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Gladstone, Bruce wins Rapid River XC invite

RAPID RIVER — it was a tight race for top individual honors in girls’ cross country Saturday as Superior Central junior Danika Walters held off Mid Peninsula sophomore Daisy Englund for the title in the first Rapid River Invitational.

Walters covered the 3.1-mile course at Rapid River High School in 20 minutes, 25 seconds on this sunny and chilly morning, with Englund just a second behind her.

“Danika ran a good race,” said Englund. “I’m pleased with my run. I was able to settle into a pace early. The little sand hills near the end slowed us down a little, but it didn’t take me long to regain my form.”

The Mid Pen girls, who placed four in the top six, were crowned champions with 28 points. They were followed by Gladstone 44 and Superior Central 79.

Mid Pen freshman Landry Koski placed third (21:33) and Gladstone freshman Jamisyn Bergeron was fourth (22:32).

“Regarding the girls, this doesn’t surprise me,” said Mid Pen coach Mark Branstrom. “What surprised me is how well Danika ran today. Daisy and Danika know each other well and have been battling it out for a long time. Landry was also right there and will be for the rest of the year.”

The Gladstone boys took the title with 25 points and Rapid River squeezed past Rudyard 66-67 for the runner-up spot.

Individual winner, Gladstone senior Adam Bruce, was clocked at 15:53 in a race which was cut a little short when the boys were inadvertently turned toward the finish line .1 mile too soon.

He was followed by freshman teammate Giovanni Mathews (16:55), Manistique junior Alex Misniakiewicz (17:09) and Gladstone senior Jake Strasler (17:31).

“I felt good today,” said Bruce. “It was a little chilly, but it felt good on the course. I like the trail. The best part is the team ran well. It was a beautiful day for a run. This was a good training run.”

Misniakiewicz also found the sand (at 2 1/2 miles) a little challenging.

“I kept slipping in the sand,” he said. “Otherwise, it’s a nice course. I was running smooth up to that point.”

Rapid River coach Zach Truitt was generally pleased with how the inaugural event went.

“Overall, it went pretty smooth for the first year,” said Truitt. “We got a lot of positive feedback from the runners and coaches. We had a few hiccups, but we’ll be much more efficient next year.”

Rapid River Invitational

Boys (three miles)

Gladstone 25, Rapid River 66, Rudyard 67, North Central 96, Manistique 123.

Top 10 — 1, Adam Bruce, Gladstone, 15:53; 2, Giovanni Mathews, Gladstone, 16:58; 3, Alex Misniakiewicz, Manistique, 17:09; 4, Jake Strasler, Gladstone, 17:31; 5, Griffin Johnson, North Central, 17:33; 6, Hayden Mills, Rudyard, 17:40; 7. Azariah Hernandez, Rapid River, 18:00; 8, Blake Krouth, Gladstone, 18:20; 9, Gannon Smith, Rudyard, 18:26; 10, Dylan Kruase, Gladstone, 18:39.

Girls (3.1 miles)

Mid Peninsula 28, Gladstone 44, Superior Central 79, Rapid River 88, Rudyard 102, North Central 105.

Top 10 — 1, Danika Walters, Superior Central, 20:25; 2, Daisy Englund, Mid Peninsula, 20:26; 3, Landry Koski, Mid Peninsula, 21:33; 4, Jamisyn Bergeron, Gladstone, 22:32; 5, Cheveney Koski, Mid Peninsula, 23:00.01; 6, Kennedy Englund, Mid Peninsula, 23:00.5; 7, Chloe Charlebois, Gladstone, 23:35; 8, Taylor VanOss, Rapid River, 24:16; 9, Lilly Karl, Gladstone, 24:17; 10, Sophia Maki, Superior Central, 24:21.

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