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MUNISING -- The Rock Mid Peninsula cross country program has waited a long time for this.
Mid Pen's boys became Division 3 champs with 126 points in the El Harger Invitational here Wednesday. Rapid River was runner-up at 141.
"This is our first win in more than 30 years," Mid Pen coach Carl Brunngraeber said. "Our program is definitely growing. Ashdeyn (Gerow) PR'd by 11 seconds and Eli Stiglitz really stepped up. We had a really hard day on the hills Monday. These kinds of workouts are hard to schedule because the meets are sometimes pretty close together. This was a great day for us. I'm really proud of them."
To nobody's surprise, Marquette ran away with the overall and D-1 titles.
The Sentinels grabbed six of the top seven places and scored 19 points. Gladstone edged D-2 champ Munising 94-97, followed by Mid Pen and Rapid River.
Marquette senior Lucas Ballard won the 3.1-mile race at the Pictured Rocks Golf Course in a personal-best 15 minute, 56.1 seconds. Gerow was runner-up at 17:44 and Marquette senior Vasu Esplin placed third in 17:46.4 on this sunny and mild afternoon.
"I got under 16 for the first time," Ballard said. "I'm excited. This is an amazing course. This was a great day to do it. I'm super happy for the other guys. They ran really well. Ashdeyn is a real good runner. We have two downstate meets coming up (at Shepherd and Portage), so this is a huge confidence builder. My legs are still a little sore. I ran 75 miles a week during the summer and right now I'm doing 65. I'll be tapering off as we get closer to the U.P. Finals.
Senior Chuck Cameron was Gladstone's pacesetter in eighth (18:32.6) and Stiglitz took 11th (18:42.6)
The Marquette girls also won with 31 points, followed by D-2 champion Munising 70, Marinette 111, Kingsford 114 and D-3 winner Superior Central 117.
"It's starting to come," Marquette coach Kyle Detmers said. "We got faster. They just want to get better. We have a great group of guys. The girls did a good job, too. We ran a nice pack."
Kingsford senior Maria Murvich was crowned champion in a personal-best 20:03.8, followed by Marquette freshman Charlotte Jones (20:13.3) and sophomore Emma Ziegler (20:13.7).
"I saw 19:45 on the clock when I was coming up the last hill," Murvich said. "I thought I had it, but that's all right. I'm doing 40 miles a week, although soon I'll cut back a little to work on my speed. We had perfect weather. It was a little hot in the sun, but we had a nice breeze. I stuck with the Rapid River girl (sophomore Evonna LaCosse) for a half-mile. This is a confidence boost, another win with a PR."
Superior Central freshman Edye Burdett placed fourth at a personal-best 20:21.8 and Munising freshman Emma Conklin took fifth (21:10.2).
"I'm going toward my goal (sub-20)," Burdett said. "The two Marquette girls and I ran together, then they broke off with 400 (yards) to go. It felt like I was flying. Mental toughness is going to be the key. It was all good. This proves to me I can drop time."
Conklin was also happy with her race.
"I tried to run smooth and it worked well today," she said. "I like this course. It was nice out today and I enjoy running here."
LaCosse took eighth (21:42.9) and Escanaba sophomore Avah Akerly was 11th (22:23.5).
"I'm happy with my race," Akerly said. "I wanted to pick up the pace early. It was kind of hot in the sun, but otherwise it was okay. This is a confidence builder right now. This is a fun course. The breeze definitely helped midway through the race."
Most area runners will be at Flat Rock for Saturday's Bay College High School Invitational which begins at 11:30 a.m.
Boys
Marquette 19, Gladstone 94, Munising 97, Rock Mid Peninsula 126, Rapid River 141, Marinette 161, Stephenson 164, Kingsford 203, Menominee 206, Superior Central 214, Carney-Nadeau 277, Engadine and Escanaba NTS.
Top 10 -- 1, Lucas Ballard, Marquette, 15:56.1; 2, Ashdeyn Gerow, Rock Mid Peninsula, 17:44; 3, Vasu Esplin, Marquette, 17:46.7; 4, Lake Skytta, Marquette, 17:46.7; 5, William Lindsay, Marquette, 17:46.9' 6, Welly Fillmore, Marquette, 17:54.4; 7, Garrett Crimmins, Marquette, 18:10; 8, Chuck Cameron, Gladstone, 18:32.6; 9, Anthony Messina, Marquette, 18:36.3; 10, Nate Stielstra, Engadine, 18:41.5.
Girls
Marquette 31, Munising 70, Marinette 111, Kingsford 114, Superior Central 117, Rapid River 130, Menominee 136, Engadine 169.
Top 10 -- 1, Maria Murvich, Kingsford, 20:03.8; 2, Charlotte Jones, Marquette, 20:13.3; 3, Emma Ziegler, Marquette, 20:13.7; 4, Edye Burdett, Superior Central, 20:21.8; 5, Emma Conklin, Munising, 21:10.2; 6, Winley Brandt, Menominee, 21:14.9; 7, Ava Cantway, Marquette, 21:26.4; 8, Evonna LaCosse, Rapid River, 21:42.9; 9, Amira Perrier, Marquette, 21:57.1; Evelyn Grant, Marquette, 22:01.7.