Livingston County cross country runners go fast in season openers
LIVONIA — Cool temperatures and some nighttime running produced some fast season-opening times for Livingston County cross country runners Friday at Ford Field in Livonia.
Brighton senior Carrigan Eberly came out of the gate hot, running a personal-best time of 18 minutes, 40.8 seconds to place third in the girls’ flight two race. Eberly chopped 16.7 seconds off her fastest time.
The last Brighton girl to break 19 minutes in a season opener was freshman Jordyn Libler, who ran 18:50.2 in 2018.
Brighton had four girls break 20 minutes and one come close to finish second out of 25 teams with 76 points. Romeo, the state Division 1 runner-up last year, won with 59.
Lydia LaMarra was 10th in 19:15.8, Elle Bissett 17th in 19:41.1, Gabrielle Bolitho 21st in 19:52.5 and Nikki Carothers 25th in 20:08.6 to complete the Bulldogs’ scoring.
In the girls’ flight one race, Pinckney freshman Jaelyn Ray had a huge high school debut by placing second to Mason all-stater Meghan Ford in 19:09.5. It was the fastest race by a Pinckney girl in her first high school race since Mia Garcia ran 18:52.9 at Benzie Central on Aug. 27, 2016.
Livingston Christian sophomore Taylor Wiegand came close to her own school record, placing 14th against runners from larger schools in 21:01.3. She ran 20:58.0 at regionals last year.
Pinckney was 12th, Fowlerville 14th and Livingston Christian 16th.
In boys’ flight one, Fowlerville was 15th and Livingston Christian 24th.
St. Johns Under the Lights Invite
Hartland freshman Ava Goodman was 10th in 20:00.2 in her first high school race, the fastest inaugural race by an Eagle since school-record-holder Avery Evenson ran 19:15 at the 2009 Durand Invitational. Hartland was fifth out of 13 teams.
Hartland’s boys were sixth out of 13 teams, led by Carson Cook’s 19th-place time of 17:16.1.
RELATED: Brighton boys beat Pinckney in clash of state cross country powers
Swimming and diving
Kenzie Klassic
Hartland senior diver Ella Murawski took first place with a score of 182.4, followed by teammate Morgan Wehner with 181.1 points.
Howell freshman Anabelle Respondek had a strong high school debut, placing second in the 50-yard freestyle in 26.50 seconds and second in the 100 freestyle in 58.90. She was on two third-place relay teams.
Howell senior Olivia Glenfield was second in the 200 individual medley (2:24.76) and was on two third-place relay teams.
Sehee Kim was third in the 200 IM (2:26.99) and Addie Osborne was third in the 50 freestyle (26.66) for Hartland.
Canton won the six-team meet with 577 points. Hartland was third with 501, Howell fourth with 296 and Pinckney sixth with 70.
Volleyball
Power Series
Host Hartland won 25-18, 20-25, 15-9 over Dexter in the championship match of the gold bracket.
The Eagles went 4-0, beating West Bloomfield 2-1, Goodrich 3-0 and Oxford 2-0 to reach the final.
Grace Cooney had 20 kills with zero errors in 23 attempts in the final two matches for Hartland. Cameron Herman had 28 kills, Kaitlyn Schram had 20 aces and 21 kills, Emerson Seog had 24 kills, and Faith Martin had 49 digs for the tournament.
Howell went 3-0-2 to win the silver bracket. The Highlanders won 19-25, 25-21, 15-14 over Milford in the first-place match.
Emerson Baum had 51 kills, 44 digs, six blocks and 12 aces; Mackenzie McCormick had 46 digs and six aces; Keira Manning had 57 assists; and Payshince McDaniel had 26 kills for Howell.
Golf
Franklin Player/Coach Scramble
Pinckney shot 60 to win the unique 13-team event. The Pirates had six birdies and two eagles on the par-70 course.
Hartland Invitational
Hartland finished 10th with a score of 418 and Howell was 12th with a 428 in a 14-team tournament at Dunham Hills Golf Club.
Hartland senior Brooklyn Daniels was ninth out of 88 golfers with an 86, while Howell sophomore Brooke Keller tied for 20th with a 91.
Soccer
Fowlerville 5, Portland 1
Jon Harmon scored twice for Fowlerville in its season opener. Ian Hartke, Ryan Laimonis and Landon Harrison had the Gladiators’ other goals.
Tennis
Fowlerville quad
Fowlerville took first place with 19 points, with Cole Sova, Ryder Lukasik and Ethan Way winning their singles flights.
Fowlerville’s doubles teams of Oliver Farmer and Ben Durbin, Grant Wilkinson and Lin Pringle, Matt Jeffrey and Drake Cook, and Christian Orr and Preston Browne had first-place finishes.
Fowlerville 8, Owosso 0
Singles: Mason Munsel (F) d. Lucas Crane 6-0, 6-0; Cole Sova (F) d. Nate Anteau 6-0, 6-0; Oliver Farmer (F) d. Bryce Davis 6-0, 6-0; Ben Durbin (F) d. Nick Nidiffer 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles: Ryder Lukasik-Ethan Way (F) d. Desiree Mofield-Zane Zwolensky 6-3, 6-1; Grant Wilkinson-Lon Pringle (F) d. Owen Skarich-Michael Woodwortz 6-0, 6-1; Drake Cook-Matt Jeffrey (F) forfeit; Christian Orr-Preston Browne (F) forfeit.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Livingston County cross country runners go fast in season openers
