35 Schools Run At Cross-Country U.P. Finals                 The 2010 high school cross country season came to an end Saturday as 35 high schools from across the Upper Peninsula competed in the U.P. Finals in Escanaba. Marquette, Stephenson, and Superior Central won the boys races. Calumet, Rudyard, and Dollar Bay won the girls races. Pictured above: the start of the D-3 girls race. Marquette's Mickey Sanders completed a perfect season by winning the D-1 boys race. Pictured below: the Esky mascot!             DIVISION 1 BOYS 1. Marquette 2. Houghton 3. Escanaba 4. Sault Ste. Marie 5. Negaunee Click HERE to see race results. --- 47 88 94 123 160 Pictured below: Gladstone's Caleb Cox (left) finished sixth overall, while Escanaba's Kelton Heller (right) took 11th place. The Eskymos were third in the D-1 standings.                 A Tight Finish In Division Two Boys Race There was a surprise Winner in Division Two as West Iron County's David Hebert outlasted Stepheson's Trevor Vetort. Hebert won the race in 16:54.7, which was just 2.5 seconds ahead of Vetort (pictured at left). It was by far the closest finish of the day of all the U.P. Finals. DIVISION 2 BOYS 1. Stephenson 2. Rudyard 3. L'Anse 4. St. Ignace 5. Hancock Click HERE  for all results. --- 52 78 97 130 146 History In the Making In the Emerald City                       The Manistique Emeralds have a cross-country program for the first time in school history. The boys finished sixth at the U.P. Finals on Saturday. Pictured above (from left): John Rahn, Ryan Ramey, Bryson Lawrence, Cody Kayser, Tyler Pomeroy, and Nathan Hayes. Manistique's top finisher was Kayser, who finished 15th in 18:25. Mahoski Leaves No Doubt In D-3 Boys Race DIVISION 3 BOYS 1. Superior Central 2. Cedarville 3. Munising 4. Rapid River 5. Carney-Nadeau Click HERE  for all results. --- 41 48 75 76 134 Munising's Jake Mahoski has a grin on his face as he nears the finish line during Saturday's race. He dominated the race, winning by 45 seconds over teammate Andrew Kelto.                     Right photo: Rapid River's Darrell Kohli holds off Superior Central's Tucker Spranger for ninth place. Superior Central had four of the top ten finishers to win the race. Pictured below: the start of the boys Division Three race in Escanaba.

Big Bay's Erin Holmberg Wins Another Race DIVISION 3 GIRLS 1. Dollar Bay 2. Cedarville 3. Superior Central 4. Baraga 5. North Central Click HERE  for all results. DIVISION 2 GIRLS 1. Rudyard 2. Ironwood 3. L'Anse 4. Painesdale-Jeffers 5. St. Ignace Click HERE  for all results. DIVISION 1 GIRLS 1. Calumet 2. Marquette 3. Houghton 4. Menominee 5. Kingsford Click HERE  for all results. --- 49 62 90 103 118 --- 42 46 63 100 127 --- 51 95 103 115 135 Big Bay's Erin Holmberg coasts home with her second Upper Peninsula championship. Below photo: The bundled-up Gladstone girls cross country team smiles for the camera while waiting for their turn to run. Braves senior Lindsey Lusardi finished third overall, while the team ended up in eighth place.

Eagle Boys; Cougar Girls Win X-Country Meets The Stephenson Eagles and Superior Central Cougars won tournament championships Saturday in a cross-country meet in Menominee County. The invitational was hosted by Carney-Nadeau High School, although the meet was held on Stephenson's home course. In the boys race, the Eagles took first with 25 points, far better than second place Superior Central, which had 45 points. Carney-Nadeau was third with 89 points. Stephenson's Trevor Vetort won the race in 17:04. In the girls race, the Cougars won with 40 points (Lauren Springer was second overall). North Central took second with 54 points, and Big Bay deNoc was third with 75 points. Big Bay's Erin Holmberg (pictured at left)won the race in 20:16. Carney Invitational Boys 1. Stephenson 2. Superior Central 3. Carney-Nadeau 1st: Trevor Vetort (STE) --- 25 45 89 17:04 Carney Invitational Girls 1. Superior Central 2. North Central 3. Big Bay deNoc 1st: Erin Holmberg (BBdN) --- 40 54 75 20:16

