Varsity highlights

The Pioneer cross country team traveled to the Oxford Invitational and for the fifth time this year (including Jamboree's) took home the team championship. Outstanding! On a very challenging course (almost as challenging as the drive to the meet), and facing off against the #2 ranked team in the state and defending Oxford Invitational champions Ann Arbor Huron River Rats, the Pioneers completely dominated a very strong field.

Pioneer was determined to take home the title in spite of the cold, wet rain and the hilly terrain. Leading the way once again was Senior Co-Captain Morty Stensones-Fornaess (16:13) who ran another solid race finishing in second place, while Senior Co-Captain Takashi Gould (16:23) and Junior Peter Christmas (16:37) finished fourth and ninth respectively. We said earlier this fall that these three guys would be able to run with anyone in the state, and they proved us right by finishing in the top ten for the fifth time this season.

There is no doubt that our four and five runners will have to close the gap with our top three by the time November 6th rolls around, but Juniors Craig Marlatt (17:07) and Eric Anderson (17:18) have been running well enough to help this team dominate almost all of our races this fall. They finished 18th and 21st respectively, and we are confident they will be there when it counts. Senior Kyle Kulseth (17:26) and Freshman Charlie Cavell (17:28) have been consistently running strong races in the sixth and seventh spots finishing 27th and 29th, once again displaying the tremendous depth this team has. All four of these runners ran a great race at Oxford. Junior Leo Callender (17:36) and Sophomore Ben Bross (17:51) also ran with the varsity, running well and finishing 35th and 43rd respectively.

Congratulations on your fifth title of the 2004 season, now bring home the SEC championship!

Varsity team results

Place	Team		       Points
1st	Ann Arbor Pioneer	 54
2nd	Ann Arbor Huron		 86
3rd	Bloomfield Hills Lahser	 93
4th	Lake Orion 		121

Pioneer varsity runners

Place	Name		          Time
2nd	Morty Stensones-Fornaess  16:13
4th	Takashi Gould		  16:23
9th	Peter Christmas		  16:37
18th	Craig Marlatt		  17:07
21st	Eric Anderson	 	  17:18
27th	Kyle Kulseth		  17:26
29th	Charlie Cavell		  17:28
35th	Leo Callender		  17:36
43rd	Ben Bross		  17:51

Junior varsity highlights

The Pioneer JV runners once again proved they are the best in the state with at least four finishers in the top ten. Junior Will Barden (18:09) ran a superb race, leading from start to finish to win the JV race. Junior Mark Antonuk (18:13) was close behind finishing third, and Sophomore Mack McDonald-Wilkins (18:14) continues to be a force with a great race and a fourth place finish. Senior Dale White (18:23) continues to run consistently strong races along with Sophomore Nick Ochal (18:33) and Senior Jeff Nao (18:34)

Freshman Taylor Deluca ran a solid race with a time of 19:04. And the race of the day goes to Freshman Jack Durham (21:23) who was the only runner to PR on this very difficult course knocking 15 seconds off his previous best time. Way to go Jack! Other notable performances were Junior Lang Burghardt (18:36) and Junior Paul Corbett (19:24) who continues his comeback from a stress fracture. Junior Lars Zwannenburg (20:33) came very close to a season best, and Junior David Hanss (20:02) just missed a PR by five seconds.

Great Job JV runners!

Place  Name	                Time
 1     Will Barden		18:09
 3     Mark Antonuk		18:13
 4     Mack McDonald-Wilkens	18:14
 -     Dale White		18:23
 -     Nick Ochal		18:33
 -     Jeff Nao		        18:34
 -     Lang Burghardt	        18:36
 -     Jon Voiles		18:40
 -     Taylor Deluca		19:04
 -     Tyler Vane		19:16
 -     Yan Charniauski	        19:20
 -     Miles Atwell		19:22
 -     Paul Corbett		19:24
 -     Nick Rivard		19:32
 -     Jon Strader		19:44
 -     Dan Zhang		19:48
 -     Adam Fisher		19:51
 -     Zach DeGeorge	        19:56
 -     David Hanss		20:02
 -     Jon Levinsohn		20:04
 -     Jamie Fogel		20:15
 -     David Del Zoppo	        20:24
 -     Greg Johnson		20:26
 -     Lars Zwannenburg	        20:33
 -     Jake Holmes		20:58
 -     Kinshuk Rajan		21:03
 -     Tommy Held		21:22
 -     Jack Durham		21:23 PR! (:15)
 -     Chris Lanius		21:30
 -     John Boonin		21:33
 -     Andrew Copp		22:14
 -     Jason Robertson	        22:20
 -     Chris Norat		22:58
 -     Paul Kimeldorf	        23:51

Final notes

Our next meet is the third and final SEC Jamboree, and one that this squad is eagerly anticipating. On Thursday we will be running at Hudson Mills Metro Park for the first time this year, and for our seniors it will be their last league jamboree and last run at Hudson Mills. Over the last three years Pioneer has run some great races here, and this year should be no different, so don't miss this meet!

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