In a disappointing end to a terrific year, Ann Arbor Pioneer Cross Country finished ninth in the state. Most teams would be pleased to place in the top ten, but the expectations were understandably higher for Pioneer. It just didn’t come together for the team on this brisk November Saturday in the way they hoped.

Nonetheless, there are some heroic and inspirational stories to be told about our varsity runners. Senior Paul Versluis had always been a track and field standout, but last year decided to also go out for cross country. In only his second year of running cross country, he crossed the finish line as the top Pioneer runner, placing 79^th in a time of 16:34 (a PR by 0.3 seconds). But, what makes his top finish even more amazing is that he did it after losing his shoe right after the race started! Paul handled the loss of his shoe with such poise that most of us did not even notice his shoeless foot as he charged to the finish line. Congratulations to Paul on a terrific year and for his leadership as one of the team captains.

Much to the spectators’ amazement, the next four Pioneer runners all finished within one second of each other! Junior Eric Hubbard showed his usual strong kick, passing many runners in the final stretch and placing 92^nd in 16:37 (PR by 6 seconds). Eric has had an outstanding year as one of the biggest contributors to the success of the team.

Sophomore Dan Culbertson (16:38) has led the team as top man all season, so was no doubt disappointed with his 94^th place finish. But, there can be no question that Dan has had a brilliant year and we look forward to 2007 with great anticipation.

A crowd favorite, Junior Charlie Cavell (16:38) lost a little steam in the last stretch to place 96^th. But, we have all enjoyed witnessing the return of the “real” Charlie this year, the one with tremendous potential. Again, we look for great things next year from Charlie.

Senior Mike Weisbuch is another senior who joined the team only last year after excelling as a track star. In a year of incredible hard work and commitment, Mike has moved from a PR of 17:58 last year to 16:34. Today he placed 97^th in a time of 16:38. Mike has been incredibly inspirational to the underclassmen and a true leader. He will be truly missed.

Junior David Cogswell (16:53 and 127^th place) has had a season of steady improvement, peaking in time to run at the state finals. Congratulations to David on a great season!

Senior Austin Taylor placed 146^th and brought home a PR of 16:58. Austin has also served as a role model for his teammates, moving from a PR of 17:45 last year to his new PR at the state finals this year. His determination has paid off for the team and we thank him for his many contributions.

Place	Team	Points
1^st	Pinckney	27
2^nd	Novi	140
3^rd	Traverse City Central	231
4^th	Traverse City West	231
5^th	Highland-Milford	246
6^th	Saline	271
7^th	Warren DeLaSalle	275
8^th	Portage Northern	285
9^th	Ann Arbor Pioneer	301
10^th	Lake Orion	302

Place/Points*	Name	Time
79/50	Paul Versluis	16:34	PR (-00.3)
92/60	Eric Hubbard	16:37	PR (-06)
94/62	Dan Culbertson	16:38
96/64	Charlie Cavell	16:38
97/65	Mike Weisbuch	16:38
127/89	David Cogswell	16:53
146/104	Austin Taylor	16:58	PR (-06)

* When calculating team scores, individually-qualifying runners (runners placing well at Regionals, but whose teams did not qualify for this meet) are dropped from the list, then points are reassigned in order of finish only to the remaining runners. So, for example, 29 of the runners who finished ahead of Paul were not running for a team, so Paul scored only 50 points for this 79^th place finish.