Varsity highlights

The Pioneer Varsity cross country team took a step backward in this meet, due largely to a sudden onslaught of injuries. Morty Stensones-Fornaess pulled out of the race just after warm-ups with a very stiff knee, and Dan Moyer had troubles the day prior to the race, having to bicycle instead of run during Friday's workout. Kyle Kulseth continues to struggle with asthma-related breathing difficulties.

Though the team finished fourth, the field was a bit watered down from prior years, as neither Saline nor Milford, among other top squads, competed this year. The team also lost to Bedford, which it beat rather handily just last Tuesday at Hudson Mills. Still, Takashi Gould (16:32), Jeff Hubbard (16:35), and Johannes Widmalm (17:20) continued their fine efforts, finishing 7th, 8th, and 19th - though none of them approached their PRs on a hot day on a twisting course. And Andrew Lyjack came through with a PR of 18:19 in his first-ever Varsity race.

Perhaps the web site's early season optimism about this team's prospects prior to this race was a bit overheated, but that doesn't mean it was unwarranted. It's still early, with five more meets and more than a month before Regionals, and if everyone on this team gets healthy and runs to their potential, it can go a long way. It's easy to stay positive when things are going your way. Now let's see how the team responds this weekend in Jackson after its first minor setback of the year.

Varsity team results

Team                              Points
1.Temperance-Bedford               93       
2.Howell                           97   
3.Detroit Catholic Central        107        
4.Ann Arbor Pioneer               126

Pioneer varsity runners

Last Name                      Place   Time 
Gould, Takashi                  7      16:32                    
Hubbard, Jeff                   8      16:35                             
Delphonse-Widmalm, Johannes    19      17:20                               
Burghardt, Lang                44      18:04
Lyjak, Andrew                  48      18:19 PR -13
Milgrom, Sam                   63      18:39                         

Weather: 80 and sunny

Junior varsity highlights

There was no backtracking for the Junior Varsity team, which continued to exhibit a deep roster of steadily improving young runners. Six of the top seven Pioneer finishers in this race recorded PRs, with sophomore Eric Anderson leading the way with a PR of 18:17. He was followed by sophomore Craig Marlatt (18:26), senior Hiro Totsuka (18:27), and sophomore Mark Antonuk (18:38).

Though Ben Bross (19:11) improved his best time by 2 seconds to keep his lead as Fastest Freshman, Austin Taylor narrowed the margin with a 21 second PR of 19:21. Other notable performances included freshman Miles Atwell's 1:10 improvement, finishing at 21:50, and sophomore Paul Kimmeldorf (21:43) smashing the 22 minute mark for the first time with a 41 second PR.

There were a total of 13 PRs among the 30 JV runners in this race. Congratulations to all - and keep up the good work!

Last Name     First       Time
Anderson      Eric        18:17  PR! (-21)
Marlatt       Craig       18:26  PR! (-7)
Tutsuka       Hiro        18:27  PR! (-3)
Antonuk       Mark        18:38
Bross         Ben         19:11  PR! (-2)
Taylor        Austin      19:21  PR! (-25)
Fisher        Adam        19:36  PR! (-12)
Nao           Jeff        19:46
Vane          Tyler       20:01
Ochal         Nick        20:03
Johnson       Greg        20:12
Weaver        Wes         20:15
White         Dale        20:35  PR! (-5)
Voiles        Jon         20:36
Boonin        John        20:49
Zwaanburg     Lars        20:51
Zhang         Dan         21:01  PR! (-4)
Stapleton     Joe         21:14  PR! (-14)
Fogel         Jamie       21:22  
Kimmeldorf    Paul        21:43  PR! (-41)
DeGeorge      Zach        21:48
Atwell        Miles	  21:50  PR! (1:10)
Holmes        Jake        21:57
Chaudry       Ahmed       22:09
Mullin        Dan         22:24
Strader       Jon         22:55  PR! (-12)
Levinsohn     Jon         23:11  PR! (-1)
Del Zoppo     David	  23:49
Hanns         David	  25:12
Held          Tommy       28:10

Final notes

The next race is the Jackson Invitational. This is another relatively flat and fast course, and cooler weather is predicted - good ingredients for faster times in a meet that traditionally features the area's top Varsity teams. The JV race is run on Friday and is completely separate from Saturday's Varsity race. They give out medals for the JV race, so here's your chance, Pioneer JV runners!

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