BROOKLYN — The #GladPack backed up its No. 1 ranking and repeated as Division 3 state champions.
The Traverse City St. Francis boys cross country team, which earned the social media tag #GladPack at the 2023 state finals for running so closely together, dominated the D3 race at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn on Saturday.
The Gladiators put four in the top 30 to earn All-State honors and all five scoring runners in the top 40 to win their second straight state title with a scant 86 points. Saugatuck was a distant second with 177 points.
“Just wow! What an amazing day,” St. Francis head coach Julie Duffing said. “The one thing we repeated over and over is that we will not be complacent, and they were not. I’m just so excited that they came out and did what they needed to do.”
Senior Riley Pattinson was the leader of the Glad Pack, finishing in 10th place with a 15:51.9. William Ready wasn’t far behind, taking 11th in 15:52.2. Owen Read ran a 16:03.7 for 22nd place, followed by Robby Myler in 27th at 16:13.2, Josh Slocum in 39th at 16:26.3, Lewis Walter in 74th at 16:53.59 and Joseph Carlson in 77th at 16:55.4.
“Riley was the unsung hero, today,” Duffing said. “That kid, I can’t even explain. Never would I have thought he’d be 10th place. For two boys to go under 16, it was incredible.”
Myler said the state championship win is a blessing.
“We had such a great team this year. God blessed us with so many great athletes and coaches,” Myler said. “We raced fabulously today, and it’s such a great feeling to know we did it twice in a row.”
Myler said that the camaraderie on the team helped push the Gladiators to these great heights.
“The friendships I’ve made over the course of the last four years and being able to spend time with my friends after school have been so special,” he said. “Sharing in the suffering but also in the joys has been instrumental in my running career.”
St. Francis’ performance was so dominant that the Gladiators still would have won the state championship even if their sixth and seventh scoring runners — Walter and Carlson — replaced their fourth and fifth runners — Myler and Slocum.
“Even if you doubled our score, we still won,” Duffing said. “We had all seven under 17 (minutes). We had four All-Staters.”
Duffing said she was in tears at the end of the race.
“I don’t know if it was because we won or because I was in total awe of how they ran,” Duffing said. “It’s great to win, but they ran amazing — and they did it for each other.”
Six out of the seven are seniors, and Duffing said those half-dozen Gladiators will be tough to replace.
“When Riley Pattinson was a freshman, he ran an 18:46 as his PR. He is now No. 3 on our record board,” Duffing said. “All three boys on the record board are from this team.”
Benzie Central freshman Eli VanPoortfliet ran a 16:40.6 for 54th place, leading the Huskies to a sixth-place finish with 283 points. Charlevoix took 14th, buoyed by Hunter Eaton’s ninth-place finish at 15:51.2.
All-State honors went to Eaton, Pattinson, Ready, Manton’s Robert Dykhouse (12th, 15:53.3), Read and Myler.
Coming off a state championship in 2022 and a state runner-up finish last season, the St. Francis girls team placed fourth overall Saturday. The Gladiators scored 159 points as Lansing Catholic won with 136.
“We had a good day. We needed a great day,” Duffing said. “We brought everybody to the line that we wanted to. I don’t like being fourth, but it’s OK. We’ve got next year.”
St. Francis senior Betsy Skendzel capped off an incredible prep cross country career with her fourth All-State finish, running an 18:10.3 for ninth place to lead the Glads. Skendzel joins an elite group of Gladiators who were All-State all four years — Holly Bullough, Katelyn Duffing and Morgan McCardel.
“I can’t say enough about her. She’ll never speak out loud about how proud she is of herself. She’s pretty humble, but we are super proud of her efforts,” Duffing said. “Pretty darn good.”
Molly Kate Hollandsworth finished in 35th (19:29.2), followed by Mary Masserant in 55th (19:59.8), Emily Dunphy in 70th (20:19.3) and Emma Kerr in 76th (20:27) as St. Francis’ four other scoring runners on the day.
Benzie Central finished sixth overall, tallying 251 points.
Senior Nora Grossnickle led the Huskies and earned All-State honors along with teammate Avery Kelly. The senior Grossnickle was 25th with a 19:06.7, and the freshman Kelly was 30th with a 19:14.
McBain freshman Caelyn Torry put a bow on a stellar inaugural prep campaign, running an 18:40.6 to finish in 16th place and nab All-State accolades.
