High School Roundup: Inland Lakes' Furman qualifies for cross country state finals

EAST JORDAN – It’s been a terrific freshman season for Elizabeth Furman.

After the race she ran on Saturday, the young Inland Lakes girls cross country runner will compete in one more meet this fall.

And it’s a huge one.

Furman did more than enough to make the state finals, clocking a time of 20:46 and qualifying individually with a ninth-place finish at a MHSAA Division 4 regional meet in East Jordan.

Furman’s top-10 finish lifted the I-L girls (145 points), who earned sixth as a team. Other Bulldogs running included Margaret Newman (39^th, 25:30), Paula Munoz (43^rd, 26:06), Hanna Hinman (46^th, 26:54), Ashley Murray (47^th, 27:08) and Francis Bunker (50^th, 28:13).

Johannesburg-Lewiston (34), which won the team regional title, was paced by individual champion Allie Nowak (19:00).

Connor Wallace (18:50) earned 29^th and Logan McMullen (19:00) placed 31^st to lead the Inland Lakes boys. Remington Bollinger (27:18) was 68^th.

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The Mackinaw City boys (160) were fueled by a 27^th-place showing from Braylon Currie (18:39). Kyle Valot (37^th, 19:38), Ben Strittmatter (39^th, 19:41), Trystan Swanson (40^th, 19:45), Myran Thompson (45^th, 20:30), Knox Wilson (46^th, 20:30) and Tanyon Pierce (56^th, 22:00) also competed.

Cynthia Thompson (55^th, 28:54) raced for the Mackinaw City girls.

For the Onaway girls, Ellie Crull (23:15) earned 27^th, Lily Parr (28:48) was 52^nd and Charlotte Box (28:53) registered 54^th.

Among the Onaway boys racing included Jadin Mix (42^nd, 20:06), Jerzi Mix (59^th, 23:23) and Casey Kindt (63^rd, 25:18).

Petoskey St. Michael (55) captured the boys team title, while JoBurg’s Malaki Gascho (16:25) earned the individual crown.

Cheboygan girls take seventh at cross country regionals 

REMUS – The Cheboygan girls cross country team wrapped up its season by earning seventh place at a MHSAA Division 2 regional meet in Remus on Friday.

The Cheboygan girls (194 points) were led by junior Sammy Harke, who finished 28^th with a 21:56 time, as well as Cloee Rupp, who took 32^nd at 22:23. Briahna Campbell (40^th, 22:37), Bella Hingston (41^st, 22:40), Addison Ptasnik (53^rd, 23:18), Ella LaRocque (63^rd, 24:21) and Nola Ecker (90^th, 27:06) rounded out the Cheboygan girls.

Ludington (51) won the girls title, and Gaylord’s Katie Berkshire (19:00) was the individual champ.

For the Cheboygan boys (331), who took 12^th, Carson Kiefer (19:01) finished 58^th, Russell Abernathy (19:07) claimed 61^st and Andrew Kiefer (19:17) placed 63^rd. Gavin Smith (75^th, 20:31), Alex Hudson (78^th, 21:01), Harold Polzin (82^nd, 21:50) and Collin Mersch (89^th, 23:46) also raced.

Gladwin (61) won the team crown. Fremont’s Sean Pettis (16:16) was the individual champion.

Onaway volleyball captures Presque Isle title again 

POSEN – The Onaway volleyball team has dominated the Presque Isle tournament for years.

That dominance continued as the Cardinals won a sixth consecutive PI crown by earning victories over Rogers City (25-14, 25-19, 15-8) and host Posen (25-15, 25-10, 15-11) on Wednesday, Oct. 25.

“We got good contributions from everyone tonight,” said Onaway coach Steve Watson, whose program has now captured the PI crown in 11 of the last 16 seasons. “Nobody had a dominant night but mostly everyone finished with positive results as hitters. Rogers City pushed us early, but our kids came up with a couple hustle plays that seemed to give us momentum. The girls did a good job of being mentally tough there.”

Pacing Onaway was Sydney Peel, who finished with 11 kills and 15 digs. Sadie Decker tallied five kills, three aces and 20 digs, Ema DeMaestri had seven kills and 12 digs, Grace Watson recorded four kills, 32 assists and 13 digs, Jayma Domke added six kills and six digs, Amya Janusky finished with four kills and six digs, Carley Karsten registered five aces and 14 digs, and Ella Lintz chipped in with 12 digs.

On Thursday, Oct. 26, the Cardinals wrapped up their Ski Valley Conference season by earning a 3-1 victory over Forest Area (25-22, 21-25, 25-13, 25-13).

Peel had 15 kills and 25 digs, DeMaestri tallied 10 kills and 13 digs, Decker added nine kills and 26 digs, Watson recorded 32 assists and 29 digs, and Lintz registered 24 digs.

“I think our defense stymied them,” Watson said. “Our hitters played really smart at the net and extended rallies but defensively, we were usually in the right place and when we weren’t or Forest Area placed a good shot, we usually had someone there making that play. Jayma Domke and Peggy Artrip played a huge role in finishing off the match tonight. They combined for 13 service points.”

Cheboygan, Inland Lakes face off in volleyball tri-match

INDIAN RIVER – The Cheboygan and Inland Lakes volleyball teams faced each other during a tri-match held at Inland Lakes on Thursday, Oct. 26.

The Chiefs captured a victory over the Bulldogs (22-25, 25-18, 25-8), but suffered a loss to Charlevoix (15-25, 12-25).

Ava Bury had a team-high nine kills for the Chiefs (21-10-1), who received seven kills, four aces and 16 digs from Amelia Johnson, six kills from Bella Ecker, 22 digs from Presley Chamberlain, and 19 assists and 16 digs from Olivia Patrick.

"We had a tough night, but the girls stuck it out and came out with a win against Inland Lakes,” said Cheboygan coach Darcie Mlynarchek. “The main challenge was that we did not have our main setter, Makaela Steiner. Our offense did not run as many fast plays as they should have and had difficulty keeping up with Charlevoix's fast-paced offense. After that loss against Charlevoix, we made some changes in the lineup and our team started communicating a lot better on the court which helped us beat Inland Lakes."

Inland Lakes also suffered a loss to Charlevoix (24-26, 13-25).

After being called up to the varsity team, Jenna Shiel delivered a team-high 11 kills and added nine digs. Brooklyn LaBrecque had 10 kills, 13 digs and two aces, and Erica Taglauer recorded 22 assists, 17 digs and three kills.

Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Inland Lakes Elizabeth Furman earns spot in state cross country finals