The Pioneer girls’ cross country team made quite a statement on Saturday at the annual Portage XC Invitational which always features a strong lineup of teams from all over the state. The SEC Red Division also showed why it’s one of the strongest leagues in the state by placing four teams in the top 13 in the 31-team field.
Pioneer had two runners place in the top 20 out of 226 runners and finished with 117 points to run away with the title. Holland West Ottawa was second with 129 points while SEC Red Saline ran third overall with 171 points. Brighton was fourth (176) and Traverse City West was fifth (201). Skyline finished 11th overall with 334 points and while Dexter crossed in 13th place with 360 points.
Holland West Ottawa went one-two at the finish line with sophomore Helen Sachs first (17:03.0) and senior Arianne Olson second (17:19.4). Grandville senior Allison Arnsman was third (17:27.5).
The top of the Pioneer lineup has recently stepped things up as both senior Emily Cooper and junior Rachel Forsyth have joined their teammates at the starting line. Cooper, who missed several weeks in September because of illness, finished fourth overall with a time of 18:07.7. She recently won the SEC Red Jamboree. Forsyth, the defending Division 1 state champion, ran just her second varsity race of the season and placed sixth overall in 18:26.7.
A trio of juniors were next for Pioneer with Natalie Mello 19th (18:57.5), Sylvia Sanok Dufallo 31st (19:11.7) and Katie Hume 61st (19:42.8). Freshman Hana Boggess was 129th (20:47.2) and senior Allison Nutt was 159th (21:13.7).
Skyline’s Natalie Kessler had another brilliant run for the Eagles. The senior placed 25th overall with a time of 19:05.2. Junior Allison Mayer (48th, 19:27.0) and senior Leah White (58th, 19:40.8) also had strong runs for Skyline. Senior Caroline Vance ran 87th (20:05.7), sophomore Ayla Balazer was 124th (20:42.0), senior Lydia Cocciolone was 141st (20:54.3) and junior Serena O’Brien was 197th (22:40.7).
The young Dreadnaughts had quite an impressive showing with their top four runners all coming from the sophomore class. Alena Blumberg ran a time of 18:55.7 and finished an impressive 18th place while fellow sophomore Annabel O’Haver ran 19:02.6 to cross the finish line in 21st place. Sophomore Addison Bruckman was 95th (20:13.8), sophomore Olivia Shaieb was 117th (20:38.7), junior Kate Varitek was 119th (20:39.0), senior Antonia Bruckman was 148th (21:00.1) and sophomore Addison Streetman was 179th (21:45.0).
