BUCKLEY — Benzie Central put in the work, and it showed Tuesday in Buckley.
The Huskies won both the boys and girls division titles at the first Northwest Conference jamboree of the varsity cross country season.
Benzie took home the girls team championship with 21 points to runner-up Buckley’s 50. Glen Lake placed third with 57 points.
Nora Grossnickle led the Benzie girls to the team win, placing first and running a personal record time of 19:29.8.
“I was really excited for this race. I knew that the course was flat, easy,” Grossnickle said. “I knew I was going to go fast on this. I was very confident and very happy with how my team did.”
The Huskies took three of the top four spots as freshman Avery Kelly placed second with a 20:13.7 and senior Nevia Chimonas took fourth, also setting a PR at 20:29.2.
Benzie’s other two scorers in the winning effort were Maggie McClellan in 10th (21:56.3) and Nia Garcia-Gallardo in 14th (23:27.55).
“We can do really good later (this season) at state,” Grossnickle said. “I think people are underestimating how good our team is, and I’m really proud of how we’ve been doing.”
There were high-fives and congratulations all around as the Benzie girls celebrated their win at the finish line after the boys had already won theirs.
“I’m proud of so many kids,” Benzie head coach Asa Kelly said of the girls and boys team wins. “It’s amazing the jumps kids can make from one meet to the next.”
Leland senior Ella Knudsen finished third, running a 20:16.72. The rest of the top 10 included Glen Lake’s Carmella Julian (fifth, 20:47.3), Frankfort’s Addison Jarosz (sixth, 21:12.83), Buckley’s Mikayla Kulawiak (seventh, 21:35.17) and Leire Mahiques (eighth, 21:47.01) and Leland’s Natalie Burpee (ninth, 21:47.37).
The race for the boys division was a bit closer as the Huskies won with 33 points to Glen Lake’s 38 points. Frankfort finished third with 59 points.
Jackson Schaub led the champion Huskies, running a 16:57.77 for second place. Schaub was joined in the top 10 by fellow Huskies Cage Edingfield in fourth at 17:38.35 and Eli VanPoortfliet in sixth at 17:48.57.
The Huskies other two scorers were just outside the top 10. Kyle Vincent finished in 11th at 18:47.49, and Walter Armstrong placed 12th at 18:58.16.
Glen Lake’s Colebrook Sutherland made sure it was not a clean sweep for Benzie. The senior Laker won the individual title in the boys division, running a 16:40.39, more than 17 seconds better than the runner-up.
Sutherland also ran in the Buckley Bear Country Invitational on Saturday when he was 39 seconds faster than he was Tuesday. But the senior was still able to cruise to a victory at the NWC jamboree.
“I’m not sure which one I like more because Saturday was too cold for me,” Sutherland said. “It definitely felt better than Saturday.”
Sutherland got a big boost of confidence when he opened up his season with a sub-16-minute time, running a 15:56.3 at the Benzie Central Pete Moss Invite.
“I was probably a little too overconfident after my first race,” he said. “I thought I was in really good shape, and then I slacked off on some of my training. I know there are people who can beat me, so I’m going to start training hard now.”
Sutherland understands what it is going to take to reach his goals this season, one being a regional championship.
“Everyone in this region has gotten faster, just like me,” he said. “It’s not going to be any easier.”
Fellow Laker Abraham Feeney took third after a footrace with Schaub down the stretch, running a 16:58.76. He was joined in the top 10 by teammate Liam McCaw, who placed fifth at 17:47.36.
The rest of the top 10 included a trio of Frankfort Panthers — Carroll Robotham (seventh, 17:52.16), Keith Crompton (eighth, 18:32.24) and Owen Jarosz (ninth, 18:38.5) — and Leland’s Evan Keen (10th, 18:43.48).
For the host Bears, Buckley freshman Tamrak McEachern finished 19th overall with a time of 19:43.71 followed by Matthew Bentley in 21st with a time of 20:00.81.
CROSS COUNTRY
Demlow leads Grayling boys to win at Beal City Invite
BEAL CITY — Tristan Demlow took the win and helped the Grayling Vikings to a first-place finish in the boys division of Tuesday’s Beal City Invite.
Demlow, a senior, ran a meet-best time of 18:40.8 as four Vikings finished in the top 10.
Liam Mahaffy placed third at 19:00.4. Leo Nothstine (20:08.7) and Connor Ketchum (20:10.5) went back to back in sixth and seventh place for Grayling.
Kai Arredondo was the Vikings’ fifth scorer, placing 20th with a 23:41.9 as Grayling won with 28 points to Beal City’s 42 and Harrison’s 51.
The Grayling girls took second in their division, collecting 44 points. Vestaburg won with 35.
Nico Triebold was the Vikings’ top runner, placing second with a 22:02.9. Adrianna Soria (fifth, 23:14.8) and Tierney Hartman (eighth, 24:19.6) also placed in the top 10 for Grayling.