Varsity highlights

The Pioneer mens varsity cross country team had an unusual performance. Andy Harvey was sick and didn't run. Joe Anderson, our #2 runner, had an off day. This sounds like a recipe for a disaster. Instead, several runners stepped up and Pioneer captured a respectable 8th of 29 teams.

Yet again, senior James Naughton led the way. James took 6th place (3rd time this season) with a personal record (PR) time of 16:13. This was nice, but the real story was the dramatic improvement made by the younger runners.

Soren was next for Pioneer. Soren broke 17 minutes for the first time and improved his PR by 26 seconds. Soren was 40th in a time of 16:58. Way to go Soren.

Freshman Takashi Gould followed in a time of 17:18. Takashi also PR'd by 26 seconds. This is the best time by a freshman in 5 years, bettering James Naughton's time of 17:32 in 1998. Awesome. Not to be outdone, Sophmore Jeff Hubbard ran 17:22 and improved his PR by 35 seconds. Jeff finished 61st, just behind Joe Anderson.

So Pioneer showed some real promise at Portage. If we can get the entire team to run well at the same time, this team can achieve great things.

Varsity team results

Team                     Points
1. Portage Northern        ??
6. Saline                  ??
8. Ann Arbor Pioneer      220
total of 29 teams

Pioneer varsity runners

Name                     Place  Time
James Naughton              6   16:13  PR!  (-2)
Soren Berg                 40   16:58  PR!  (-26)
Takashi Gould              54   17:18  PR!  (-26)
Joe Anderson               59   17:20
Jeff Hubbard               61   17:22  PR!  (-33)
Mike Roth                  93   17:59
Mortie Stensones-Fornaess 115   18:21
Weather: 40, windy, course a little soft

Junior varsity highlights

There were some awesome times by the JV runners. The top three JV runners all broke 18 minutes. In fact, these three runners were faster than the #6 man on the varsity team. This team is d-e-e-p. Thus far, 12 Pioneers have broken the 18 minute barrier.

Kevin Goehring led the way with a time of 17:52. But Kevin has already broken 18 minutes, so we won't talk about him too much.

Next was Marty Everin. Marty ran a very impressive 17:53, a PR by 33 seconds. Marty has not attracted much attention, but this is a great time for a first year runner. Great work Marty.

The third runner to break 18:00 was senior Alan Antonuk (17:54). Alan was close to breaking 18 minutes in 1999 as a sophmore. But then he ran into injury problems that sidelined him nearly the entire 2000 season. But Alan persisted and achieved a very important milestone today. Awesome job Alan.

Other than the top three, there were many other outstanding performances. Five runners improved their PR's by more than a minute: Alex Reynolds (-1:27), Erron Morton (-1:12), Johannes Widmalm (-1:07), Luke Hospadarak (-1:04) and Max Hospadarak (-1:28). In total, 16 of 20 JV runners recorded PR's. Just an outstanding day.

Name                 Place  Time
Kevin Goehring       17     17:52  PR!  (-6)
Marty Everin         18     17:53  PR!  (-33)
Alan Antonuk         21     17:54  PR!  (-23)
Sam Milgrom          43     18:34  PR!  (-9)
Walker Rutter-Bowman 57     18:52  PR!  (-17)
Nick Wilkenson       59     18:53  PR!  (-15)
Carl Duke            76     19:01  PR!  (-34)
Dave Ross            97     19:16  PR!  (-21)
Josh Salvner        204     19:38  PR!  (-9)
Alex Reynolds       140     19:44  PR!  (-1:27)
Erron Morton        166     19:58  PR!  (-1:12)
Johannes Widmalm    237     20:45  PR!  (-1:07)
Jeff Nao            238     20:46  PR!  (-44)
Stuart Remick       247     20:52
Kellan Winbourne    266     21:10
Ross Acheson        268     21:12  PR!  (-57)
Dale White          290     21:38  PR!  (-56)
Luke Hospadarak     331     22:32  PR!  (-1:04)
Max Hospadarak      339     22:45  PR!  (-1:28)
Tom Bergman         343     22:51

Final notes

The next race is the Gabriel Richard Invitational at Hudson Mills on Saturday, October 13.

PR! - new personal record, refers to all-time PR, not just the best time of the season