Father and son earn titles in 75th Top O’ Michigan Marathon Nationals
INDIAN RIVER — At this point, Dustin Fierek might have to start giving out some head starts.
It's beginning to be clear that things just might not be fair otherwise.
With four straight national titles within the 25SSR Class of the Top O’ Michigan Marathon Nationals outboard boat race heading into this year’s competition, everyone within the field knew who they were chasing.
And nobody caught Fierek once again.
Fierek’s 19M boat – already covered in checkered flag – came across the finish line first during the 75th running of the Top O’ Michigan Marathon Nationals this weekend, once again with wins on both Saturday and Sunday. It made for a fifth consecutive title for Fierek.
But, Dustin, 38, isn’t the only Fierek that foes have to worry about going forward. Fierek’s nine-year-old son, Carson, also pulled in a junior title within the JSR Class of the race, giving the Hessel natives a father-son national championship day at Marathon Nationals.
A year ago, Dustin Fierek blew away the competition with a 406-point advantage over the next finisher. While his gap in points wasn’t as great (275), he did beat his combined time from a year ago, coming across the line with a time of 1 hour, 35 minutes and 11.11 seconds.
Carson Fierek, in his J19M boat, earned the 400-point win with time of 13:12.57, just edging out Elise Hearn (13:14.77).
In all over the weekend, 115 boats raced across six classes through the Inland Waterway and into Crooked Lake, Burt Lake and Mullett Lake. The race also featured 16 women across all classes.
The race, celebrating year No. 75 after beginning in 1949, also had a whopping 50 CSR boats compete.
Also within the race, a pair of Harbor Springs natives each earned titles within the DSR and CSR Classes.
Luke Bosker ended the Pearson reign over the DSR Class, topping the race to close a streak of four straight Josh Pearson or Daniel Pearson wins.
Bosker placed first in 1:39.38, followed by Josh Pearson in second in 1:41.55 and Fred Hollerback in a close third, 1:42.18.
Within the CSR Class, Chase Fairbairn, the other Harbor native, took the top spot. Fairbairn knocked off two-time defending champion, Tim Ross. He edged out Ross with a 700-625 point finish and a time of 1:45.27, compared to Ross’ 1:46.13.
Along with the back to back titles heading in, Ross had also claimed recent wins in 2019, 2016, 2014 and 2013.
Kalamazoo’s Callie Shensky earned the win in the 15SSR Class with 800 points and a time of 2:02.8, while Las Vegas native Stephen McCourtie earned the first place title in the ASR Class in 2:01.23 with 700 points, just edging out Fred Hollerback’s 2:02.25 time and 625 points.
Full results can be found on the Top O' Michigan Facebook page. Class results also included (place, finisher, points, combined time):
25SSR:
1. Dustin Fierek (19M), 800, 1:35:11.11
2. Justin Giegler (66M), 525, 1:38.08.9
3. Hal Leduc (212M), 352, 1:43:09.52
4. Adam Low (80M), 323, 1:48:06.12
5. Tom Loomis (41M), 296, 1:45:49.91
CSR:
1. Chase Fairbairn (C44M), 700, 1:45:27.18
2. Tim Ross (75M), 625, 1:46:13.01
3. Jamison Janicki (202M), 525, 1:45.34.45
4. John Larosa (14U), 338, 1:46:46.66
5. Dustin Pearson (195M), 254, 1:48:32.06
DSR:
1. Luke Bosker (D441M), 800, 1:39:38.93
2. Josh Pearson (95M), 525, 1:41:55.06
3. Fred Hollerback (22M), 525, 1:42:18.46
4. Dan Pearson (89M), 338, 1:45:43.96
5. Craig Ladd (140M), 222, 1:54:30.00
15SSR:
1. Callie Shensky (58M), 800, 2:02:08.38
2. Brandon Ortlieb (56W), 525, 2:08:17.48
3. Cody Olson (20H), 525, 2:21:41.78
ASR:
1. Stephen McCourtie (6M), 700, 2:01:23.05
2. Fred Hollerback II (221M), 625, 2:02:25.83
3. David Woodle Jr. (43B), 469, 2:05:42.45
JSR:
1. Carson Fierek (J19M), 400, 13:12.57
2. Elise Hearn (9H), 300, 13:14.77
3. Brie Gibson (28V), 225, 15:53.19
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Hessel father and son earn titles in 75th Top O’ Michigan Marathon Nationals
