Under a sun-drenched sky at the Dale Fountain cross country course in Banat, the Munising Mustang cross country teams competed at the Skyline Conference championships on Thursday, Oct. 10. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the injury bug jumped up and bit both the boys and girls teams. The result was that injuries cost both teams the chance to win conference titles.
For the Munising girls, Olivia Cotey led the way with a sixthplace finish in 24:16.8. Close on her heels were Kate Mattson (seventh, 24:19.4) and Dayne Behning (13th, 25:37.5). Rounding out the top five were Kaylen Kienitz (24th, 31:30.6) and Elizabeth Wing (25th, 31:37.5). Addie Bowerman had the misfortune of twisting her ankle at the two-mile mark and was unable to finish the race. The team came in third place behind conference champion Stephenson and North Central.
In the boys race, the Mustangs’ Danny Goss kept his great senior season going, as he won individual honors with a time of 17:57.5. He was followed by Blake Lakosky (ninth, 19:36.7), Nolan Dolaskie (13th, 19:55.1), Zach Lindquist (17th, 21:21.0), Nate Petersen (25th, 21:56.8) and Dylan Adkinson (26th, 22:20.8).
The Mustangs’ No. 2 runner, Trevor Nolan, sustained a damaged tendon in the football game against Norway. This injury knocked him out of competition for the rest of the season. Even with that setback, the Munising team finished second, just four points behind first-place Stephenson.
The middle schoolers had better fortunes. The girls team successfully defended their Skyline title with a low score of 19 points. Emma Conklin had another stellar performance, finishing in second place in 14:41.7. Karter Goings kept up her second position on the team by finishing fourth with a time of 15:36.8.
Completing the team were Lennon Livermore (seventh, 16:35.5), Kahlan Ramsey (eighth, 16:37.5), Maddie Kulppi (ninth, 16:56.6), Payton Brey (15th, 18:46.6), Ava Prunick (16th, 18:56.5), Peyton Dyer (20th, 19:25.0), Miika Michelson (22nd, 19:51.6) and Amber Defrancesco (27th, 23:01.3).
In the boys race, Mustang runner Evan Kelto placed seventh in a time of 14:29.6.
Having little time to rest, the teams had a quick turnaround, traveling to Rudyard last Saturday to compete in the Rudyard Autumn Classic. The boys team did not field a scoring team due to some aches and pains from the football game the night before for the dual-sport athletes.
Individually, Danny Goss capped off the regular-season schedule with a spectacular run, just missing going under 16 minutes. He won the varsity race in a personal-best time of 16:01.2. Blake Lakosky and Nolan Dolaskie both ran season-best times. Lakosky ran 18:14.9 for 13th place, and Dolaskie ran 19:18.6 for 23rd. Nate Petersen completed the four-man team with a 47thplace finish in 22:01.3.
The girls race also produced some season and personal-best times. They ran in the JV division as a strategy to help them with running more even mile splits.
Olivia Cotey led the team with a first-place finish in a season- best time of 22:55.9. Kate Mattson was next in second place in 23:30.1. She was followed by Dayne Behning in fourth with a season-best time of 24:03.6. Kaylen Kienitz had a breakout race, capturing 16th with a personal-best time of 27:35.6. Elizabeth Wing rounded out the team’s top five, placing 17th in a season-best time of 28:21.4.
The middle school runners also had a very successful day. “We’ve been training hard all season long with our eyes on the conference title, and this week that work paid off,” middle school coach Bob Wing said. “Our girls went down to Stephenson and defended their title. Our top five of Emma Conklin, Karter Goings, Lennon Livermore, Kahlan Ramsey and Maddie Kulppi carried the day.”
High school head coach Mark Kinnunen said, “Our results at the conference meet fell short of our season expectations, but there’s a lot to take away as far as how amazing of a season we’ve had. Danny Goss was the hands-down undisputed champion of the conference, and we hope to say the same about him after the D2 finals. Our boys, even after losing Trevor Nolan to injury, were barely edged out from the title, which goes to show a tremendous improvement as far as the depth we have this season. “The girls were strong and steady in their race, showing leadership and encouragement towards one another, even in the midst of the race. If not for Addie Bowerman suffering an extremely unlucky injury during the race, the numbers show that we would’ve absolutely walked away with the conference title.”
The season wraps up this weekend with the U.P. Finals at Munising’s Pictured Rocks Golf Club. The middle school race is today, Friday, Oct. 18, at 2 p.m. The varsity finals are at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19.
