Pioneer senior Nathan Karr headed to Foot Locker National Finals - AnnArbor.com
Pioneer senior Nathan Karr headed to Foot Locker National Finals

Posted: 2:34 a.m. November 29, 2009

It didn’t take long for Nathan Karr to make up for a disappointing state championship run.

The Pioneer High School senior, who faded down the stretch of the Nov. 7 cross country state finals and finished 21st in the Division 1 race, had no such trouble Saturday.

The AnnArbor.com Washtenaw County Runner of the Year finished fourth at the Foot Locker cross country Midwest regional in Kenosha, Wis., earning a spot in the elite national championship race.

The top 10 finishers from four regional seeded races qualify for the 31st annual Foot Locker National Finals in San Diego on Dec. 12.

Karr navigated the muddy, 5,000-meter Wayne E. Dannehl National Country Course at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in 15 minutes, 46 seconds and was the top Michigan finisher in the 223-runner race that represented a 13-state region.

Picking up the pace — Evenson takes prep cross country by storm | livingstondaily.com | Livingston Daily
Picking up the pace — Evenson takes prep cross country by storm

If you were paying attention over the winter, you knew about Avery Evenson.

As an eighth-grader, Evenson won her age group at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships and was already looking forward to the high school cross country season.

As a freshman this fall, she took the state by storm. Now, she’s the All-County girls Runner of the Year.

After a third-place finish at the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Lakes Conference meet and a runner-up finish at a regional meet, Evenson surprised everyone, including herself, by racing to a runner-up finish at the Division 1 state meet.

“I didn’t feel like I picked up pace very much at the end,” Evenson recalled, “but I passed her by like two strides. I was excited about that.”

“Her,” was Livonia Churchill’s Sara Kroll, one of the state’s top runners.

Evenson chased her down over the final 200 yards of the race, impressing herself and stunning Hartland coach Mary Rinkus.

Evenson splashes on the scene — Hartland freshman earns All-County swimmer of the year honors | livingstondaily.com | Livingston Daily
Evenson splashes on the scene — Hartland freshman earns All-County swimmer of the year honors

Avery Evenson can’t stand to be bored.

That helps explain how she had the energy to attend Hartland High School varsity swim practices in the morning, cross country practice after school and practice with the Club Wolverine swim program at night.
“I’m really excited,” she said. “Especially having won the All-County cross country award, too. I set goals for myself and I achieved most of them so I’m happy about that.”

Cool time for runners — Fantasy of Lights 5K has room for fun and exercise | livingstondaily.com | Livingston Daily
Cool time for runners — Fantasy of Lights 5K has room for fun and exercise

Runners traveled the course wearing combinations of lights, and two groups came up with themes.

The Hartland cross country team came in costume as Santa Claus, his reindeer and his elves and ran in a pack.

“I was trying to stay focused on staying inside the wagon,” said the ersatz Santa, who gave one name to a reporter and another when he signed up. “The wheels were a little rickety, so I had to pay attention while waving to the crowd.”

Durand’s David Madrigal 20th in Foot Locker Midwest Regional cross country meet | Flint Journal Sports - - MLive.com
Durand’s David Madrigal 20th in Foot Locker Midwest Regional cross country meet
By Bill Khan | Flint Journal
November 29, 2009, 12:46AM
KENOSHA, Wis. — David Madrigal of Durand, the state Division 3 cross country champion, placed 20th out of 223 runners Saturday in the Foot Locker Midwest Regional Championships.

Madrigal had a time of 16:10. He was the second Michigan finisher, placing ahead of state Division 1 champion Michael Atchoo of Troy, who was 27th in 16:15.

Nathan Karr of Ann Arbor Pioneer qualified for nationals Dec. 12 in San Diego, placing fourth in 15:46. Lukas Verzbicas of Orland Hills, Ill. won the race in 15:34.

The top 10 finishers in the seeded races in each of four regionals qualify for nationals.

Megan Goethals of Rochester, the Michigan state record holder for the cross country finals, won the girls’ race in 17:24. Emily Sisson of Chesterfield, Mo. was second in 17:42.

Sara Kroll of Livonia Churchill and Shannon Osika of Waterford Mott also qualified for nationals. Kroll was seventh in 18:15, while Osika was 10th in 18:37.

The Saginaw News Fall Season Dream Team - MLive.com
The Saginaw News Fall Season Dream Team

The Saginaw News, November 27, 2009 7:32 p.m.

Nathaniel Ellsworth, boys cross country

The Heritage boys cross country team has propelled its program into a state power and senior Nathaniel Ellsworth can look back at his four seasons with the Hawks knowing he left it in a lot better shape than how he found it.

Ellsworth was one of just two runners back from last year’s run to a runner-up finish in Division 1 and he returned to help the team capture its third-straight regional, Saginaw County and Saginaw Valley League titles.

