ESCANABA — It was a tight race here Saturday night as Escanaba High School senior Dan Smith edged North Central cross country coach Mike Jenkins for the overall title in the Harvest Moon Run.

Smith covered the 3.1-mile course in 18 minutes, 47 seconds with Jenkins at 18:50.

“He was following me the whole race,” said Smith. “He had a real good pace. He kept me going. I like running in the dark better because of more comfortable temperatures. I used this as conditioning for track.”

Jenkins was followed by Luke LaFave in 19:41.

“It was really close,” said Jenkins. “I’m happy with my time. I’m hoping to get under 18:30 next summer. I ran this last year and didn’t wear a headlamp. I’m glad wore one tonight. I was able to be a little more at ease and it helped my time.”

Marquette eighth-grader Brynn Wieciech took the women’s championship at 22:23. She was followed by Evey Bevins (25:04) and Elisabeth Carlson (26:16).

“It was fun,” said Wieciech, who plans to run in high school. “It felt awesome to run here. I tried to do a steady pace and I’m happy with my time. We also had good weather for it.”

The event drew 79 runners and walkers.

Male

12 & under — Kyle Smith, 21:31; 13-19 — Dan Smith, Escanaba, 18:47; 20-29 — Luke LaFave, 19:41; 30-39 — Mike Jenkins, Powers, 18:50; 40-49 — Jeff Derkos, 20:56; 50-59 — Aaron Casamassa, 25:10; 60 & over — Mark Pearson, 27:56.

Female

12 & under — Brynn Wieciech, Marquette, 22:23; 13-19 — Elisabeth Carlson, 26:16; 20-29 — Carla Bundgaard, Rapid River, 28:19; 30-39 — Tara Varoni, 34:58; 40-49 — Tressa Derkos, 28:13; 50-59 — Jeanne Polishak, Bark River, 27:26; 60 & over — Marsha Bertoldi, 46:30.