The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Boys' and girls' team finishes strong
Middle school teams perform well in SEC, win invitationals
By Jana Miller, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: November 13, 2008
Saline's excellence in cross country doesn't solely belong to the boys' and girls' varsity squads. Great teams only grow to be so consistently talented through the hard work of hundreds of athletes at all age groups.
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In other words, cross country in Saline continues to have great turnout at the middle school ages, and those teams have excelled.
Members of the Saline Middle School cross country team concluded their season at Mill Pond Park Oct. 18 in their final major meet, the Saline Invitational.
The seventh- and eighth-grade girls' and boys' teams are made up of 74 capable and dedicated athletes who not only performed well against other area teams, but pushed one another to improve tremendously.
Those improvements bode well for Saline's future, as these athletes are fed into the successful high school programs.
Overall, the boys' and girls' team placed well, including a win at the Ypsilanti Invitational.
Following that victory, the girls traveled to the extremely competitive Portage Invitational. There were 33 teams in the middle school age group and Saline placed fourth overall. The meet, which the high school varsity teams attended as well, plays host to cross country programs throughout the Midwest.
The boys' team attended the Portage Invitational, too, with even more luck. The Hornets took second place out of 36 teams.
Next on the schedule was the Spartan Invitational. The boys continued to excel when they earned second out of 14 teams. The girls took sixth. Leading the way for the girls was eighth-grader Kristen Green, who posted a season best time of 13:07.
Within the Southeastern Conference, the boys dominated the local competition. The Hornets won both Jamborees. The girls had some strong runners, too, taking second at Mill Pond in the first Jamboree and third at Bedford for the second Jamboree.
Finally, the boys' and girls' squads returned to Saline for the final Saline Invitational. Both teams took second overall to end a very successful season. The boys' team was led that day by eighth-grader Matt Elms, running an impressive personal best of 11:22.
The team formally concluded its season with its post-season banquet Oct. 23, which featured guest speaker Bill Lundberg.
Lundberg has been the cross country and track coach at Hillsdale College. He touched on many life lessons in his speech, ranging from celebrating the gift they are given as athletes to encouraging the runners to be true scholars, as well.
During the banquet, several special awards were recognized, including most valuable runners and most improved. Elms and Green were voted the Most Valuable Runners in eighth grade. The seventh grade Most Valuable Runners were Ryan Gauche and Lily Gross.
When it came to Most Improved, the older teams awarded Geoff Gonzalez and Carli Shankland the honor. The seventh-grade winners were Tom Furey and Ellie Hodges.
Coach Cindy Barnett couldn't help from bragging about her teams' many accomplishments, as well as their positive attitude.
"We had an exceptional group of runners," she said. "The team really worked together and encouraged one another to do their best. They had a great attitude all season and were dedicated to improving themselves.
"Coach John Mulka and I are also very grateful to our volunteer coaches, Derek Stern, Kristin Dolsen, Carrie Berkley and Christy Whalen, who helped so much throughout the season."
Barnett said both teams' dedication has not ceased. Several athletes are continuing to meet after school to run in optional practices.
No doubt that drive will pay off in the long run for Saline's cross country program.
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