Sentinels take boys, girls GNC cross country titles
Marquette’s Lucas Ballard leads and eventually would win a close finish in the boys race at the Dale Phillips-Queen City Invitational high school cross country meet held at Presque Isle Park in Marquette on Aug. 28. (Photo courtesy of Cara Kamps)
Marquette’s Charlotte Jones runs to a fifth-place finish in the girls race at the Dale Phillips-Queen City Invitational high school cross country meet held at Presque Isle Park in Marquette on Aug. 28. (Photo courtesy of Cara Kamps)
Marquette’s Lucas Ballard leads and eventually would win a close finish in the boys race at the Dale Phillips-Queen City Invitational high school cross country meet held at Presque Isle Park in Marquette on Aug. 28. (Photo courtesy of Cara Kamps)
Marquette’s Charlotte Jones runs to a fifth-place finish in the girls race at the Dale Phillips-Queen City Invitational high school cross country meet held at Presque Isle Park in Marquette on Aug. 28. (Photo courtesy of Cara Kamps)
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MENOMINEE -- Marquette chalked up two fairly easy team victories even while only claiming one of the individual race titles at the Great Northern Conference Championships in high school cross country held in Menominee on Oct. 15.
The Sentinels swept the top six places to capture the boys title with a perfect 15 points, while the MSHS girls took five of the next six five spots after the winning runner to also claim that championship with 21 points.
In the boys meet, Gladstone was a distant runner-up with 57 points, while Menominee had 74 and Kingsford 95 for the teams that could score.
Among the girls, Kingsford was second with 55, while Menominee had 75 and Escanaba 93.
Senior Lucas Ballard led the Marquette tidal wave in the boys' meet, winning by well over a minute in 15 minutes, 49.5 seconds.
Two more senior teammates were next, Welly Fillmore runner-up in 17:02.1 and Vasu Esplin third in 17:15.1.
Continuing with the MSHS theme, junior William Lindsay was fourth in 17:26.5, junior Jayden Seekie fifth in 17:31.7 and freshman Anthony Messina sixth in 17:36.2.
Kingsford senior Cavan Mulligan was the first non-Sentinel to finish, placing seventh in 17:37.7.
Marquette's other finisher was junior Garrett Crimmins in 15th in 18:48.4.
In the girls meet, Kingsford junior Maria Murvich won by the narrowest of margins -- one-tenth of a second -- clocking 19:32.7 as Sentinels freshman Charlotte Jones was runner-up in 19:32.8.
Marquette sophomore teammate Emma Ziegler was also close, taking third in 19:39.7.
There was more than 45 seconds until the next finisher came in, MSHS junior Evelyn Grant in fourth in 20:25.7. Sophomore teammate Ava Cantway was fifth in 20:29.3, while Marquette sophomore Amira Perrier was seventh in 21:29.6.
Also for the Sentinels, senior Eryn Veverka was ninth in 22:06.8 and sophomore Sophie Coxon 10th in 22:29.9.
Marquette will be at least a favorite, if not the favorite, to win another pair of MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals titles at the Michigan Tech Nordic Ski Trails near Houghton on Saturday. Six races in three divisions begin each half hour starting at 11 a.m.
The Sentinels' boys have won the last seven Division 1 U.P. titles, 16 in all since divisions were created in the year 2000, and another 13 in Class A dating back to 1961 for 29 total in the past 65 years.
Marquette girls have posted similar numbers -- the last four and 19 in all in Division 1 going back to 2000, another 16 in Class A and an open class title in 1978 for 36 in 48 years.
The Division 1 field joining the Sentinels on Saturday will be Negaunee, Westwood, Manistique, Calumet, Escanaba, Gladstone, Houghton, Kingsford, Menominee, North Central and Sault Ste. Marie.
Division 2 has Ishpeming, Gwinn, Munising, Newberry, Brimley, Hancock, Ironwood, Jeffers, Norway, Rudyard, Wakefield-Marenisco and West Iron County.
Division 3 will include Superior Central, Republic-Michigamme, Baraga, L'Anse, Calumet Copper Island Academy, Carney-Nadeau, Cedarville, Chassell, Dollar Bay, Engadine, Escanaba Holy Name, Ewen-Trout Creek, Forest Park, Mid Peninsula, Ojibwe Charter, Pickford, Rapid River, St. Ignace, Stephenson and Watersmeet.
Story contents based on email received from an examination of the Superior Timing website at www.superiortiming.com. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.