The Negaunee High School girls cross country team won the Bay College High School Invitational on Saturday in Flat Rock, near Gladstone. From left are assistant coach Kelsie Loukkala, Nori Korsman, Keira Waterman, Brynn Wiecich, Sadie Rogers, Riley Conklin, Adela Miller and head coach Vickie Paupore. (Photo courtesy Vickie Paupore)

FLAT ROCK — Make it 3 for 4 for the Gladstone boys’ cross country team.

The Braves won for the third time in four meets this season here Saturday, becoming the first ones to earn top honors in the Bay College High School Invitational with 39 points. They were followed by Rudyard with 49, Negaunee 82 and Rapid River 89.

Manistique scored 191 points to place seventh among the eight schools that could put up a team score, which four were unable to do, including Escanaba.

“We’re getting better,” Braves’ coach Gary Whitmer said. “We’re helping each other and different guys are taking turns leading us. They ran hard.”

The Negaunee girls won their meet with a dominant 30 points, far ahead of Stephenson with 70 and Rudyard 75.

Manistique and Baraga were among a half-dozen schools that didn’t have a full contingent of five finishers.

“The girls had a fabulous performance today,” Miners coach Vickie Paupore said. “They ran with confidence.

“This is the first time we had all the girls here. Every girl medaled, which is something to be proud of. Our boys also had a real good performance.”

Rudyard senior Steven Kirschner took the boys’ race, covering the 3.1-mile course in 17 minutes, 38.6 seconds on a sunny and cool day. He was followed by Stephenson senior Cannon Kuntze (17:50.5) and Negaunee senior Simon Jaklin in a personal-best 18:14.9.

“I went out kind of slow and easy,” Kirschner said. “I wasn’t familiar with the competition, but I had high hopes coming in here and it worked out pretty well for me.

“As soon as I got past the mile mark, I settled into a pace, although I think the rolling hills kind of got to me.”

The Miners’ next finisher was freshman Tyler Rautiola in 18th in 19:55.3, while sophomore teammate Quin Karlstrom was 25th in 20:20.3. Two more Negaunee runners also cracked the top 30, junior Joshua Frederick in 28th in 20:44.6 and sophomore Anders Johnston in 29th in 20:52.8.

Manistique was led by senior Ashton Vincent in 41st in 22:23.2 and junior Matt Clark in 43rd in 22:32.3.

Negaunee junior Keira Waterman was girls’ champion in 21:13.9, a shade over three seconds ahead of runner-up Faith Cappaert of Stephenson, who clocked a season-best 21:17.0 with a late surge.

“This is a good conditioner for track,” Waterman said. “I thought it would be fun to do cross country.

“I knew I had to get near the front and attacked the uphills and coasted on the downhills. This is a scenic course. It’s very pretty. This has been a real big learning experience.”

“She passed me at about two miles,” Cappaert said of Waterman. “I tried to stay with her and we pushed each other. I’ve seen her in track and she’s pretty good in cross country. They have a really good team.

“I’m really happy with my time and we had our whole team, which was really good. It was a beautiful day for running and I really liked the course.”

Esky freshman Avah Akerly placed third at 21:36.5, followed by Menominee junior Winley Brandt (21:43.8) and a pair of Negaunee runners — senior Nori Korsman in fifth in 22:02.1 and junior Sadie Rogers in sixth in 22:13.9.

Also for the Miners, freshman Brynn Wiecich was 12th in 23:14.5 and junior Riley Conklin 14th in 23:22.2.

Baraga’s lone finisher was sophomore Aybri Sorensen in 24th in 25:00.8, while Manistique had a pair of runners finish within two seconds of each other — freshman Keira Hart was 54th in 34:07.0 and junior Lily Knaffla 55th in 34:09.0.

In the girls JV meet, Baraga sixth-grader Aubree Messer was runner-up in 25:52.5 and eighth-grade schoolmate Madison Chaudier third in 26:20.8.

Bay College HS Invite

Saturday at Flat Rock

Boys

Team scores — Gladstone 39, Rudyard 49, Negaunee 82, Rapid River 89, Stephenson 127, Escanaba Holy Name 155, Manistique 191, Menominee 204. Escanaba, Marinette, Coleman, Wis., Powers North Central, no team scores.

Top 10 — 1, Steven Kirschner, Rudyard, 17:38.6; 2, Cannon Kuntze, Stephenson, 17:50.5; 3, Simon Jaklin, Negaunee, 18:14.9; 4, Max Beauchamp, Gladstone, 18:38.1; 5, Eli Folkersma, Rudyard, 18:38.8; 6, Grady Nelson, Gladstone, 18:52.7; 7, Teagan Reynolds, Gladstone, 19:02.6; 8, Jon Denkins, Rapid River, 19:20.9; 9, Seth Templeton, Rudyard, 19:22.3; 10, Hunter Schneider, Marinette, 19:31.5.

Girls

Team scores — Negaunee 30, Stephenson 70, Rudyard 75, Marinette 94, Gladstone 102, Rapid River 116, Coleman, Wis. 179, Escanaba, Menominee, Baraga, Powers North Central, Escanaba Holy Name and Manistique, no team scores.

Top 10 — 1, Keira Waterman, Negaunee, 21:13.9; 2, Faith Cappaert, Stephenson, 21:17; 3, Avah Akerly, Escanaba, 21:36.5; 4, Winley Brandt, Menominee, 21:43.8; 5, Nori Korsman, Negaunee, 22:02.1; 6, Sadie Rogers, Negaunee, 23:13.9; 7, Melissa Kirschner, Rudyard, 22:22.6; 8, Lexi Gilbert, Gladstone, 22:26.8; 9, Sophia Borths, Marinette, 22:46; 10, Gabriella Putnam, Stephenson, 23:01.6.