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Miners freshman stands out: Plaxco wins Strom Invite girls title by nearly 30 seconds

Plaxco wins Strom Invite girls title by nearly 30 seconds

By Steve Brownlee 3 min read

MARQUETTE -- Freshman Julia Plaxco of Negaunee won the girls individual title, but Houghton had too much depth for the Miners to overcome in the girls meet at the Tracy Strom Invitational in high school cross country on Thursday afternoon.

Held at Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming, the meet also served as West PAC meet No. 2 for the season.

In the boys meet, the runner-up finish by Westwood's Calvin Carlson was the best by an area boy as Houghton also won this team title rather handily.

Many of the combatants at the Strom Invite will be at the Negaunee Invitational in Negaunee Township on Tuesday afternoon. That should include the host Miners, Ishpeming, Westwood and Newberry among area schools, with the West PAC contingent heading to Wawonowin Country Club in Champion on Thursday afternoon for West PAC meet No. 3.

Meanwhile, some other area schools will be at different meets. Munising, Superior Central and Baraga are at the Bay College Invitational today in the Escanaba area, while Manistique will be at the Kiwanis Invite in St. Ignace on Tuesday.

Then on Wednesday, Munising and Manistique head to a meet at Rapid River, while L'Anse and Baraga will be at the Panther Invite at Ewen-Trout Creek.

And on Thursday, SC and Newberry are scheduled for the John Prokos Memorial Elks Invite in Escanaba.

Here are details from each competition in Ishpeming on Thursday:

Girls

Plaxco clocked 20 minutes, 32.9 seconds on the five-kilometer (3.1-mile) trail, a nearly 30-second victory over the first of three consecutive Houghton runners.

Gremlins junior Holly Cooke was runner-up in 21:00.2, with freshman teammate Emma Jukuri third in 21:49.5 and Houghton senior Norah Woodruff fourth in 22:39.1.

Ishpeming sophomore Sophie Mahoski was fifth in 22:54.3, with two more Negaunee runners also cracking the top 10 -- junior Eliza Sicotte was eighth in 24:15.0 and senior Riley Conklin 10th in 24:43.8.

Teamwise, the Gremlins scored 27 points to runner-up Negaunee's 42 as Calumet was the only other scoring team with 57. Ishpeming, Gwinn and Republic-Michigamme also had runners, but not the required five for a team score.

Three more Miners placed in the second 10, junior Adela Miller 12th in 25:09.8, sophomore Gabby Green 16th in 26:16.5 and junior Maija Roberts 19th in 26:54.4.

The next area runner was Hematites junior Madison Longtine placing 25th in 27:43.9, while R-M senior Zoe Blubaugh was immediately after her in 26th in 27:45.9.

Gwinn's top finisher was junior Eliana Ellie Martin, 33rd in 35:34.8.

Boys

Houghton made it a team sweep by scoring 28 points in this meet as Jeffers had 52, Westwood 73 and Negaunee 74. Gwinn and Ishpeming each had a single runner entered.

Gremlins junior Brandon Van Karsen won this race in 17:51.1, just 2.2 seconds ahead of the Patriots' Carlson in 17:53.3.

There was nearly a minute gap to the rest of the field.

Houghton freshman Tyler Rule was third in 18:45.2, with Jeffers junior Branson Anderson fourth in 18:47.8 and Gremlins sophomore Cole Ceane fifth in 18:58.4.

Next was Ishpeming's lone entrant, senior Kemper Gearhart, sixth in 19:05.3.

Negaunee sophomore Tyler Rautiola also cracked the top 10 in eighth place in 19:36.1.

Included in the second 10 from the area was Westwood senior Caleb Christensen 13th in 20:27.4, Miners senior Joshua Frederick 15th in 20:29.3, Negaunee junior teammate Anders Johnston 18th in 20:49.6. and Patriots sophomore Nicholas Christensen 20th in 21:02.7.

Nine area runners finished consecutively after that, led by Negaunee senior Marcel Juul in 22nd and Miners freshman Evan Menge 23rd.

Gwinn's runner was sophomore John Green, who was 30th in 25:20.7.

Story contents based on an examination of the Superior Timing website at www.superiortiming.com. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

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