Jamboree #1

Pioneer Men's Cross Country

SEC Jamboree #1

SEC Jamboree #1
September 9, 2008
Mill Pond Park, Saline

Saline's home course is very tough. The first mile is fast and flat along the Mill Pond. The second mile offers a trek up the Toboggan hill (about 45° incline) and a run on the "island". The last mile is a partial repeat of the first with a trek up the Killer Hill and a kick back into the finish. This course is slower than many due to the two nasty hills and the several sharp turns on the island.
The all-time course record (16:02) was set by former Pioneer Morty Stensones-Fornaess in 2004.

Conference Jamboree #1 Results
Place Team Points
  1st Ann Arbor Pioneer     27
  2nd Saline     46
  3rd Chelsea   104
4th Bedford 110
5th Ann Arbor Huron 114
  6th Dexter 121
7th Tecumseh 218
8th Adrian    222
   9th Lincoln    260

Varsity Highlights

Pioneer's Varsity squad dominated the first SEC Jamboree of the 2008 season. Although all nine teams of the SEC ran in the varsity race, Saline was Pioneer's main competition at this event. The venue was Mill Pond Park, Saline's home course. Mill Pond Park has a reputation as a tough course - not the kind that produces many PRs, even in excellent conditions like this year - crisp, clear and breezy. Yet, Pioneer clearly delivered a stronger performance, with four Pioneers finishing in the top six and our 5^th man missing the top ten by only one place!

Congratulations to junior Nick Kern on his first individual meet win! Nick ran a very strong race, pulling away from the group of Pioneer runners after surviving the climb up Toboggan Hill with its infamous 45° slope. Nick built a substantial lead over two of Saline's runners and steamed across the finish line to claim 1^st place with a time of just 16:41.0.

Senior co-captain Dan Culbertson experienced the excitement of Toboggan Hill for the first time (after missing last year's Mill Pond Park race with injuries), stayed with the Pioneer pack for most of the race, then pulled ahead late in the race for a strong 4^th place finish in just 16:55.6. Juniors Adam Kern and Nathan Karr followed closely, dueling their way to 5^th and 6^th places with times of just 17:00.0 and 17:00.3, respectively. Nice teamwork, guys.

Junior Andy Sanz-Guerrero very nearly made the "top ten" for the Pioneers, but was narrowly edged out by a Saline runner, by just 2 tenths of a second, and finished in 11^th place with a time of 17:28.2. Andy has been very dependable in delivering a very competitive finish place as our fifth man, and his success is a vital part of Pioneer's strength as a team.

Senior co-captain David Wallington ran well despite nursing painful shin splints. David finished in 13^th place with a time of 17:36.1. More importantly, he finished ahead of Saline's 4th and 5th runners! Junior Joe Frakes crossed the finish line less than a minute behind David, with a time of 18:33.8. His 34^th place finish was in the middle of the field, a very respectable finish in his very first varsity race, overcoming those rookie jitters along the way. What a tough initiation to Varsity!

This strong showing confirms Pioneer's potential for the year and should boost our Pioneers' confidence that they have what it takes to race - and win - against strong competition, on any turf.

Varsity Results

Place Name Time
1 Nick Kern 16:41.0
4 Dan Culbertson 16:55.6
5 Adam Kern 17:00.0
6 Nathan Karr 17:00.3
11 Andy Sanz-Guerrero 17:28.2
13 David Wallington 17:36.1
34 Joe Frakes 18:33.8

Jamboree #1 JV Results
Place Team Points
  1st Saline     28
  2nd Ann Arbor Pioneer     77
3rd Bedford     97
  4th Ann Arbor Huron    103
5th Dexter    103
  6th Chelsea    131
7th Tecumseh    216
8th Ann Arbor Skyline    262
   9th Adrian    279
10th Lincoln    305

JV Highlights

Pioneer's JV squad claimed second place in the JV race, finishing behind Saline, who were running on their home course. Pioneer had 16 finishers in a field of 176 runners from 10 schools - including, for the first time, Ann Arbor Skyline. Our 5 scoring runners all finished the tough course in less than 20 minutes and six runners even set new PRs!

Junior Caleb Fogel won the JV race for Pioneer with a time of 18:09, besting his previous PR by 13.3 seconds! After the starting-line dust settled, Caleb led the field for the whole race, looking strong and confident as he held off competition from Saline. Congratulations, Caleb!

Junior Kevin Chaperon also ran a very strong race, grabbing 4^th place with a time of 18:17.7 and junior Lucas Arias crossed the finish in 18:59.7, trimming his PR by 2.9 seconds, which brought him 13^th place. Congratulations to both for fine performances. Junior Jonathan Diep turned in another solid performance, finishing 34^th in 19:37.3, and sophomore Alex Massingill, in only his second race for Pioneer, completed Pioneer's scoring with his 42^nd place finish, with a finish time of 19:58.5.

Junior John Fonte (20:22.2), sophomore Nick Gottschlich (20:29.1), junior Ethan Warren (20:32.7), junior Ryan Goodwin (20:41.6) and junior Zack Keller (20:49.2) all ran well in the crowded field. Nick sliced his PR by 33.8 seconds, Ethan cut 16.1 seconds from his PR, Ryan trimmed 6 seconds from his PR, and Zack cut another 2.3 seconds from his PR. Lots of new PRs on a very difficult course!

Senior Arthur Huerta turned in a time of 21:04.3 in his first race since the 2006 season - welcome back! Junior Ben Aukerman wasn't far behind, finishing in 21:08.2. Freshman Kevin Knight (21:43.3) also did well on the tough terrain. Juniors Noah Kaczor and Gabe Crisman stayed under the 23-minute mark, as did senior Kevin Sherman, a member of Pioneer's track team, who survived his first cross-country race on this very challenging course. Welcome to distance running, Kevin!

JV Results

	*Name*	*Time*	*PR?*
1	Caleb Fogel	18:09.1	-13.3 secs
4	Kevin Chaperon	18:17.7
11	Lucas Arias	18:59.7	-2.9 secs
34	Jonathan Diep	19:37.3
42	Alex Massingill	19:58.5
57	John Fonte	20:22.2
60	Nick Gottschlich	20:29.1	-33.8 secs
62	Ethan Warren	20:32.7	-16.1 secs
69	Ryan Goodwin	20:41.6	-6.0 secs
72	Zack Keller	20:49.2	-2.3 secs
83	Arthur Huerta	21:04.3
86	Ben Aukerman	21:08.2
101	Kevin Knight	21:43.3
117	Noah Kaczor	22:15.2
120	Gabe Crisman	22:28.3
123	Kevin Sherman	22:30.8

Corrected Sept 23, 2008