MILFORD — When the competitors of the Catholic League’s Bishop Division cross-country championships were issued their racing bibs prior to Wednesday’s race, Dearborn Divine Child senior Colin Murray was surprised to see a special one reserved specifically for him.
“Oh yeah, that was pretty cool,” he said. “I liked wearing the No. 1.”
The returning champion pinned the prime number to the front of his red-and-black jersey, and then lived up to his billing by winning the race for the second year in a row. Murray covered the 5-kilometer route at Kensington Metropark in 16:10.9 — 42 seconds ahead of the next finisher, Leo Swager of Jackson Lumen Christi.
“After my last race, I think this is a pretty good confidence-booster,” Murray said. “I wasn’t really expecting much, not going for a time here, just running to win. I don’t think I’ve run as fast as I would have liked to, but you can’t let that get to your head. It’s later in the season, you’re running for place at these big important meets.”
Murray started out by settling in among the leaders, and eventually made a move in order to drop the field behind.
“I kind of just had the same race strategy as last year — try and run the first mile with the pack, and then just take off and see if anybody goes with me, and today, nobody really did, so it was really more of a solo effort from there,” he said. “I heard my first mile split (5:10) and knew I can run faster than that, so I decided to just take off and go for the win. I think it went pretty well.”
Despite Murray’s individual title, the championship trophy was again claimed by Toledo St. Francis de Sales. The Knights placed all seven of their runners among the top 15 to win with a low team score of 37 points. Lumen Christi was runner-up with 58; Detroit Catholic Central (91), Divine Child (119) and University of Detroit-Jesuit (145) followed in the top five.
Colton Adolph (fourth, 16:53.4) was St. Francis’ lead runner, and Jameson Heck (sixth), Brennan Higgins, (eighth), Grady Kling (ninth) and Owen Little (10th) all finished within the next 24 seconds. Sam Arquette (14th) and Josh Sandvik (15th) joined their teammates receiving All-Catholic honors or a top-15 finish.
“We just told our guys times don’t mean anything — it’s about place. We’re just calling ‘place’ the whole meet,” St. Francis coach Aaron Al-Sorghali said. “We learned last year that anything can happen. This course is a great equalizer. You can’t use some of your times from earlier in the season and punch it in, so we were very prepared and we really executed a good plan. We knew we’d be tested by the course and the competition, and that gave us a push today.”
The Knights, who have been ranked among the top 10 Division 1 teams in Ohio for much of the fall, were competing without their fastest runner, Kale Seymour. Still, they were still returning five out of seven runners from last year’s Catholic League champion squad.
“Just like any other school you deal with injuries and illnesses, and it seems like this year illnesses are a day-to-day thing, but we definitely had to rely on our depth,” Al-Sorghali said. “Actually, this lineup today is the first time that this particular seven have run together all year. It’s kind of a new lineup for a big meet.”
It’s been a good season sports-wise for St. Francis, which also won the Bishop Division soccer championship last week, and its football team is having its best season in years.
“Last year we were the only program in the fall to bring a title home, and we’re kind of watching everyone else do their job this year, and we didn’t want to drop the ball today,” Al-Sorghali said. “We mentioned that, and the guys got up for this race.”
Lumen Christi’s Schroeder leads the girls’ race
Jackson Lumen Christi sophomore Samantha Schroeder had never raced on the challenging Kensington Metropark course before, but she took it all in stride. She seized the lead early and won by nearly a minute, covering the 5-kilometer route in 19:14.1. Schroeder was the only girl to break the 20-minute mark.
“I thought the hills were going to a lot worse, because our coach (Mike Woolsey) was saying they were going to be worse than the ones we practice on,” she said. “They were a little bit easier, but it took a lot of energy to go up them and then down.”
Originally, Schroeder had planned to surge ahead of competitors on the downhill stretches, but that plan blew up when she found herself in the lead and there was nobody left to pass.
"Having people in front of me encourages me to get PRs (personal records). It’s nice to have different competition, there’s a lot of good runners in this league,” Schroeder said. “I was excited to see new faces because it’s nice to have a different set of people to run against and see where you place with them.”
For much of the race, Schroeder was chased by several runners from Toledo St. Ursula Academy. Although the Arrows runners eventually split apart, they still placed five among the top 19 and defended their title with 53 points.
Toledo Notre Dame Academy (89), Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard (102), Divine Child (103) and Lumen Christi (117) were also in the top five out of 13 schools.
“We just had to be really aggressive,” said Sophia Pennywitt, St. Ursula’s first finisher (third, 20:14.3). “We knew this course was not going to be easy. Coming in we knew there were some big hills, so we had to be aggressive and fight up those hills.”
The Arrows ran as a group through the first mile of the race, and as the pack spread out midway through, they were in a good position to score well. Pennywitt’s teammates Eden Thomas and Audrey Diller also finished among the top 10 (sixth and ninth, respectively).
Pennywitt said the team knew what to expect from this year’s championship race, as opposed to last season when St. Ursula was a new member of the Catholic League and competing in the event for the first time.
“Being more familiar with the course helped me this year. We knew exactly where the hills are, and knowing when to be aggressive, and when to lock in and stay focused,” she said. “I just tried to keep a close distance with the girl right beside me because I knew where I struggle in the race. I’m pleased with how I competed. I think that leads to a great race and a great finish.”
That’s only the first portion of this fall’s Catholic League cross-country championships — the Cardinal Division meet, featuring 13 schools, will take place on Friday, Oct. 18, at Willow Metropark near New Boston.
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