Varsity highlights

In what continues to be an extraordinary season, the Pioneer Cross Country team (currently ranked third in the state) destroyed the field at the third and final Jamboree of the season. And for the first time since the league was established won the SEC Red Division championship as they dominated the meet by taking the top three places, and once again finishing with five runners in the top ten.

Finishing in first place, Senior Co-Captain Morty Stensones-Fornaess (15:33) made his last race at Hudson Mills a memorable one. Morty ran what we believe to be the top time in the state (Division I) so far this season, and established himself as one of the front runners for the individual title at this year's state meet. Great race Morty! Finishing in second place was Senior Co-Captain Takashi Gould (15:54) who continues to run strong, solid races in his final year, finishing just two seconds off his PR. Junior Peter Christmas (16:07) continues to inch closer to breaking the 16 minute mark, by running a personal best time by nine seconds. Peter finished third and beat Saline and Bedford's top runners for the first time in SEC competition. Way to go Peter! Junior Craig Marlatt (16:43) ran an impressive race and a personal best time to help Pioneer take the title. Craig, along with Morty, Takashi, and Peter were named to the SEC All Conference team. Congratulations guys! Junior Eric Anderson (16:54) once again ran a personal best time and finished in the top ten at the conference meet for the second time in a row. Junior Leo Callender (17:10) is quickly establishing himself as a contender for the state meet squad with his strong showing at Hudson Mills and running a PR by 21 seconds! And Freshman Charlie Cavell (17:39) rounded out the varsity by finishing in 17th place and gaining more valuable varsity experience.

And here is an interesting bit of information. Both Pioneer (Red Division Champs) and Dexter (White Division Champs) participated in this Jamboree in separate races. And if you took the time to tabulate the times for each team at this meet you would find that Pioneer would have beaten Dexter (6th ranked in the Midwest) by three points in a head-to-head competition. Maybe it's time for the folks at Dyestat.com to take another look at their Midwest rankings and Ann Arbor Pioneer!

Varsity team results

Place	Team	       Points
1st 	Pioneer	        22
2nd	Saline		48
3rd	Bedford		53
4th	Adrian		117

Final SEC Conference Results
1st 	Ann Pioneer	21
2nd	Saline		14
3rd	Bedford		10
4th	Adrian		0	

Pioneer varsity runners

Place	Name		          Time
1st	Morty Stensones-Fornaess 15:33 PR! (:09)
2nd	Takashi Gould		 15:54
3rd	Peter Christmas		 16:07 PR! (:09)
7th	Craig Marlatt		 16:43 PR! (:02)
9th	Eric Anderson		 16:54 PR! (:02)
13th	Leo Callender		 17:10 PR! (:21)
17th	Charlie Cavell		 17:39

Junior varsity highlights

The Pioneer JV squad also continued an extraordinary season by dominating the race on Thursday taking eight of the top ten spots. Personal best times were also plentiful as 19 runners improved their times at Hudson Mills in the final Jamboree. Sophomore Ben Bross (17:34) sprinted to victory in one of the most exciting races of the year, as he won by a nose over the top Dexter runner. Great race Ben! Junior Will Barden (17:38) continued his steady improvement by running a PR and finishing in third place. Junior Mark Antonuk (17:41) finished in fourth, and Sophomore Mack McDonald-Wilkins (17:41) finished in the fifth spot with another PR. Senior Dale White (17:42) finished in sixth, and Sophomore Nick Ochal (17:49) took seventh with a PR by 15 seconds. Junior Lang Burghardt (17:53) finished in eighth, and Sophomore Jon Voiles (17:53) rounded out the top ten for Pioneer by taking ninth place.

Other notable performances were Sophomore Tyler Vane (18:25) who PR'd by 23 seconds and Sophomore Jon Strader (18:56) who broke the 19 minute mark for the first time and took 35 seconds off his best time. Way to go Jon! Sophomore Jamie Fogel (19:12), Junior David Hanss (19:14), Senior Dan Zhang (19:21), Junior Jake Holmes (19:30), Junior David Del Zoppo (19:50), Junior RJ Stefl (20:20), Junior John Boonin (20:30), Sophomore Tommy Held (20:50), and Junior Paul Kimeldorf (22:33) all finished with a personal best time. Junior Paul Corbett (18:39) continues his comeback with a season best time by 45 seconds!

Freshman Taylor Deluca (18:24) continues to move up the Honor Roll by dropping 30 seconds at Hudson Mills. Freshmen Kinshuck Rajan (20:18), Jack Durham (21:00), and Chris Norat (21:56) all finished with PR's.

Great Job JV runners!

Place		Name		        Time
1st		Ben Bross		17:34 PR! (:05)
3rd		Will Barden		17:38 PR! (:07)
4th		Mark Antonuk		17:41
5th		Mack McDonald-Wilkens	17:41 PR! (:04)
6th		Dale White		17:42
7th		Nick Ochal		17:49 PR! (:15)
8th		Lang Burghardt		17:53 
9th		Jon Voiles		17:53
--		Jeff Nao		17:57
--		Taylor Deluca		18:24 PR! (:30)
--		Tyler Vane		18:25 PR! (:10)
--		Yan Charniauski		18:30
--		Paul Corbett		18:39
--		Jon Strader		18:56 PR! (:35)		
--		Adam Fisher		18:59
--		Jamie Fogel		19:12 PR! (:19)
--		David Hanss		19:14 PR! (:43)
--		Dan Zhang		19:21 PR! (:06)
--		Miles Atwell		19:28 
--		Jake Holmes		19:30 PR! (:33)
--		Greg Johnson		19:38 
--		Lars Zwannenburg	19:41
--		Nick Rivard		19:43
--		David Del Zoppo		19:50 PR! (:09)
--		Kinshuk Rajan		20:18 PR! (:02)
--		RJ Stefl		20:20 PR! (:25)
--		John Boonin		20:30 PR! (:45)
--		Tommy Held		20:50 PR! (:16)
--		Jack Durham		21:00 PR! (:23)
--		Zach DeGeorge		21:07
--		Chris Lanius		21:12
--		Jason Robertson		21:13
--		Jon Henrichs		21:25
--		Chris Norat		21:56 PR! (:17)
--		Andrew Copp		22:05 
--		Paul Kimeldorf		22:16 PR! (:17)

Final notes

Our next meet is the Regionals at Willow Metropark on Saturday October 30th. Both the Varsity and JV will be running at this meet, with the Varsity scheduled to start at 11:30 and the JV at 12:15. Directions to the meet are take I94 east to 275 south, take 275 to the South Huron exit. You can see Willow Metropark from 275 on the east side of the highway. This will be the JV's final meet of the year so don't miss it!

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