Varsity highlights
The Pioneer cross country team traveled to the prestigious Portage
Invitational on Saturday and once again sent a strong message to the
rest of the state by finishing second to Midwest powerhouse
Middletown H.S., Ohio. The 6th ranked Pioneer team turned the state
rankings upside down by soundly defeating 5th ranked Traverse City
Central, 4th ranked Pinckney, and 2nd ranked Huron in what can only
be called an outstanding team effort. At the end of the meet Pioneer
ended up in a tie with Pinckney for second place, the tie-breaker
then becomes the number six runner, and Senior Kyle Kulseth finished
26 spots ahead of the Pinckney #6 man to clinch the runner-up spot
for the Pioneers.
Leading the way for Pioneer was Senior Co-Captain Takashi Gould
(15:52) who ran a personal best time and crushed the 16 minute mark.
Takashi appears to be getting stronger and stronger every time he
runs, finishing 5th in a very elite field of runners. Great job
Takashi! Finishing in 11th place was the dependable and consistent
Junior Peter Christmas (16:16) who ran a personal best time, and is
no longer Pioneer's best kept secret with his string of outstanding
runs over the last month. Senior Co-Captain Morty Stensones-Fornaess
(16:25) ran a courageous race finishing in 16th place. Morty became
ill during the race ("tossed his cookies"), but knew he had to finish
the race in spite of the obvious pain and discomfort for Pioneer to
have any chance to win the meet. Way to go Morty!
Coach Sleeman had sent a very clear message to the team that there
was too large a gap between our top three runners and our four
through seven runners. Well, Juniors Craig Marlatt (16:45) and Eric
Anderson (16:56) took the challenge to heart, as they both ran
personal best times and went under the 17 minute mark. Since 1998
only one Pioneer team had its top five runners under 17:00, and that
was last years state meet squad. As we mentioned before Senior Kyle
Kulseth (17:11) clinched the second place finish with a personal best
time and a 66th place finish. Kyle, we're glad you are back! And
Freshman Charlie Clavell (17:15) continues to astonish all of us with
his races. Charlie had another PR Saturday, and was the first
freshman to run varsity at Portage since Takashi and Morty did it
back in 2001. Pretty good company Charlie!
What a great week for this squad, dominating the SEC meet on Tuesday,
and then our best finish at Portage in many years. Congratulations
guys, now it's back to work!
Pioneer JV highlights
The Pioneer JV squad flexed its muscles again with another dominating
performance at Portage. Pioneer would have run away with the team
title if team scores were tabulated, with eight individuals finishing
in the top twenty! Junior Leo Callender (17:31) ran a perfectly
paced race to finish with a PR and a 4th place finish. Senior Dale
White (17:36) continues his improvement meet after meet with a 7th
place finish. Sophomore Ben Bross (17:39) set a blazing pace in the
first half of the race to PR and finish in 8th place. Junior Mark
Antonuk (17:40) had another PR and a top ten finish. Sophomore Mac
Mc Donald-Wilkens (17:45) had a 28 second drop, and continues to run
strong. Sophomore Jon Voiles (17:52) cracked the 18 minute barrier
for the first time finishing in 14th place. Senior Jeff Nao (17:55)
also broke the 18 minute mark for the first time, as he dropped 14
seconds off of his best from 2003. Sophomore Nick Ochal (18:04) had
a PR and finished in 20th place.
Other notable performances were Sophomore Tyler Vane (18:48),
Sophomore Nick Rivard (18:52), Sophomore Joe Stapleton (18:55) and
Senior Adam Fisher (18:57) who broke the 19 minute mark for the first
time this season. Sophomore's Miles Atwell (19:10) and Jon Strader
(19:31), and Junior David Hanss (19:57) all had personal best times.
Now take a look at these drops! Sophomore's Lars Zwannenburg (20:26)
dropped 39 seconds, Jason Robertson (20:52) a 36 second drop, and
Tommy Held (21:06) had a 34 second drop.
Now on to the freshman, who continue to improve with every meet.
Taylor Deluca (18:54) busted through the 19 minute mark with a PR and
a 60th place finish as he dropped 10 seconds off his previous PR.
And Kinshuk Rajan (20:20), Andrew Copp (20:31), Chris Lanius (20:49),
Jack Durham (21:38), and Chris Norat (22:13) all dropped between 32
to 51 seconds off of their previous best times.
And this final note, welcome back Junior Paul Corbett, we are all
glad to see you back on the course!
Great job JV runners!
Final notes
Our next meet is the Oxford Invitational on Friday October 15th.
To get there take M14 east to I 275 north to I 696 east to US 24
north to Square Lake Rd. Square Lake Rd. becomes an expressway
which merges with I 75. Take I 75 north to the Auburn Hills exit.
Take M 24 north to Oxford. M 24 goes through Lake Orion just south
of Oxford. Hopefully Coach Sleeman will give us more specific
directions from this point to the meet location (this is as much info
as we have on our "Directions" sheet) and starting times.
PR! - new personal record, refers to all-time
PR, not just the best time of the season
The 2004 Honor Roll has been updated
Go Pioneers!