DETROIT — In a little more than six days, the girls on Clarkston Everest Collegiate’s cross-country team went from heartbreak to elation.
The Mountaineers narrowly missed winning their first Catholic League championship on Oct. 19 when Royal Oak Shrine prevailed on a tie-breaker. But Everest turned the tables last Friday to win their first regional crown at Detroit’s Chandler Park.
With five finishers among the top 20, Everest led the field with a low score of 48 points. Allen Park Cabrini was second with 59 and Shrine third at 66. All three teams qualified for the state finals, to be held this Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
“Last week was definitely bittersweet; we were pretty convinced we had a shot at the Catholic League (title),” Everest coach Mary Williams said. “Going back out there for regionals, we decided we would rather be in third gunning for first, than the other way around.”
Everest’s top finishers were Caroline Cross (5th/20:14), Avery Hergott (8th/20:28), Theresa Waller (9th/20:41), Alyse Felix (18th/21:34) and Erin Booms (19th/21:44).
“At the finish, it looked pretty palpable (that we won), but at Catholic League we learned to not celebrate until the results are posted,” Williams said. “One of the parents saw the final results and informed us while we were stretching after the race. Our reaction was, ‘We knew we could do it,’ and we had done it.”
Why were the Mountaineers so optimistic in the face of heartbreak?
“On Thursday (at practice), we had all the girls write down two reasons why they could run a PR (personal record) the next day,” Williams said, noting that 17 out of 20 Mountaineers who competed Friday actually did end up with their best time.
Shrine had the individual winner in Ellie Kendell (18:31).
In boys’ competition at Chandler Park, Cabrini won the meet with 77 points, edging Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest by one. Dylan Ortiz (2nd, 17:00), Carson Muglia (4th, 17:09), Bram Wolf (12th, 17:44), Christopher Russelberg (20th, 18:13) and Joey Berro (44th, 19:39) were the Monarchs’ top scorers.
Elsewhere, Catholic League champions Novi Detroit Catholic Central continued their success by winning the Division 1 regional at Willow Metropark in New Boston with 54 points, finishing ahead of state-ranked Plymouth (87) and Northville (106). Luke Perelli (3rd/15:23), Mitchell Horn (9th/16:01), Matthew Atkinson (12th/16:07), Alexander Dugas (13th/16:08) and Brett Leidal (17th/16:15) were the Shamrocks’ front-runners.
Madison Heights Bishop Foley also won a boys’ regional in Division 3, scoring 40 points at Algonac, comfortably ahead of runner-up Memphis (70). Jack Decker (2nd/17:13), Mitchell Mandziuk (3rd/17:42), Jacob Rusch (9th/18:08), Owen Munk (11th/18:09) and Joey Kennedy (15th/18:16) were the Ventures’ scoring runners.
Two other girls’ teams won championships in Division 2 competition.
At Linden High School, Birmingham Marian led the field with 59 points, three better than the host school. Maya Harb (6th/20:18), Erin Siver (7th/20:33), Isabella Agrusso (15th/21:05), Ainslie Vanneste (17th/21:21) and Isabella Prezzato (22nd/21:50) led the way for the Mustangs.
Warren Regina also won a title, racing at Goodells County Park near Port Huron. Led by individual winner Grace Zdankiewicz (18:45), the Saddlelites also had Jessica Jarski (10th/19:51), Sabrina Kroll (11th/19:52), Grace Audisho (21st/20:54), Samantha Brown (23rd/20:56) contribute to their low team score of 58.
By finishing among the top three regional teams, several other Catholic League squads qualified to run in Saturday’s state finals. They include the girl’s teams from Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard, Dearborn Divine Child, Grosse Pointe Woods University-Liggett and Macomb Lutheran North, as well as Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
Boys’ squads that are also team qualifiers include Divine Child and Warren De La Salle.
Several individuals not on qualifying teams also earned a chance to run in the state finals by finishing among the top 15 runners in their regional race.
Girls’ qualifiers include Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Alllie Nishi, Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart’s Avery McNally, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook’s Olivia Bowden, Bishop Foley’s Kathryn Podolan, Riverview Gabriel Richard’s Lily Green and Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes’ Bailee Pfahl.
Boys’ qualifiers include Cranbrook’s Peter Papapolymerou, Chesterfield Austin Catholic’s Aaron Rafaelli, University-Liggett’s Ashton Pongratz, Lutheran North’s Joshua Cundy, Shrine’s Cian Dotson and Dennis Graveline, and Our Lady of the Lakes’ Noah Rodriguez.
