Gabriel Richard Invitational

October 14, 2006

Varsity Highlights

The Gabriel Richard meet was run at Hudson Mills Metropark on a spectator-friendly, brand-new course again this year.  The sun peeked in and out of the clouds, but the temperatures stayed below 50 and the winds stayed near 20 mph until after the Varsity race was complete, calming down just a bit before the JV race.  Hats, gloves and “Under Armour” could be seen in every direction, and warm up suits were not discarded until the very last minute.  Once again, Dexter competed on their home turf in the Division 1 race, this time winning with a perfect score.  Pioneer’s “A” team was more competitive against Pinckney, placing 3^rd with 85 points vs. Pinckney’s 51, and Pioneer’s “B” team placed 10^th  in a field of 18 schools.

Sophomore Dan Culbertson led the Pioneer “A” team, placing 8^th in 16:21, about 6 seconds behind Pinckney’s first two runners.  Junior Charlie Cavell, 16:25, placed 10^th, ahead of Pinckney’s 3^rd and 4^th runners.  Senior Captain Paul Versluis also medaled, taking 18^th place with 16:52, and Senior Mike Weisbuch, arriving directly from SAT tests just in time for the race, narrowly missed the medal ceremony with his 21^st place finish time of 16:55.  Junior David Cogswell claimed 29^th with a time of 17:10, with Junior Eric Hubbard close on his heels in 31^st with a time of 17:13.  Still battling nagging injuries, Junior Taylor Deluca placed 49^th in 17:40.

 Leading the Pioneer “B” team was Freshman Nick Kern, in 36^th place with a time of 17:21.  Senior Austin Taylor’s 17:32 brought him a 46^th place finish.  Freshmen Adam Kern and Nate Karr followed in 57^th and 60^th places, respectively, with times of 17:50 and 17:55.  Senior Captain Jamie Fogel, 18:06, claimed 68^th place.  Junior Kinshuk Rajan (18:31) and Senior Jon Voiles (19:04) took 85^th and 99^th places.  What a demonstration of the Pioneer team’s strength that four of our “B” team members, including 3 freshmen, ran sub-18:00 in this race.

On a disappointing note, Senior Captain Mac McDonald-Wilkins’ promising recent comeback was cut short by a nasty sprained ankle during the week before this race, and it appears that he’ll be out for the rest of the season.

Perhaps it was the biting cold, or the large crowd of Dexter supporters, or simply “knowing” that nationally-recognized Dexter would likely win, but the Pioneer runners’ competitive spirits seemed to languish at this race.  The looming re-match against Pinckney at the Division 1 State Finals should re-light that spark and inspire some intense focus in the days ahead.  We should see a re-energized Pioneer team showing its strength at both the SEC Championship Meet and the Regional Finals.  Go Pioneers!

Division 1 Men’s Varsity Team Results

Junior Varsity highlights

 By time for the JV race, then weather was a little milder than for the Varsity race, but still the coldest conditions so far this year.  Freshman Andy Sanz-Guerrero claimed top Pioneer honors with a 5^th place finish of 18:25, with Sophomore Hayden Spitzley not far behind in 18^th place with a time of 18:45.  Freshman Kiowa Jones finished in 30^th, with a new PR of 19:01 (-19 secs).  Sophomore David Wallington took 38^th with 19:16 and Freshman Aaron Trierweiler took 43^rd with 19:25.  Junior Sean Beck claimed 47^th with a new PR of 19:28 (-16 secs) and Freshman Caleb Fogel was 55^th with a time of 19:37.  Other PRs today included Freshman Nick LeVeque (21:29, -1:51 secs), Sophomore Brian Diehr (21:34, -36 seconds), Freshman Michael Sullivant (21:35, PR -33) and Sophomore Matt Lerner 26:30 (-1:15).  Congratulations - that hard work during practices pays great dividends when you see those race times dropping week by week.  Welcome to Freshman Aaron Kurz, placing 120^th with a time of 21:05 in his first race for Pioneer.

Pioneer JV runners