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CRYSTAL FALLS -- Upper Peninsula cross country runners experienced the thrill of victory here by winning their respective races in the Forest Park Trojan Invitational.
Rock Mid Peninsula sophomore Ashdeyn Gerow captured the boys’ title by covering the hilly 3.1-mile course in 19 minutes, 50 seconds at the Fortune Lake Lutheran Camp on a sunny and hot afternoon Sept. 2.
Superior Central freshman Edye Burdett was crowned champion for the first time in her varsity career at 21:37.5.
The Forest Park boys retained their title with nine points, followed by Mid Pen 20 and Stephenson 26.
“It’s nice to win on home turf and bring home the home trophy,” Trojans’ coach D.J. Rasner said. “I’d say this is a very big boost for the guys. For us, we’re at the point to go for it right now. The meet at Munising (where the Trojans were runners-up by six points) was a different competition. That showed how good we are. They (Munising) are in our (Skyline Central) conference. They’re still our competition.”
Ewen-Trout Creek became girls’ champion with 12 points and Superior Central squeezed past Forest Park 28-29 for runner-up honors.
Gerow was followed by three Forest Park runners. They were junior Hayden Smith at 20:15.3, senior Dittrich Rasner (20:19.9) and sophomore Reuben Rasner (20:27.2).
Gerow took a wrong turn during the race and ran an extra loop.
“I almost turned my ankle with all the rocks and roots,” he said. “I ran about 50 yards more than 3½ miles. A positive attitude helped me overcome that. I knew I could do it. This feels pretty good. This is a very big confidence boost. There weren’t too many schools here. Future races will be more challenging.”
Mid Pen coach Carl Brunngraeber was pleased with the team’s performance.
“We’re not at full strength yet,” he said. “Asdeyne ran real well and Cyler (Brunngraeber) improved his time by 2½ minutes from last year. We have only three girls, but they’re working hard. This is a nice boost for the guys. All of our kids have good attitudes. Forest Park has a very good team. They’ll be tough to beat.”
Burdett held off E-TC senior Bree Besonen who was runner-up at 21:49.5.
“The Ewen-Trout Creek girl pushed me the whole race,” she said. “I was very appreciative of having her here. I was super fortunate to win. I’ve never been very good in the heat. The big sand hill in the second mile was a big challenge. It felt pretty hot out there.”
The two leaders were more than three minutes ahead of the rest of the field.
Boys
Crystal Falls Forest Park 9, Rock Mid Peninsula 20, Stephenson 26, Superior Central 35, Carney-Nadeau 52, Ewen-Trout Creek 58, Baraga 73, Republic-Michigamme 94.
Top 10 — 1, Ashdeyn Gerow, Mid Peninsula, 19:50.2; 2, Hayden Smith, Forest Park, 20:15.3; Dietrich Rasner, Forest Park, 20:19.9; 4, Reuben Rasner, Forest Park, 20:27.2; 5, Landon Pivatto, Stephenson, 20:31.6; 6, Jaxon Klyk, Superior Central, 21:14.2; 7, Cason Brunngraeber, Mid Peninsula, 21:31.6; 8, Lyle Revall, Stephenson, 21:34.2; 9, Soren Santi, Forest Park, 21:43.8; 10, Lane Mellen, Carney-Nadeau, 22:07.9.
Girls
Ewen-Trout Creek 12, Superior Central 28, Crystal Falls Forest Park 29, Rock Mid Peninsula 35, Baraga 37, Powers North Central 49, Republic-Michigamme 60.
Top 10 — 1, Edye Burnett, Superior Central, 21:37.5; 2, Bree Besonen, Ewen-Trout Creek, 21:49.5; 3, Arianna Johnson, Baraga, 24:54.4; 4, Alyssa DeCremer, Ewen-Trout Creek, 25:13; 5, Ellie Zaupa, Forest Park, 25:32.9; 6, Leona Schutz, Ewen-Trout Creek, 25:43; 7, Kendra Pederson, Superior Central, 25:55.7; 8, Avryl VanOss, Forest Park, 26:26.5; 9, Vivian Norden, Mid Peninsula, 26:29.9; 10, Aline Norkoli, North Central, 26:33.3.