“I’m definitely satisfied with what I did at Heritage,” Ellsworth said. “There were two or three guys committed to running when I came here and by my sophomore year, we had eight guys heading to camps at Grand Valley. The eight of us came back ready to run and nearly took states.

“That changed our whole program.”

Ellsworth finished as the top runner in Saginaw County after winning the invitational with a 16:39.9 time. He took third at regionals and just missed all-state honors at the state meet with a 34th place finish (26:23) on a mucky day at Brooklyn’s Michigan International Speedway. The Hawks finished sixth in the state this year and seventh in Ellsworth’s sophomore season. He ran a personal best 16:03 at the Michigan State University Invitational, finishing fifth against the best competition in the state.

Bridget Bennett, girls cross country

Bridget Bennett’s highly-decorated running career started as a playful taunt from her father during her varsity softball season as a freshman.

“It’s kind of funny because because I told my dad that I wanted to run track and play softball this year,” the senior from Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart recalls. “He bet me that I wouldn’t even break six minutes in the mile. I finished in 5 minutes, 25 seconds.

“I still make fun of him about it.”

Her father was all smiles three weeks ago, when Bennett won the Division 4 cross country state meet for the second-straight season. Bennett coasted through rough conditions to win in 18:35.9, 40 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.

“It was the perfect way to end a senior season,” the 18-year-old Bennett said. “I didn’t even run cross country until my sophomore year. It all happened when I ran in three meets in track as a freshman and finished 10th in the state.”

Bennett eventually dropped her first love of basketball last season to focus on a running career. She now plans on running collegiately out East and has looked to programs like Amherst College in Massachusetts or Providence College in Rhode Island. The 18-year-old plans to study theology and moral law.

Top girl performances - fall 2009 | lansingstatejournal.com | Lansing State Journal
Top girl performances - fall 2009

The athletic accomplishments this past fall for girls at East Lansing, Haslett and Okemos were significant.

Here - in reverse order - are the top performers for the fall of 2009:

Margaret Lindman

East Lansing Cross Country

The all-state senior placed fourth overall at the Division 2 cross country regional finals as she helped earn the Trojans a birth in the state championship meet.

Whitelaw voted Runner of Year - MonroeNews.com
Whitelaw voted Runner of Year
by Jeff Meade , last modified November 27. 2009 8:58AM
Austin Whitelaw said he wasn’t blessed with sprinter’s speed, so he ran the mile and two mile at Monroe Middle School.

One day his track and field coach passed out fliers to the eighth graders telling them about the high school cross country team.

“I’d never even heard of cross country before,” Whitelaw said. “I thought, ‘That sounds like fun. I’ll give it a shot.’ ”

He didn’t have great success at first, but his distance-running career took off about a year ago. This year the Monroe High junior ran 800 miles over the summer and began threatening the records of some of the best runners in Trojan history.

ALL-COUNTY CROSS COUNTRY: Blissfield’s Bateson named top male runner - Adrian, MI - Daily Telegram
ALL-COUNTY CROSS COUNTRY: Blissfield’s Bateson named top male runner
By Amanda Decker
Daily Telegram
Fri Nov 27, 2009, 05:00 PM EST
BLISSFIELD, Mich. -

Blissfield senior Justin Bateson has the dedication and drive to be the kind of cross country runner he is today.

Bateson set out at the beginning of the season in search of earning medalist honors at the state championship, putting in dozens of miles each week. He put these miles in, hoping that when he tapered back, the speed would come.

“I wanted to go out with a big bang,” Bateson said. “I started the season with a lot of mileage. The season ended up being kind of up and down for me and because of my high mileage, it left me drained towards the end of it.”

Things didn’t go as well as he had planned. Not only did he struggle with good and bad weeks, he got sick in the midst of season towards the league meet.

Cross country honor squad ran solid - Adrian, MI - Daily Telegram
Cross country honor squad ran solid
By John Castle
Daily Telegram
Fri Nov 27, 2009, 05:00 PM EST
ADRIAN, Mich. -

Injuries held back some of the county’s top cross country runners this season, and the strange thing is, most of those injuries afflicted the female runners.

Despite those injuries, it was still a good cross country season for all involved, and 14 of the runners are being honored as members of The Daily Telegram’s All-County team.

Running their way onto the girls squad were Tecumseh junior Erica Steuwe, Sand Creek senior Melanie Glinski, Onsted junior Morgan Olson and Onsted sophomore Heidi Wobrock, Blissfield junior Lauren Yates, Lenawee Christian freshman Natalie Perry, and Madison sophomore Abby Carpenter.

Heading the boys honor squad are Blissfield senior Justin Bateson, Hudson senior Stephen Tennis, Hudson senior Derick Clark, Clinton senior Kenny Cooper, Adrian junior Jacob Simmons, Adrian sophomore Ricky Perez, and Tecumseh junior Leon Miller.