Portage Invitational, Oct. 9, 1999

Highlights

Pioneer's varsity team placed 5th out of 24 teams at the Portage Invitational. It was the best team performance of the season.

For the 4th consecutive meet, the top finisher was Matt Johnson who ran 16:52 for 20th place. But more importantly, five of the seven varsity runners established personal records. Joe Anderson was close behind Matt in a personal record time of 17:05. James Naughton, who returned after missing a month due to injury, finished in a personal record time of 17:20. Andy Harvey, Nick Piotrowski and Mike Kelly-Sell also ran personal record times. Nick improved his time by an impressive 32 seconds. Mike reduced his personal record by 12 seconds, but improved his 1999 PR by over a minute. It was excellent team running.

The junior varsity team also ran extremely well, with 8 of 10 runners making personal records. Alan Antonuk led the way with 18:17, a new personal record by 47 seconds. In addition to Alan, these runners also reduced their PR's by more than 30 seconds: Tom Bagwell, Nick Wilkenson, Bill Weber, Mike Roth and Mike VanWambeke.

Our thanks to the organizers of the Portage Invitational. You did a great job! Great course, well-organized, nice freebies, cool music.

Noteworthy: Nick Piotrowski was the 8th Pioneer runner to break 18 minutes. Alan Antonuk and Mike Kelly-Sell are close to reaching this mark. It would be an excellent team accomplishment if 10 runners could break 18:00.

Varsity Team Results

Team                       Points
1. Rockford                   27
2. Saline                     55
3. Traverse City Central     130
4. Portage Northern          174
5. Pioneer                   219
6. Muskegon Reeths-Puffer    231
7. East Kentwood             235
8. Grand Haven               240
9. Hudsonville               259
10. Kalamazoo Central        291

Total of 24 teams

Pioneer Varsity Runners

Name                          Place    Time
Matt Johnson                    20    16:52
Joe Anderson                    32    17:05  PR! (-21.7)
James Naughton                  46    17:20  PR! (-11.4)
Andy Harvey                     54    17:29  PR! (-8.2)
Nick Piotrowski                 67    17:44  PR! (-32)
Eric Ford-Holevinski            84    17:58
Mike Kelly-Sell                101    18:20  PR! (-12)

Junior varsity runners

Name                          Time
Alan Antonuk                 18:17  PR!  (-47)
Jon Moler                    18:52  PR!  (-21)
Tom Bagwell                  19:26  PR!  (-36)
Nick Wilkenson               20:17  PR!  (-33)
Bill Weber                   20:34  PR!  (-35)
Mike Roth                    20:47  PR!  (-52)
Pat Cullip                   20:57  PR!  (-20)
Josh Salvner                 21:21
Mike VanWambeke              22:29  PR!  (-36)
Dan Wucherer                 22:59

PR! - new personal record

The 1999 Honor Roll has been updated

Go Pioneers!