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GLADSTONE -- The Gladstone cross country teams have shown steady progress since the beginning of this season.
They hope to continue that trend when they go downstate for Saturday's Holly Invitational.
The Braves have seven boys and three girls on their roster
Gladstone's boys won the Marinette Border Battle Sept. 3 and placed fourth in the Manistique Emerald Invitational Sept. 9.
Senior Chuck Cameron was Gladstone's pacesetter at Manistique, reaching the top 10 in 19 minutes, 11 seconds for 3.1 miles.
Sophomores Nick Moulds and Charlie Blair took 12th and 13th in a photo finish at 19:25.6 and senior Cristian Hayen was 23rd (19:58).
"Chuck and Cristian are kind of the leaders of the team," coach Gary Whitmer said. "We had four guys go under 20 minutes and would like to get the fifth guy under 20. Our fifth, sixth and seventh guys have been right on 22 minutes. They're coming along. We have little bit of depth."
Freshman Nolan Bosk ran a personal-best 23.49.5 while placing 15th in Marinette.
Other hopefuls are junior Tony Pelish and freshman Kevin Blair.
"I think the kids were surprised," Whitmer said. "They ran well at Marinette. We probably could have moved up a little more at Manistique, We lost to Munising by just eight points, although they're a solid team."
Senior Joselyn Mills was the pacesetter for the girls, taking 14th in a personal-best 23:07.9.
Joining her are senior Halle Wakkuri and freshman Charlotte Carter-Jager.
"The girls seem to be enjoying it," Whitmer said. "They're working hard. I just wish we had a few more."
Next up for Gladstone is a trip to Munising for Wednesday's El Harger Memorial Invitational before hosting the Bay College High School Invite at Flat Rock Sept. 26.
The remaining schedule:
Sept. 19 -- Holly Invitational; Sept. 23 -- El Harger Memorial Invitational at Munising; Sept. 26 -- Bay College Invitational at Flat Rock; Sept. 29 -- Negaunee Invitational.
Oct. 1 -- Great Eskymo Chase at Escanaba; Oct. 3 -- Sault Ste. Marie Invitational; Oct. 8 -- Houghton Invitational; Oct. 15 -- Great Northern Conference at Menominee; Oct. 20 -- Mid-Peninsula Conference at Flat Rock; Oct. 24 -- U.P. Division 1 Finals at Houghton.