The Pioneer girls’ cross country team competed on Friday at the competitive MSU Spartan Invitational. The Pioneers ran in the women’s 5,000 meters Spartan Elite race that features the “top 10 at 22 States.”
Despite the field featuring the best of the best, the Pioneers crossed the finish line comfortably in first place with 79 points. Brighton was second with 114 points followed by Goodrich (129), Northville (144), Okemos (146) and Grand Haven (165) in the 18-team run.
Pioneer had the overall champion, three runners finished among the top 15, six among the top 50 and 10 runners in the top 80 – showing their incredible depth.
Rachel Forsyth led the way with a winning time of 16 minutes, 59.3 seconds. The second-place finisher was Jackson Lumen Christi senior Madison Osterberg who crossed with a time of 17:44.6. Rochester junior Lucy Cook was third in 18:10.7.
Four seniors finished in the top 30 for the Pioneers – Along with Forsyth, Natalie Mello was 10th (18:56.2), Lydia Bowman ran 12th (19:03.5) and Katie Hume was 28th (19:49.6).
Pioneer freshman Nina Moore was 32nd (19:57.9), senior Sylvia Sanok Duffalo ran 45th (20:19.4), and sophomore Hana Boggess was 53rd (20:30.7). Freshman Frances Brown was 58th (20:35.9) and fellow ninth-grader Lucinda Gubbini was 71st (20:47.2). Junior Lucy Pike was 79th (20:54.3) and sophomore Bridget Kerber was 161st (23:04.9).
Worth noting: In the women’s 6,000 meters College Division, former Pioneer standout and a freshman at MSU Sarah Forsyth finished in 12th place.
Girls Cross Country: Local teams run at first SEC league meet (see WLAA-D 120 photo gallery)
