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Braves take top places at GNC’s

Theresa Proudfit | Iron Mountain Daily News Gladstone’s Giovanni Mathews (left) and teammate Drew Hughes run during the Great Northern Conference cross country meet Thursday in Iron Mountain. Mathews took first and Hughes finished second.

IRON MOUNTAIN — A pair of underclassmen shined for Gladstone here on a cloudy and breezy Thursday as they grabbed the top two places in the Great Northern Conference cross country meet.

Sophomore Giovanni Mathews captured his first GNC title, covering the hilly 3.1-mile course in 17 minutes, 44.6 seconds. Freshman Drew Hughes was runner-up (17:45.2) at Iron Mountain City Park.

Marquette, which placed all seven of its runners in the top 10, earned its seventh straight title with 27 points. Gladstone edged Menominee 58-62 for runner-up honors.

“I’m super relieved,” said Mathews. “I wasn’t sure I’d be able to run today. I was sick last weekend and just came back to practice yesterday (Wednesday). I’m still not feeling that well. I was trying to focus on what I needed to do. I’m sure Drew’s excited about taking second in the conference. Marquette has so many good runners. They’re a good opponent in a meet like this. I just love our team so much.”

Hughes, who had also been feeling under the weather this week, said he and Mathews planned on running together.

“Gio told me we needed to stick together and said ‘we can take this,”‘ Hughes added. “I think I’m doing pretty good right now. If I can stay with Gio, I think I’ll be in good shape.”

The Marquette girls edged Kingsford 32-36 for their 20th consecutive crown. Third-place Menominee scored 84 points.

“This was very interesting,” said Marquette coach Kyle Detmers. “Kingsford beat us last time at the Barnyard (Classic at Flat Rock). The girls were looking forward to competing. Great job to Kingsford. They’re so well coached. We knew they were going to be good and they’re getting faster.”

Marquette senior Moses Waite placed third in the boys’ race (17:57.2), followed by teammates Colin Vanderschaaf (18:09.1) and Hogan Nemetz (18:22.1).

“We ran a nice pack,” said Detmers. “We have about 10 guys running together in practice. They kept getting faster together. From one to seven they’ve been within 50 seconds consistently and today it was 56.”

Hunter Shepeck was Menominee’s pacesetter in sixth (18:32.4). Teammate Landen Clausen was 11th (18:53.6) and Esky junior Derek Douglas took 12th (19:15.6).

“The kids did well,” said Esky coach Dominique Bougie. “They ran really tough. Everyone was mentally strong today. We have a lot of young runners who are only going to get better. There’s a lot of room for improvement.”

Kingsford junior Melanie Wenzel won the girls’ race at 21:05.4. Marquette junior Olivia Moffitt was runner-up (21:36), followed by Kingsford junior Sarah Kulas (21:45.4).

“I wanted to go out fast and tried to pick it up on the hills,” said Wenzel, who started to get separation midway through the race. “We had to do that in practice and it prepared us well. The hills were mostly in the middle of the race and you had to gauge how much energy you had left. As a team we came real close. I think this gives us some momentum going into the U.P. (Division 1) Finals.”

Moffitt was generally pleased with placing second.

“This wasn’t my best time, but it’s a very hilly course,” she said. “I’d say this is a confidence boost going into the Finals. I tried to go out fast. I wanted to get ahead of the pack and led for nearly half the race. I didn’t really know where I was going. Melanie is very good. The Finals should be fun.”

Marquette ran without its top two runners, including three-time GNC champion Ericka Asmus.

Kulas was followed by Menominee sophomore Hayden Buck (22:03.8) and teammate Taylor Demay (22:12.2).

“We had some hard practice and I was kind of tired today,” said Kulas. “I’m pretty happy with my time. I started a little slower today. The Marquette girls ran real well. I thought our team did really good. Everybody ran well.”

Gladstone sophomore Jamisyn Bergeron was the top area finisher in 11th (23:12.9) and Esky sophomore Ciara Ostrenga took 12th (23:13.7).

Boys

Marquette 27, Gladstone 58, Menominee 62, Escanaba 113, Kingsford 124.

Top 10 — 1, Giovanni Mathews, Gladstone, 17:44.6; 2, Drew Hughes, Gladstone, 17:45.2; 3, Moses Waite, Marquette, 17:57.2; 4, Colin Vanderschaaf, Marquette, 18:09.1; 5, Hogan Nemetz, Marquette, 18:22.1; 6, Hunter Shepeck, Menominee, 18:32.4; 7, Peyton Osborne, Marquette, 18:36.9; 8, Lincoln Seger, Marquette, 18:38.2; 9, Carson Vanderschaaf. Marquette, 18:47.9; 10, Luke Janofski, Marquette, 18:51.6.

Girls

Marquette 32, Kingsford 36, Menominee 84, Gladstone 97, Escanaba 116.

Top 10 — 1, Melanie Wenzel, Kingsford, 21:05.4; 2, Olivia Moffitt, Marquette, 21:36; 3, Sarah Kulas, Kingsford, 21:45.4; 4, Hayden Buck, Menominee, 22:03.8; 5, Taylor Demay, Kingsford, 22:12.2; 6, Reegan Ketzenberger, Marquette, 22:25.8; 7, Guinn Wuorinen, Marquette, 22:46.3; 8, Lillian Weycher, Marquette, 22:56.5; 9, Anna Grzelak, Marquette, 22:57.8; 10, Lily Menghini, Kingsford, 23:10.8.

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