Glen Lake, Lake Leelanau St.Mary, and Leland cross country will face off along with 13 other teams at Benzie Central Saturday for the MHSAA Div. 4 regional championship.
Glen Lake is currently the favorite to win the region on the boys side, with top runner freshman Spencer McNitt predicted to place third, with the two through five runners on the team placing almost immediately behind him, with junior Abraham Feeney at fifth, freshman Christian Feeney at sixth, senior Liam McCaw at seventh, and junior Lincoln Bailey at eighth.
Leland is predicted to finish second, with top runner sophomore Carter Suttman predicted to place 10th, sophomore Campbell Fedderman at 13th, sophomore Hannes Graebel at 14th, sophomore Christopher Knudsen at 16th, and freshman Holden Preneta at 25th. A topthree finish from the Comets would qualify the team for the state meet at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
Lake Leelanau St. Mary is predicted to finish seventh, but can still send runners to the state meet, with Daniel Chaney predicted to finish fourth, earning him All-Region honors. With Glen Lake, Leland, and Mesick (predicted third-place spot) taking up a significant amount of the top 15 spots, and a favorable course that is known for runners setting personal records, the door is open for senior Cody Couturier (currently predicted 25th) to earn a medal and possibly a spot to race at the State Final meet.
Glen Lake girls are predicted to place second as a team, with top runner sophomore Carmella Julian predicted to place second. Her teammates are freshman Alyse Cox at fifth, sophomore freshman Alayna Ottenbacher at 10th, freshman Ellie Wright at 14th, and sophomore Lili Migazzi at 23rd.
Leland doesn’t have enough runners on the girls team to qualify as a team, but both junior Sophia Grinage and junior Natalie Burpee are predicted to place in the top ten and qualify individually with Grinage predicted at second, nine seconds after the top spot, and Burpee at eighth.
St. Mary’s girls also don’t have enough runners to qualify as a team, and their top runner, Claire Couturier, is predicted to place at 36th.
Eagles and Comets compete at Meet of Champs
This weekend, both Lake Leelanau St.Mary and Leland competed in the Northern Michigan Meet of Champions in Cadillac Saturday.
Leland’s boys’ team competed in Div. 3 as a Div. 4 team and finished in eighth place, just six points behind LeRoy, Pine River, and Kalkaska, who tied for sixth.
Sophomore Campbell Fedderman led the way for the Comets, finishing in 26th place with a time of 18:07. Christopher Knudsen wasn’t far behind as the sophomore placed 33rd with a time of 18:25, and Holden Preneta finished at 18:34.
Leland’s girls team had sophomore Sophia Grinage earn another win on the season, finishing the race in 19:02. Natalie Burpee finished the race in 23rd, and the junior finished in 21:19.
St. Mary’s finished seventh in the Division 4 race, with junior Daniel Chaney finishing in second with a time of 16:28. Senior Garrick Collins placed 25th with the senior completing the race in 18:37, and senior Cody Couturier placed 31st in 19:24. The Eagles girls team had sophomore Claire Couturier place 24th with a time of 23:10.