Boyne City placed 20th, led by freshman Hailee Bertels in 66th place at 20:15.3.
DIVISION 1
Titan girls finish 8th; Central’s Keller All-State
BROOKLYN — Traverse City West will be a contender for years to come.
The Titans’ girls team placed eighth at the Division 1 cross country state finals at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn on Saturday, led by a sophomore and a junior with just one senior on the squad.
Sophomore Tessa Mascari finished in 40th place on the individual leaderboard, running an 18:40.6. Junior Abby Veit wasn’t too far behind, placing 42nd with an 18:43.2.
The Titans’ lone senior, Alyssa Fouchey, ran a 19:28 for 105th place, followed by juniors Bailey Wenzlick (122nd, 19:37.8) and Peyton Tucker (145th, 19:49.1) to round out West’s five scoring runners.
Traverse City Central’s two qualifiers, freshman Ariana Rajah and junior Sienna Cobb, finished in the top 100. Rajah was 95th at 19:21, and Cobb was No. 100 at 19:25.2.
In the boys division, Traverse City Central finished 18th as a team. Caleb Keller led the Trojans and was an All-State runner, placing 30th individually with a time of 15:48.
Ian Boss was 61st (16:05.7) followed by Neil Oyer in 143rd (16:37.4), Lawrence Cubitt in 155th (16:42.7) and Luke Byland in 215th (17:16.3) as Central’s scoring runners.
Hayden Murray was Traverse City West’s lone state qualifier. The junior Titan finished 157th in 16:44.6.
DIVISION 2
Gaylord’s Berkshire 3rd; Cadillac 14th
BROOKLYN — Katie Berkshire wanted to finish better than she did last year at the Division 2 state finals.
Mission accomplished.
The Gaylord junior improved by 70 spots from her 2023 effort, finishing Saturday’s D2 race in third place with a time of 18:04.3.
St. John’s Ava Schafer (17:20.7), a sophomore, and Otsego’s Emma Hoffman (17:31), a junior, finished ahead of Berkshire.
Cadillac, which was the only area team to qualify for the finals, finished 14th overall with 395 points. Goodrich won the team championship with 134 points.
Ella McInerney and Brooklynn Brown led the Vikings, earning All-State accolades en route to two top-25 finishes. McInerney was 16th at 18:31.2, and Brown was 21st at 18:37.7.
DIVISION 4
Laker boys nab bronze
BROOKLYN — Colebrook Sutherland led the Glen Lake boys team to a bronze medal as the Lakers took third in Division 2.
Hillsdale Academy won with 113 points. Holland Calvary Christian was second with 153, and the Lakers were next with 210 points.
Sutherland ran a 16:03.3 to finish in sixth, followed by Abraham Feeney in 18th (16:36.1), Liam McCaw in 33rd (16:53.7), Lincoln Bailey in 83rd (17:44.6) and Britton Wheeler in 167th (18:45.2).
Harbor Springs was fourth, led by Teddy Krieger in 35th at 16:54.4. Cody Bradley paced 10th-place Petoskey St. Michael, finishing in seventh at 16:08.5. Leland’s Carter Suttman placed 72nd as the 11th-place Comets’ top runner in 17:33.
All-State runners included Sutherland, Bradley, Bear Lake-Onekama’s Mason Sinke (ninth, 16:17.4), Mesick’s Kyle Redman (13th, 16:22.8) and Ty Redman (20th, 16:36.6), Feeney, Johannesburg-Lewiston’s Jeremiah Witt (21st, 16:37.4) and Petoskey St. Michael’s Russell Vandermus (30th, 16:46.9).
In the girls division, Grand Traverse Academy finished in 19th place with sophomore Amelia McKinney taking 15th place with a 19:39.2.
Johannesburg-Lewiston’s Allie Nowak was the area’s top runner, placing fifth with an 18:29.3. Petoskey St. Michael’s Jane Manthei finished seventh, running a 19:04.8.
Harbor Springs placed fourth and was led by Stefi Reskevics in eighth place at 19:08.2. Freshman Callie Sinke led Bear Lake-Onekama to ninth place, running a 19:16.1 for ninth place individually. Leire Mahiques finished in 49th (20:37.1) to lead the Buckley Bears to 11th place.
All-State runners were Nowak, Manthei, Reskevics, Sinke, McKinney, Glen Lake’s Carmella Julian (20th, 19:45.2) and Leland’s Ella Knudsen (26th, 19:57.3).