By Craig Beilfuss
LocalSportsJournal.com

SCOTTVILLE–The Ludington and Hart cross country teams both enjoyed a successful day on Thursday afternoon at the Leanna Wolf Geers Invitational.

The event was run at Riverside Park in Scottville.

The Orioles won the girls’ division over Hart, 29-38, The Pirates ran the meet without Jessica Jazwinski, the No. 1 runner in Division III in Michigan. Jazwinski was on an official college visit to North Carolina State University.

Hart senior Alyson Enns took the top spot with a time of 18:56.56 before she flew out to Liberty University for an official visit in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Hart senior Alyson Enns (Photo/Joe Washington)

“It went pretty well,” Enns said. “I didn’t want to go out and run too hard. I wanted to try to stay somewhat conservative. The first two miles were pretty decent. I started to hurt during the last mile of the race. I was pretty happy though. I’m still getting into racing shape. I was hoping to be a little faster, but I found out a few weeks ago that I was low on iron. I just need to get my legs under me and I’ll be better in a couple of weeks.”

In the boys’ division, Hart freshman Robert Jazwinski III, the No. 1 ranked runner in Division III in Michigan, took the top spot with a time of 15:50.18.

“I just really wanted to compete well,” said Jazwinski. “I got out to a good start and I really liked the tempo. When I got into the woods, my favorite part, I started to pick things up a lot. Towards the end, I really turned things on. I was only two seconds off of my personal best. I was really happy with my race today.”

Hart freshman Robert Jazwinski (Photo/Joe Washington)

Hart finished second in the boys’ race by the slimmest of margins, 41-42, to the Reed City Coyotes.

In the girls’ division, Ludington had five runners finish in the top dozen spots to notch the win over Hart.

Junior Summer Brower finished in second place with a time of 19:09.57. Freshman Annabelle Lowman came in third place with a time of 20:10.79 while junior Nadia Grierson came in fifth with a time of 20:40.61. Senior Mackenzie Keillor came in 11th place with a time of 21:47.99 and junior Autumn Brower finished in 22:07.34, which was good for a 12th-place finish.

“The girls are working hard on their grouping,” said Ludington cross country coach James Keillor. “Hart was without their top runner today, but our girls ran a good race. Summer (Brower) was out front for us, like she has been all year and Annabelle ran a strong second for us. The girls ran really well today and our top five finished really strong.”

Following Enns for Hart were junior Lexie Beth Nienhuis, who came in sixth place with a time of 20:46.19 and freshman Natalie Rosema was right behind her in the seventh slot in 21:07.20. Junior Lauren Preety came in 13th place with a time of 22:16.28 while junior Lilly Hopkins rounded out the scoring for the Pirates, coming in 15th place with a time of 22:24.16.

Mason County Central finished in third place with 90.

The Spartans were led by freshman Maylan Sanders (eighth), sophomore Adison Thorne (17th), freshman Aiden Wood (20th), freshman Jovi Campbell-Pickard (23rd) and freshman Madelyn Sterley (31st).

The Manistee Mariners finished in fourth place with 93.

Leading runners for Manistee included sophomore Georgia Haag (21st), junior Kate Somsel (24th), sophomore Alayna Edmondson (25th), junior Audrey Huizenga (28th) and sophomore Magdalena Herberger (30th).

North Muskegon, which did not have enough runners to qualify, had two top ten finishers with senior Abbie Wiegers coming in ninth place with a time of 21:20.28 and sophomore Sylvia Skujins was 10th with a time of 21:34.63.

Reed City finished in fifth place with a score of 117.

The Leanna Wolf Geers Invitational at Riverside Park in Scottville (Photo/Joe Washington)

The Coyotes turned the tables in the boys’ division as Reed City escaped with a 41-42 win over Hart. After Jazwinski, the Coyotes took the second through fourth spots along with the 14th and 18th spots to get the one-point win.

Other top runners for Hart included junior Max Stitt, who finished in fifth place with a time of 17:22.78 and senior Tyler Vanderzanden finished in eighth place with a time of 17:59.08. Sophomore Jack Slotman came in 12th place with a time of 18:09.13 and junior Avery Guikema finished 16th at 18:18.02

Hart cross country coach Terry Tatro was satisfied with his team’s performance and the possibility of some high school history down the line.

“I don’t know, I would have to do some research, but I wonder if there has ever been a time when a brother and sister won an individual state championship in cross country,” said Tatro. “If they both stay healthy, it could happen. Jessica is pretty much ahead of the field. Bobby has a couple of guys ahead of him, but if he shaves a few seconds off his time, he’ll be right there. I can’t wait to see Bobby on a course like Shepherd where he’ll have some really good competition.”

Ludington was close behind Hart with a third-place finish with 52.

Top runners for the Orioles included senior Jose Flores, who came in sixth place with a time of 17:25.60. Junior Noah Lowman finished in seventh place with a time of 17:50.22 while junior David Reisterer came in ninth place with a time of 18:02.66. Freshman Gabe Grierson finished in 13th place with a time of 18:09.19 and senior Curtis Fuller came in 17th place with a time of 18:18.89.

Manistee finished in fourth with 104 points.

The Mariners were led by junior Christian Schramski (10th), senior Jack O’Donnell (11th), senior Luke Senters (24th), sophomore Kaden Worch (30th) and sophomore Ajae Gouker (45th).

North Muskegon came in fifth place with a 122

The leading runners for the Norse were senior Evan Atkinson-Miller (15th), junior CJ Bennett (23rd), freshman Barrett Nance (26th), senior August Gerardi (37th) and senior Braydyn Santos (40th).

Mason County Central rounded out the field with a 180.

Leading runners for the Spartans included senior Asher Johnson (48th), junior Brayden Figgins-Newton (49th), freshman Jackson Poll (52nd), freshman Ethan McVicker (53rd) and freshman Nathan Adams (60th).