Cross-Country Champs Crowned In Munising The Upper Peninsula's boys and girls cross-country running season came to an end on Saturday as the U.P. Finals were held at Munising's Pictured Rocks Golf Course. In the boys races, Houghton (D1), Stephenson (D2), and Munising (D3) won U.P. team championships. The individual U.P. Champs were Dylan Turpeinen (Houghton), Jono Newlin (Stephenson), and Andrew Kelto (Munising). In the girls races, Marquette (D1), Rudyard (D2), and Cedarville (D3) won the U.P. titles. The individual U.P. Champs were Tara Kiilunen (Calumet), Sarah Cullip (St. Ignace) and Lauren Spanger (Superior Central). Click the below links to see all of the team and individual results! CLICK HERE  to see all of the Division One boys results. CLICK HERE  to see all of the Division One girls results. CLICK HERE  to see all of the Division Two boys results. CLICK HERE  to see all of the Division Two girls results. CLICK HERE  to see all of the Division Three boys results. CLICK HERE  to see all of the Division Three girls results.

Escanaba Wins GNC X-Country Championship The Escanaba Eskymos had four runners near the top of the charts Thursday and won the Great Northern Conference cross-country championships in Flat Rock. The Eskymos won the meet with 46 points. Stephenson was second with 61 points and Menominee took third with 64. Escanaba's Andrew Stenberg finished third overall in 17 minutes, five seconds. The race winner was Kingsford's Daniel Kulas (16:57). In the girls meet, Marquette was the winner with 22 points. Menominee took second with 33, and Escanaba was third with 82 points. Marquette's Calla Martysz won the race in 19 minutes, 46 seconds. The U.P. Finals are October 21st in Munising. Pictured: Escanaba's Eddie Terres. Photo courtesy of Paul Girard, also known as "GrandpaCamo". He has posted dozens of photos from the race on his web site. CLICK HERE  to see his boys GNC photos. CLICK HERE  to see his girls GNC photos. NEGAUNEE SWEEPS MID PEN RACES---The Negaunee Miners won both the girls and boys Mid Peninsula Conference meets Thursday in Gwinn. In the boys race, the Miners had 35 points, with Manistique second. Miner Wyleen Kniola (22:23) was the race winner; Emerald Darby Demars (22:49) was second. In the boys race, the Miners edged Manistique for the team title, 48-52. Manistique's Tyler Pomeroy won in 17:57.

Eskymos Host 'Golden K' Cross Country Invite                     This photo of the start of the boys race was taken by Paul Gerard, who is better known as "GrandpaCamo". CLICK HERE  to visit his web site to see a lot more pictures! The Escanaba High School boys cross-country team had four runners crack the top ten, and that was enough to win the championship of the Golden K Cross Country Invitational Saturday in Ludington Park. Escanaba's Andrew Stenberg (17:48) was the top runner in second overall, behind Kingsford's Daniel Kulas (17:32). Brad Derouin (18:20) was seventh, Eric Cousineau was eighth (18:38), and Eddie Terres was tenth (18:50). Gladstone's top runner was Kyle Arvan, who was fifth overall in 18:09. Team Results: 1. Escanaba 42; 2. Kingsford 52; 3. Manistique 87; 4. Gladstone 104. The girls race was easily won by Rudyard, as Leah Jarvie blew away the field to finish in 20 minutes, 41 seconds. Escanaba's Aubree Peterson was second in 21:15, and Gladstone's top runner, Sadie Strasser, finished third overall in 21:46. Team Results: 1. Rudyard 27; 2. Escanaba 46; 3. Gladstone 86. BOYS SMALL SCHOOL RESULTS---Stephenson (24 points) won the championship by a wide margin over second place Munising (45 points) and Superior Central (99). Jono Newlin of Stephenson won the race in 17:37. Munising's Andrew Kelto second (17:48). GIRLS SMALL SCHOOL RESULTS---Superior Central (30 points) was the top team, with Munising (50) second and Big Bay deNoc (72) third. Big Bay's Brittany Richard was the top runner in 21:31; Superior Central's Lauren Spranger was third (22:15).

Eskymos Run Well At Munising X-C Invitational The Escanaba High School boys cross-country team ran as a pack (as usual) on Wednesday, and that led them to a second place finish at the Al Harger Memorial Tournament at Pictured Rocks in Alger County. The Houghton Gremlins were the runaway winner for the team title with 40 points, so the Eskymos played for second, and got it (120 pts.), as Andrew Stenberg led the way with a sixth place finish in 18 minutes flat. Brad Derouin was close behind in tenth place and Jared Ogren came in at 12th spot overall. Gladstone took sixth place overall, with Kyle Arvon at 17th and Ben Fournier at 24th. In the girls race, Marquette was the winner, with Escanaba taking sixth place and Gladstone finishing seventh. Aubrey Peterson was 18th overall for the Eskymos, and Sadie Strasser was the top runner for Gladstone in 22nd place.

GNC Gets Best Of Mid Pen In Cross-Country Cross-country runners from across the Central U.P. converged on Marquette Thursday as the teams from the Great Northern Conference ran against the teams of the Mid Peninsula Conference in a friendly match-up. In the end, the GNC won both team titles, as Marquette won the girls meet and Stephenson took the boys team title. In the girls meet, Marquette had 25 points, Menominee took second with 30 points, amd Escanaba was a distant third with 104. Gladstone was fourth with 123. Gladstone's Saddie Strasser was 14th overall and Escanaba's Joanie Stacey was 16th. In the boys meet, Stephenson had 78 points. Escanaba was second with 97, and Memominee took third with 98. Gladstone was sixth in the team standings, but Braves runner Ben Fournier was seventh overall. Escanaba's Andrew Stenberg placed sixth and Jordan Ogren was 11th. Munising's Andrew Kelto won the individual medal.

Escanaba Wins Munising Cross-Country Meet  The Escanaba High School boys cross-country team won the championship of a 12-team invitational Tuesday at Valley Spur in Alger County. Escanaba had three boys place in the top ten, and they cruised to the team title with 56 points. That was 15 points better than Menominee's 71. Stephenson was third (75 points) and Gladstone was fourth (98). Escanaba junior Brad Derouin (fifth, 18:35), sophomore Jordan Ogren (eighth, 18:55) and junior Andrew Stenberg (ninth, 19:03) all made the top ten.  "It's an excellent start for us," Eskymo Coach Jake Berlinski said. "This is a really hard course. There's a huge hill at the two-mile mark that's just a killer. Some of the kids just walk up that hill, and it causes times to balloon. I'd say our times today were at least a minute slower than what the kids were running in practice." Gladstone's Ben Fournier finished the race in third place overall (18:21). In the girls meet, Menominee won with 30 points. L'Anse was second (78) and Escanaba took third (103). Gladstone was fifth (132). Escanaba sophomore Aubree Peterson was fourth overall in 21:38, and junior Joanie Stacey finished tenth.

Munising Boys, Rudyard Girls Win Opener  The high school cross country running season began on Saturday with the Tiffany Thorpe Invitational in Newberry. In the boys race, Munising was the easy winner, with 31 points. Munising's Andrew Kelto won the race in 18:46. St. Ignace was second and Pickford took third. In the girls race, Rudyard won the team title with 35 points. Newberry was second (49 points), St. Ignace was third and Munising finished fourth. Sarah Cullip of St. Ignace won the race in 22:14, with Rudyard's Leah Jarvie was 45 seconds behind.