GLADSTONE, MI – Bay College Cross Country hosted the Bay College Invitational on Saturday. The Norse had a top ten finisher in the men's race and two of the top three runners in the women's race. The redesigned course featured a run through a barn on the property and received rave reviews on what turned out to be a beautiful day in the U.P.
It was the first 8K for the Norse Men of the year and featured 49 runners from eight teams. Tanner Howes (SO, Gladstone, MI) was the top finisher for Bay. His time of 29:56.5 was good for ninth overall. Lawrence Caron (FR, Cornell, MI) came across the line in 18th place with a time of 30:37.4. Weston Knauf (FR, Wilson, MI) also finished in the top half of the field, and his time of 30:41.4 put him in 20th place.
Ethan Lawrence (SO, Republic, MI) posted a time of 33:02.6 while Jeremiah Castro (FR, Port St. Lucie, FL) rounded out the scoring for Bay with a time of 37:02.3. Oren Marcoe (SO, Daggett, MI) beat his time from a year ago on this course, albeit a different route, by almost seven seconds, clocking in at 37:07.9.
Mid Michigan's Drew Moore (FR, Grayling, MI) was the individual champion with a time of 27:25.0.
Six teams were able to put together a full team score with St. Clair County Community College placed three runners in the top ten and took the team victory with 34 points. Northern Michigan Club was second with 81 points and Bay ended up in third with 87 points. North Central Michigan was fourth with 107 points, while Alpena Community College had 109 points.
On the women's side, Bay College saw every runner improve on their time from their previous race on August 30. Lily Ross (FR, Houghton, MI) finished second with a time of 20:35.6, beating her time from the St. Norbert race by over 40 seconds. Alyssa Shirkey (FR, Wakefield, MI) also made big improvements to place third in this race. Her time of 20:40.7 was 54 seconds better then her previous race for the Norse. Willow Kobriger (FR, Iron River, WI) crossed the line with a time of 23:02.6, while Emma Mitchell (FR, Rudyard, MI) ended her day with a time of 24:38.7.
The next four runners all showed massive improvements on their times. Natalie Brogan (FR, L'Anse, MI) finished in 25:48.0, two and a half minutes faster then her previous time. Kayla Farnes (SO, Escanaba, MI) cut her time by over a minute and forty seconds, ending her race in 27:33.2. Natalie Spreitzer (SO, Escanaba, MI) made the biggest jump on the team. Her time of 25:59.1 was two minutes, forty-three seconds faster then her time just a few weeks ago. Joelle Jordan (FR, Bark River, MI) had a time of 28:20.8, almost one minute, forty seconds better than her previous time.
The individual champion came from St. Clair County Community College. Kate Bennett (FR, Algonac, MI) ran the 5K in 20.22.6.
St. Clair County placed four women in the top ten to take the team championship with just 34 points. Northern Michigan placed second with 58 points, and Bay College was third with 61 points. Kirtland Community College ended up in fourth place with 82 points.
The Norse are back in action on September 26. The North Conference MCCAA Meet will be hosted by North Central Michigan College and will start at 1 pm.