The Sentinels traveled to the BlueJay Invitational in Shepherd, just south of Mount Pleasant, on Saturday.

Head coach Derek Marr reported that the MSHS boys team established a first against this tough competition.

“We have had outstanding showings the past two weeks, but this time we broke through and won our first ‘Elite’ division race,” Marr said in an email detailing the results. “In the process we defeated great competition by a margin of 72 points.”

Among the teams that Marquette bested were a trio of top-20 MHSAA Division 1 powers — No. 3 Livonia Churchill, No. 11 Traverse City Central and No. 15 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.

The Marquette Senior High School girls cross country team poses for a photo after competing in the Elite Division title at the BlueJay Invitational held in downstate Shepherd on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Derek Marr)

Another D-1 honorable mention school, Macomb Dakota, was also in the field, as was Division 2 No. 4 Ada Forest Hills, No. 6 East Grand Rapids, No. 8 Frankenmuth and No. 10 Shepherd, along with Division 3 No. 1 Traverse City St. Francis.

Leading the Sentinels was Seppi Camilli, who clocked 15 minutes, 27.16 seconds, which Marr said he believes is a school record as a similar mark from 1982 was not electronically timed.

Four runners checked in at 16:01 or better, with a total of a half-dozen Marquette competitors breaking 16:13 with another one checking in at 16:41.

“Our depth is what I am most proud of,” Marr said, “which is a direct result of the support of one another. We could have removed Seppi from the scoring and still won…. Our fifth runner was in before any other team’s No. 3, and our sixth was in before anyone’s No. 4.”

In addition, the MSHS JV team won the Large School JV Elite race by more than 40 points, with Beepsee Teeple winning in a personal record 17:05 in a field with more than 430 runners.

Marr reports that his team’s “uncommon work ethic” includes positive attitudes and each of the top seven runners already putting in at least 1,000 miles this year and possibly finishing the calendar year with over 2,000 miles.

The Marquette girls finished 22nd of 33 schools in the Elite Varsity race with the same class of teams as in the boys meet, while the MSHS JV girls were seventh among 23 teams.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.