MANISTIQUE — Underclassmen will have plenty of chances to prove themselves on Manistique’s cross country team this season.

The Emeralds, with eight boys and six girls on their roster, open in Friday’s Dale Phillips Invitational at Marquette’s Presque Isle Park.

“Having 14 come out right away is huge for us,” said second-year coach Rebecca Gilroy. “Having Mary Lou Lund work with our middle school program helps a lot. We’re quite a young team. We have all underclassmen except for one junior. This will be a learning experience, but we have some strong runners. We’re looking forward to having full teams. I think we can bring home a little bit of hardware this year.”

Gone through graduation are Alex Misniakiewicz, a Division 2 all-state selection as a junior, and Logan Haggenson for the boys and Brittany Bellville from the girls’ team.

Sophomore Grant Mason is the boys’ pacesetter with classmate Jacob Berry and junior Jude Way vying for the No. 2 spot.

Joining them are sophomore returner Alex Ziemba and newcomers Austin Mischel, Jon VanDyke and Nick Wing and freshman Walter Gierke.

“All eight are pretty strong runners,” said Gilroy. “We have a pretty solid varsity team. I look for our guys to be right near the top.”

The girls are led by their lone returner, sophomore Clara Gilroy. Joining her are classmate Anna Benish and freshmen Aubrey Ekstrom, Mattisyn Hunckle, Danielle Lund and Linnea Way (Jude’s sister).

“Clara is still our pacesetter and Mattisyn and Aubrey are our second and third runners,” said coach Gilroy. “We hope to pick up a few more runners once school starts. We have a good group. The kids get along well and the practices are going real well. We’ve had a lot of good community support. Some of the gyms were open for us and a local physical therapist has offered new strength training activities.”

How much has Covid-19 affected the Emeralds?

“It hasn’t changed things much for us,” said coach Gilroy. “We still have a pretty small team, although we’re making a few adjustments to our course and need to have health screening before every practice. It’s a relief to know we’re going to have a season. The kids enjoy being outside and working with each other.”

The Emeralds host their invitational Sept. 9, then travel to Newberry Sept. 12.

Sept. 4 — at Marquette; Sept. 9 — Manistique Invitational; Sept. 12 — at Newberry; Sept. 17 — at St. Ignace; Sept. 26 — at Escanaba; Sept. 29 — at Munising.

Oct. 8 — at Gladstone (Flat Rock); Oct. 10 — at Sault Ste. Marie; Oct. 12 — M-PC meet at Flat Rock; Oct. 24 — U.P. D-2 Finals at Gaastra.