On Saturday, the Lions took first place at Whitmore Lake's Larry Steeb Invitational on the wet campus of Whitmore Lake High School. The Lions scored 46 points, beating Whitmore Lake 79, Allen Park 80, and six other teams.
The course was wet and quite muddy, creating times that were slower than the flat course presents when the course is dry. The girls ran before the boys, leading to a course that was quite soft and sloppy for the boys race.
Steven Bosworth took third overall and first for the Lions with a personal course best time of 17:43. miles Albert 18:02, Nico Sobczak 1815, and Alex Jowett 1819 all ran this course for the first time, finishing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th for the Lions.
Reiner Kandt 1821 was attempting to pace a sophomore runner to a PR and came through the mile mark at 6:08 before he broke away and increased his pace to make up lost time. Avian Valencia Moore 1830 and Luke Heisel 1836 rounded out the top seven for the Lions with their first-ever races on this course.
Logan Duncan 1847 Gavin Howell 1852, and Ethan Showek 1856 all ran
in the 18's. Ten runners including Antonio Sobczak 1911, Shane Jowett 1913,
Alex Mueller 1923, Ashton Kandt 1936, Ian Maltarich 1939, Brady Little 1948, Reid Brower 1955, Jon Fletcher 1955, and Connor Wallis 1957 all ran under 20 minutes.
Christian Mueller ran a new personal best time of 2321....with one shoe. He left the other shoe behind in the mud near the mile and a half mark. He retrieved his lost shoe at the end of the race.
The Lions did not run on this course in 2020. Because of the Covid Pandemic, the MHSAA broke their regional meet into a pre-Regional and a Regional to reduce the number of competitors on the championship courses. The pre-Regional meet coincided with the Larry Steeb Invite.
This was the third time that the Lions have competed on the Whitmore Lake High School course. Connor Hudgens holds the Lion course record at 1704 and Greg Jowett holds the number two all time course record at 1736. Both of these were set in 2018. Steven Bosworth holds the number 3 and 4 and 7 spots on the all time list with times of 1743, 1744, and 1806. Reiner Kandt holds the number 5 slot with 1753 and the number 12 slot with 1821. Miles Albert 1802, Nico Sobczak 1815, and Alex Jowett 1819 hold the number 6, 8 and 11 slots on the Lion all-time Whitmore Lake list.
Some Course Best Performances were huge like Connor Wallis' 3:45.or Logan Duncans' 2:26, and the mud did not stop ten boys from running their all-time personal bests.. Overall it was a nice day for the large Lion team to celebrate
the power of its hearts, bodies, and souls one last time together. The large senior class will certainly be missed.
Coach Smith would like to recognize those boys like Graydon McIntosh and Lucas Wilson who ran their best efforts despite their respiratory hardships.
Anyone who gave their absolute best to the end of the season is a true champion.Telemachus would be proud of the courage they have shown.
Here is the order of finish in the 2021 Race
SB= Season Best
PR=All time personal best
CB=Personal course best
1. Boz 1743 CB 01
2. Albert 1802 First time on course
3. Nico S. 1815 First time on course
4. A. Jowett 1819 First time on course
5. R. Kandt 1821
6. Val-Moore 1830 First time on course
7. Heisel 1836 First time on course
8 Duncan 1847 PR & SB 05, CB 2:26
9. Howell 1852 Tied CB
10. Showek 1856
11. Edwards 1902
12. Antonio 1911 CB 43
13 Shane J 1913 First time on course
14. A. Mule 1923
15. A Kandt 1936 First time on course
16. Maltarich 1939 PR & SB 11, First time on course
17. Little 1948 PR & SB 44, First time on course
18. Brower 1955
19. Fletcher 1955 Tied CB
20. Wallis 1957 3:45 CB
21. Wasmund 2004 First time on course
22. Vince M. 2017
23.Zischke 2021 PR & SB 02, First time on course
24. Nielson 2038 PR & SB 12, CB 1:38
25. Stec 2050 CB 08
26. Grazioli 2051 PR & SB 54, First time on course
27. Gridley 2057 PR & SB 22, CB 57
28. Hain 2032
29. Foley 2112 First time on course
30. T. Lykins 2115 First time on course
31. McIntosh 2140 CB 01
32. Dan B. 2226 SB 54 First time on course
33. Duke M 2226 First time on course
34. Scheels 2247 Pr & SB 41 First time on course
35. Christian M 2321 PR & SB 11 First time on course
36. Sinica 2459 SB & PR First time on course
37. Wilson 30:28