Hillsdale Academy cross country teams win Michigan Class D championships
SHEPHERD — Hillsdale Academy, Camden-Frontier and Pittsford cross country teams competed at the Michigan Class D Invitational championships over the weekend at Shepherd High School.
Both the Colts girls and boys teams came away victorious at the Class D state championship.
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The Colts girls cross country team has had tough battles with Breckenridge at invitationals this season. The Class D championships were a different story as the Colts had five of their seven runners either earning season bests or personal best times to beat the Huskies 55-92.
Six Colts girls cross country runners earned top 20 finishes. Junior Ella Walton ran a season best time by nearly 30 seconds to take seventh with a time of 20:20. The rest of the group came in close together 30-50s behind Walton.
Junior Caroline Roberts (12th – 20:47) led the charge, followed by Sophomore’s Ruth and Abby Brownlee (14th – 20:53 and 15th – 21:03 respectively). The freshmen continue to offer ample depth to the squad with Allie Miller (15th – 21:05) and Audrey Nehlsen (20th – 21:16) filling out the medalists for the Colts.
This was the Colts girls team's fourth invitational win in a row.
The Colts boys team has won every invitational this season so far. Senior Thomas Holm led the way again, taking first place with a time of 16:12. Holm becomes only the second Colt to claim a Class D Champs title (Noah Heckenlively was the last in 2016).
Sophomore Grayson Rorick took second place with a time of 16:28. Reece Poole took sixth with a time of 16:54. Sophomores Henry Lindley (17:44) and James Rahe (17:50) took 24th and 27th. Freshman Ryan Miller (17:51) took 28th, just one second behind his teammate.
County Results
Other area boys cross country athletes that competed at the Class D championships include runners from Camden-Frontier and Pittsford.
C-F juniors Blake Bever (20:36) and Darran Drake (20:52) took 88th and 94th overall. Freshman Derek Drake (21:09) took 97th overall.
Pittsford sophomore Nick Jagielski took 104th overall with a time of 21:31.
The Pittsford girls cross country team took in the team scores.
Senior Brooke Smith led all cross country runners with a third place overall finish and a time of 19:49. Teammate Riley McCumber took 11th with a 20:39. Lilian Jagielski took 37th with a time of 22:36.
Camden-Frontier runners Ayla Hopkins (23:48) and Alanna Hopkins (25:34) took 57th and 75th respectively.
Pittsford sophomore Anna Newell (27:55) took 90th; sophomore Kaila Handy (27:55) took 97th; junior Ava Mallar (31:25) took 110th and sophomore Kaylee Lawson (32:04) took 112th.
All three teams will compete at the MHSAA regional championships at Ella Sharp Park this Friday.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Hillsdale Academy cross country teams win Michigan Class D championships
