typically fast on this relatively flat course.  It’s a great one for spectators, who can stay in the middle and observe sevaral passes as the guys charge by.

The early forerunners today were Mike Atchoo from Troy and Omar Kadurrah from Grand Blanc.  The truth is, Mike just makes it look easy.  Those two young men were followed closely by the fearless trio from Pioneer – Nathan Karr, Nick Kern, and Adam Kern.  The Pioneers showed true grit on the course, staying near the front for the duration of the five thousand meters.  Nathan used his strong finish kick to be the first Pioneer over the line, earning third place overall, with a time of 15:41.8.  Just a breath behind him, the Kern brothers battled to the finish, Adam gaining near the end with a surge, and Nick just staving him off to finish fourth in 15:43.9 and Adam fifth in 15:44.2.  It is most gratifying to see how happy these teammates are to see each other do so well, to see how they challenge each other and support each other’s success.  Adam shaved 5 seconds off his best time, Nick reduced his by one second, and Nathan completed his fourth race in a row as the top Pioneer runner.  You guys are really tremendous!

Next to finish for the Pioneers was Muhammad Sani, who just keeps getting better and better.  Muhammad sailed over, looking pleased and relaxed, in eighth place with a time of 16:08.6.  Andy Sanz-Guerrero, who has been suffering with the nasty cold/’flu that the team has been generously sharing with one another, still finished strong in 19th at 16:28.5.  Way to push through it, Andy!  Sebastian Ag ran well today, moving up from his position in the middle of the race, to 23rd in the final with a time of 16:38.8.  Lucas Arias, in his debut race for the varsity men, ran very well in a personal best time of 17:06.3, earning 45th place.  Lucas celebrated his eighteenth birthday yesterday; Happy Birthday, Lucas!

Coach Sleeman entered a second varsity team, and those young men had a true taste of competition and challenge today.  Joe Frakes, with quiet determination, led the second squad to finish 29th overall in a time of 16:44.6, his best time this season.  Niko Rombes, who celebrates his seventeenth birthday today, had lots to celebrate with a 33rd place finish and a PR of 16:49.5, over a minute faster than his last best finish.  Happy Birthday and congratulations, Niko!   Kevin Chaperon looked strong yet smooth as he raced into 46th position.  Kevin had a super time of 17:06.3, just ready to break that 17-minute mark.  Bradley Baker, running his first race with the varsity men, ran very well and beat his best time with a 17:10.2 finish to earn 48th place overall.  Ethan Warren also PR’d in a time of 17:57.4, with an 84th place finish.  Ethan had a really fast sprint at the end of his run, overtaking a couple guys in the last 500m.  Nice finish, Ethan!  Jon Diep is poised to crack that 18-minute marker, finishing today in 18:05.2, another PR.  Noah Kaczor, a Junior and new to varsity, ran beautifully, keeping focused and not letting the pace get to him.  Noah finished 106th in 18:21.0; almost 4 seconds better than his last PR; welcome to varsity, Noah.

The second Pioneer squad finished ninth for teams, with 240 points.  Congratulations to all you hard-working runners!

Click here for MLive report on the Jackson Invitational Boys D1 race.

JV Highlights
 
The Jackson Invitational is the only race during the season that splits JV and varsity to two different dates.  It was a very different race on Friday, with bright sunshine, gusty breezes, and warm temperatures.  The course was smooth and dry, and our Pioneers ran quite well on Friday, with lots of personal stories to bring back to Ann Arbor.

The front of the race was loaded with hoards of boys in blue: the Saline team dominated the front of the pack, earning roughly thirteen of the first sixteen finish spots.  However, the Pioneers had some excitement to see freshman Tyler Leach leading his teammates to a 17th place finish with a time of 18:11.  Tyler has bettered his last best time with each tour on the 5k course.  Keep up the great work, Tyler!  Freshman Boris Burman was next for the Pioneers, earning a 37th place overall, in 18:52.  Boris wanted to keep up with Tyler, and did most of the way, netting a new PR by 25 seconds!  It is wonderful to see the freshmen bring their energy and will to the 5k venue. 

Junior Colin Egerer finished third for the Pioneers, 39th overall in a new PR of 18:58.  Senior Ryan Goodwin finished in 51st  place,  in 19:09, and just a heartbeat behind him were #51 Steve Merritt and #52 John Fonte, both in 19:11.  Those gutsy contests at the finish are so exciting to watch!  Rob Frakes came in next for the Pioneer men in 56th in 19:15, lopping off a whopping 47 seconds from his last best time.  Junior Nick Gottschlich crossed the line in 60th position, with a time of 19:21.  Seniors Saunders Hayes, Jack McWhinnie, and Mike Sullivant zoomed over next in 75th, 79th, and 92nd, respectively.  Mike has been suffering with some pain in his hip, evident in the latter part of the race.  Mike, you muscled it out, great work!  Junior Eric Seitz earned his best time this season, finishing 105th in 20:17, cutting his PR by half a minute.  Nice, Eric! 

Freshman Lee Criso is proving that broken bones are just a nuisance factor for cross country runners!  Lee completed the couse in 20:29, nearly a minute faster than his run in Monroe.  Keep it up, Lee.  Senior Ben Aukerman, the energizer bunny, has been lifting weights, and said it helped with his impressive sprint at the end of the race, completing the course in 20:40.  Freshman Josh Sherick was stunning, running almost two minutes faster than his last best time, Josh came in at 21:09.  Senior Aaron Trierweiler ran in 21:30, followed right behind by Felix Schmid in 21:31.  Felix was a downhill ski racer in Germany, and seems to be adapting to the flats, taking almost two minutes off his last best time.  Freshman Nick Aukerman, sporting some Dan Culbertson-like locks, completed the course in 21:45, and Bill Carras, a sophomore, followed in 22:42.  Jurgen Van Katwihk and David Liu worked and worked to get across that line, and they both did an admirable job; keep going, guys!