County harriers participated at the MHSAA Div. 4 regional Saturday at Benzie.
Several local runners will travel downstate to Brooklyn Saturday for the MHSAA Div. 4 state finals at 9 a.m.
The Glen Lake boys team nearly won a state championship after finishing second overall due to a tiebreaker with Mason County Eastern (MCE).
Glen Lake senior Colebrook Sutherland finished second (15:22), behind regional champion MCE senior Alex Tyndall.
“It was hard today. I was giving it everything I got ... I was closing the gap more than I realized,” Sutherland said. “If we can just do that at states, we can place high because we are a deep and a really skilled team. When we are all running well on the right day. We can make a dent.”
This is the second year in a row that Sutherland has finished second overall at regionals.
Laker sophomore Abraham Feeney also clinched his ticket to state with a fifth place finish (16:22).
“I think it was a really good race for our team overall. I’m excited for states and for everyone,” Feeney said. “Everybody has put in a lot of effort to help our team.”
Another Laker who will clinch his ticket to Brooklyn at the state championship is junior Liam McCaw.
“It feels perfect after all the hard work. I’m excited to see what will happen at states,” McCaw said.
Leland freshman Carter Suttmann booked his ticket to Brooklyn when the freshman came out of nowhere to finish eighth (16:55).
“Coming into this race, I think what fueled me the most was losing in regional finals against WMC (in soccer) that made me want to make states more in cross country and beat Frankfort, honestly,” Suttman said. “At the end, I just found I was in my own element ” Lake Leelanau St. Mary junior Cody Couturier nearly missed his qualifying place with a 17th-place finish (17:34).
Glen Lake sophomore Lincoln Bailey and Leland freshman Christopher Knudsen finished 18th and 19th, respectively. St. Mary junior Oliver Mitchell finished 24th, followed by Leland sophomore Evan Keen and junior Garrick Collins in 25th and 26th.
Other boys finishers include Britton Wheeler (GL), 30; Daniel Cheney (LLSM), 34; Dean McKellar (GL), 35; Dexter Martin (GL), 39; Chase Denoyer (Leland), 44; Anthony Grant (LLSM), 59; Andrew Grant (LLSM”) 59; Timothy Duperon (LLSM), 63.
Laker freshman takes third at regionals
Glen Lake freshman Carmella Julian sped her way to a thirdplace finish at the regional invitation. Julian finished with a time of 19:38. Bear Lake freshman Callie Sinke took first (18:52).
“It was nerve-racking all week. I was very nervous about it. But once we got out here and I saw the boys race, I started to get excited and looking forward to it,” Julian said. “It feels perfect. It feels good that all the work you put in finally paid off ... I’m trying to go to states and experience it.”
Leland senior Ella Knudsen and freshman Sophie Grinage finished sixth and seventh with times of 20:12 and 10:16, respectively.
“I’m thrilled to be going with (Grinage). It’s always better to have a teammate there, and I think that we’ve been training hard. We’re running hard and we’re staying positive,” Knudsen said, and Grinage added. “I’m just excited to go to states and it’s my first one as a freshman. I’m just super excited and happy. (Regionals) was nerve-racking, but I was more excited than ever.”
Lake Leelanau St. Mary freshman Claire Couturier clinched her ticket to Brooklyn with a 15th-place finish of 21:18.
Leland sophomore Natalie Burpee finished 16th (21:20), and Glen Lake freshmen Alayna Ottenbacher and Lili Migazzi finished 18th and 21st, respectively.
Glen Lake senior Emily Alaimo and St. Mary senior Jacqueline Hearne finished 26th and 30th with times of 22:22 and 22:53.
Other girl finishers include Jessie Pugh (GL), 35; Muriel Korsn (LLSM), 38; Jessica Grant (LLSM), 47; Lorna Wiesen (Leland), 49; Alyssa Korson (Leland), 53.
