Varsity Highlights

This was Pioneer’s first visit to the Jackson Invitational since 2005 (due to AAPS holiday/scheduling policies).  The Varsity raced on Saturday morning, with temperatures in the upper 60s, the sun beating down and dew still on the grass.  When the starting gun sounded, 19 teams took off from the starting line at a very fast clip – about 2:20 for the first half-mile.  Pioneer ran near the front and gained position as the jackrabbits ran out of steam and slipped back in the pack.  Sharp Park is well-known for its fast course, and Dan and Nick flew past the 1-mile marker with times under 5 minutes.  Adam, Andy, Nate and David followed only slightly behind at just over 5 minutes.  At the finish line, Pioneer had three “Top 10” runners, with three more finishes in 18th place or under.  Pioneer’s top five (scoring) runners all had times under 16:30.  Wow!
 
Senior co-captain Dan Culbertson and junior Nick Kern once again ran together for much of the race, then Dan shifted gears during the 3rd mile.  Although unable to erase the first place runner’s lead, Dan claimed 2^nd place with his fastest time so far this year - 15:52 - just 2 seconds off his all-time PR.  A quick check of Pioneer cross country results shows Dan’s finish as the best Pioneer time for this event dating back through 1998.  No one who heard Dan coughing and sneezing all week would have predicted we’d see such a strong performance from him at Jackson.  Congratulations on a great race!
 
Junior Nick Kern also had a wonderful day at Sharp Park, finishing in 3^rd place in just 16:05, also his fastest time so far this season, although not a PR.  Nick ran a solid race and had to keep up his strong pace to the very end, with a competitor only a couple of seconds behind him as he crossed the finish line.  Junior Nathan Karr (with another Pioneer case of the sniffles) dropped his PR by 19.9 seconds with his 7^th place finish time of 16:10.7, using his legendary “kick” to bolster his lead over Saline’s first two finishers.
 
Junior Adam Kern took 14^th in just 16:25.3, improving his PR by 1.5 seconds, and junior Andy Sanz-Guerrero finished 16^th in 16:28.3, establishing a new PR for himself by a huge 26.5 seconds – congratulations!  Both Adam and Andy fought a lot of competition during their final kicks.  Strong performances from both of these athletes today brought Pioneer’s final score in at just 42 points.
 
But Pioneer wasn’t done yet!  Senior co-captain David Wallington followed close behind Andy to claim 18^th place in just 16:31.1 seconds, cutting 25.9 seconds from his PR too.  And junior Caleb Fogel, finishing 75^th in his first varsity start, also cut 19.1 seconds from his previous PR with a final time of 17:50.4.
 
What an exciting race!  Pioneer’s final score was 42, 52 points less than long-time rival Saline’s 94 points.  Not only did Pioneer bring home the trophy, but six Varsity runners also took home individual medals!

JV Highlights
 
Pioneer’s JV squad dominated their Friday afternoon race in Jackson and set high expectations for Pioneer’s Varsity.  Nearly every runner set new PRs – not unexpected since Sharp Park has a reputation as a fast course - and Pioneer claimed four of the “Top 10” finishes in the JV race!
 
Junior Joe Frakes had another great outing, winning the JV race with a time of 17:23.4 and slicing another 35.5 seconds from his PR.  Joe is having an outstanding year, and has already dropped almost a minute from his best 2007 time.  This was Joe’s first individual win as a Pioneer JV, and now that he’s had a taste we predict he’ll be hungry for more!
 
Junior Kevin Chaperon was back in top form, dropping 26.4 seconds from his PR as he finished 3rd with a time of 17:31.6.  Kevin was a strong JV performer all last year, and his continued success is very encouraging.  Junior Lucas Arias’s 17:43.3 finish time (4th place) was a giant step-up in performance, slashing 1:16.5 from his previous PR.  Lucas has PR’d in every race so far this year and is running almost a minute and a half faster than his 2007 best.
 
Junior Jonathan Diep (8th) and sophomore Alex Massingill (22nd) both chopped more than a minute from their previous PRs and dropped under the 19 minute mark with respective times of 18:13.6 and 18:45.6.  Alex is new to the team this year, and has become a valuable asset in a very short time.
 
Juniors Ryan Goodwin (PR,-61.5) and Ethan Warren (PR,-45.6), as well as sophomore Noah Kaczor (PR,-1:37.7), all ran under the 20 minute mark for the first time.  Joining them at “under 20” was a recent addition to the team, sophomore Colin Egerer, who clocked-in at 19:53 in his first race as a Pioneer.  Welcome Colin!
 
Juniors Jack McWhinnie and Zack Keller narrowly missed joining the under-20 group.  Jack finished in 20:03, improving on his 5k at Kensington by nearly 2 minutes!  Zack followed at 20:04.3, PR’ing by 44.9 seconds – another Pioneer who has improved in every race this season.  Senior Kevin Sherman dropped his PR by over 94 seconds to finish his second 5k for Pioneer in under 21 minutes, while freshman Bill Carras also improved his PR by 39.1 seconds.  Exchange student Bastian Mielke, who recently joined the team, finished his first outing in under 23 minutes.  Welcome Bastian!
 
All those large PRs indicate how quickly our JV is improving and confirms that they all intend to play significant roles for the team in the near future.  Keep training hard - because we’ll be looking for great times from the JV at Portage on October 4th!