Eskymos Win Gladstone X-Country Invitational                     The Escanaba Eskymos boys cross-country team won its second championship of the week Thursday, taking first place at the Gladstone Invitational on the Beauchamp Farm in Flat Rock. Escanaba had 41 points, with several boys running as a pack to crack the top 15. Gladstone had 71 points to finish second, and Munising was third with 97. Munising's Jake Mahoski won the race in 16:54 and Gladstone's Caleb Cox (pictured above) finished second, 14 seconds behind (17:08). Escanaba also won the girls meet, with 41 points...ten points better than Gladstone. Superior Central was a distant third. Gladstone's Lindsey Lusardi won the race in 20:07, and Big Bay deNoc's Erin Holmberg was second, 28 seconds back. Gladstone Invitational Boys 1. Escanaba 2. Gladstone 3. Munising 1st: Jake Mahoski (MUN) 2nd: Caleb Cox (GLAD) 3rd: Andrew Kelto (MUN) --- 41 71 97 16:54 17:08 17:34 Gladstone Invitational Girls 1. Escanaba 2. Gladstone 3. Superior Central 1st: Lindsey Lusardi (GLAD) 2nd: Erin Holmberg (BBdN) 3rd: Ashley Hill (MUN) --- 41 51 97 20:07 20:35 22:19

Eskymo 'Pack Mentality' Wins X-Country Meet                   The Escanaba Eskymos did not have the top finishers at the Golden K Cross-Country meet Saturday in Ludington Park. But the Eskymo boys ran as a pack and finished strong, winning the meet by 32 points. Escanaba had three of the Top 10 finishers, and four of the Top 13, to win the team title with 62 points. Rudyard, behind the first place finish of David Jarvie (17:01) finished second with 94 points. Gladstone took third with 111 points, led by Caleb Cox's fourth overall finish in 17:36. Houghton finished in fourth place. Escanaba's Andrew Stenberg (17:50), Kelton Heller (17:53), and James Schmidt (17:53) (left photo) finished sixth, seventh, and eighth respectively. Top photo: The Eskymos and Braves at the start of Saturday's race. Division One Boys @Esky 1. Escanaba 2. Rudyard 3. Gladstone 4. Houghton 5. Negaunee  6. Menominee 7. Kingsford 1st: David Jarve, RUD (17:01) --- 62 94 111 120 138 144 167 Division One Girls @Esky 1. Calumet 2. Houghton 3. Menominee 4. Rudyard 5. Ironwood  6. Escanaba 8. Gladstone 1st: Tara Kilunen, CAL 18:58 --- 53 88 98 101 111 124 204 Division 2/3 Boys @Esky 1. Stephenson 2. L'Anse 3. Superior Central 4. St. Ignace 5. Rogers City  6. Munising 7. Jeffers/Chassell 1st Jake Mahoski MUN 16:45 --- 44 73 86 117 119 136 144 Division 2/3 Girls @Esky 1. L'Anse 2. Superior Central 3. St. Ignace 4. Jeffers/Chassell 5. Rogers City 6. Baraga 7. Munising 1st: Sarah Cullip, STIG 19:57 --- 52 97 108 110 138 144 149

Cross-Country Meet Drew 28 Teams, 600 Kids                      The Golden K Invitational included 28 teams from across the Upper Peninsula (plus Rogers City from downstate). There were Division One and Division Two races for both the boys and girls, plus JV and Middle School races in Ludington Park. In the boys races, Escanaba won in D-1 (see above story). Stephenson won the D-2 boys race with 44 points, with L'Anse second (73) and Superior Central third (86). In the girls races, Calumet won the D-1 event with 53 points, Houghton was second (88) and Menominee third (98). In D-2, L'Anse was the easy winner with 52 points, Superior Central second with 97, and St. Ignace third with 108 points. Left photo: Munising's Jake Mahoski won the D-2 boys race Saturday in 16:45. Right photo: St. Ignace's Sara Cullip easily won the D-2 girls race in 19:57. Pictured below: the Gladstone girls get pumped up before Saturday's race. They finished eighth.

Sanders, Lusardi Run Well At Munising Invite  Marquette High School won the "big schools" championship at the Munising Cross Country Invitational Tuesday afternoon. In the boys race, Marquette had 53 points, with Escanaba taking second spot with 75 points. Gladstone finished third. Mickey Sanders of Marquette won the race in 16 minutes, 47 seconds. Munising's Jake Mahoski was second at 16:59. In the girls event, Marquette was the easy winner, although Gladstone's Lindsey Lusardi won the race in 19 minutes, 57 seconds. Big Bay deNoc's Erin Holmberg was second overall, finishing in 20:23. Rudyard won both the boys and girls "Division Two" races, while Superior Central took first spot in both of the "Division Three" races.