Varsity highlights
The good news: the Varsity easily ran its best race since the
September 20 Jackson Invitational - a good sign as the team heads
into next Saturday's all-important Regional Meet at Hudson Mills
(recently rescheduled from Buhr Park). The bad news: Saline ran even
better, with not only Dustin Voss but Saline's #2 man Neil Atzinger
outrunning - for the first time - not just one, or two, but all three
of Pioneer's Top Triumvirate of Jeff (16:05), Morty (16:11), and
Takashi (16:17) to win the third and final SEC Jamboree and the SEC
Red title.
Though none of the Big Three ran PRs, all of them ran good,
strong races. This is encouraging news, as it's the first time all
three have been healthy and run well in the same race in about a
month. The other encouraging news is that strides are also being
made among the 4 and 5 runners. Though Johannes has been hovering
just above the 17 minute mark for the last four or five races, it was
Lang who was the first to burst through the barrier with a 20 second
PR of 16:54. Hiro keeps coming on strong as well, leading Johannes
(17:23) for most of the race but finishing just one second behind him
for a four second PR of 17:24. And Eric Anderson beat his personal
best by 2 seconds and finished 7th for Pioneer and 17th overall in
17:40.
Pioneer varsity runners
Pioneer varsity runners
Last Name Place Time
Hubbard, Jeff 3 16:05
Stensones-Fornaess, Morty 4 16:11
Gould, Takashi 5 16:17
Burghardt, Lang 10 16:54 PR! (-20)
Widmalam, Johannes 14 17:23
Totsuka, Hiro 15 17:24 PR! (-4)
Eric Anderson 17 17:40 PR! (-2)
Junior varsity highlights
Craig Marlatt continued his remarkable improvement (he has now
run three minutes faster than his fastest time from last year!) - not
only running a strong 17:34 to finish fourth in the JV race behind
three Saline runners but also apparently claiming the 7th Varsity
spot for the upcoming Regional Meet. Congratulations Craig!
Finishing behind Craig was Sam Milgrom with a 7 second PR of
17:49, followed by freshman Ben Bross, who continued his terrific
late season push by bursting through the 18 minute barrier with a
17:57 (a 21 second PR), and Paul Corbett, who did the same, leaning
across the finish line in 17:59. Not too far behind was Jeff Nao
(18:09), who has been making a late season surge of his own, and
Satish Mohan (18:12), who seems to finally be making a comeback from
the injuries that have plagued him all year. And before we hand
young Mr. Bross the Most Promising Freshman title, check this out:
John Voiles ran a massive 30 second PR to finish in 18:16 and tie
Nick Ochal, who ran an 11 second PR of his own. This certainly sets
up an exciting freshman finale on a fast Jackson course this Friday
afternoon.
And let's not forget another freshman, Jamie Fogel, who beat his
personal best by a full 36 seconds to obliterate the 20 minute
barrier with a strong 19:35. Other notable performances included a
15 second PR from freshman Tyler Vane (18:35), a welcome return to
action by Kyle Kulseth (19:02), and impressive PRs by Lars Zwnnenburg
(19:32; 30 second PR), Greg Johnson ((19:40; 32), and Yan Charniauski
(22:18; 37).
Final notes
The JV runners will compete at Jackson on Friday afternoon and
the Regional Meet will take place on Saturday, October 25, at Hudson
Mills. Good luck to all!
PR! - new personal record, refers to all-time
PR, not just the best time of the season
The 2003 Honor Roll has been updated
Go Pioneers!