TRAVERSE CITY — The Traverse City St. Francis Gladiators erased a Week Seven shutout loss to Division 7 top-ranked Jackson Lumen Christi with a stellar offensive performance in the first half to win 27-0 over Muskegon Catholic Central on Saturday at Thirlby Field.
“We had a good week at practice this week. As coaches, we were expecting the players to play at a high level and shut down their run game through all four quarters,” St. Francis head coach Josh Sellers said.
The Gladiators finished the regular season 4-4 and third overall in the Northern Michigan Football Conference Legends Division at 2-2. The Gladiators were making the playoff for the 10th straight year with a win or loss.
“It’s the expectations and the families that support our program. I’ve got a great coaching staff,” Sellers said. “It all goes back to the jimmies and the joes. We have kids that work hard. The playoff streak continues.”
St. Francis got it going in the first quarter with a 15-yard touchdown run from Cam Sellers to go up 7-0.
The Gladiators’ punter pinned the Crusaders on the 1-yard line, making their offense struggle to get any yardage. Because of that, it made life easier for Harrison Shepherd to have a 23-yard punt return. Cam Sellers followed that punt return with a 15-yard run to help set up Eli Biggar for a rushing touchdown to go up 14-0.
“Special teams is a part of practice for us,” the veteran head coach said. “They did very well for us today.”
Shepherd and Cam Sellers extended the lead before halftime with a pair of touchdowns to go up 27-0, but that was all the Gladiators could muster as they went scoreless in the second half. St. Francis was content to run the ball and burn as much clock as possible.
Coach Sellers said he was pleased to see the offense move the ball downfield and convert the third downs in the second half, even though they couldn’t tally any points.
“Not punching it in isn’t great, but we’ll take what we can get,” he said.
Playoff matchups will be announced Sunday at 6 p.m. on Bally Sports Detroit.
VOLLEYBALL
Lake City wins McBain Invitational
McBain: def. Grayling 25-6, 25-23; splits with Charlevoix 16-25, 25-20; lost to Midland 23-25, 25-15.
Kingsley: def. Elk Rapids 7-26, 25-23, 25-23; def. McBain Northern Michigan Christian 25-13, 25-10, 25-17; def. Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart 25-20, 19-25, 15-10; lost to Petoskey 25-15, 20-25, 15-5.
Lake City: split with Petoskey 25-16, 21-25; def. Sacred Heart 25-13, 25-11; def. Boyne City 25-13, 25-14; def. McBain 25-17, 25-10; def. Petoskey 25-23, 25-18.
McBain: Madison Ochampaugh 45 assists, 6 kills, 2 aces, 14 digs; Brekken Cotter 12 kills, 2 aces, 3 blocks; Gwyneth VerBerkmoes 21 kills, 100% serving, 34 digs; Shannon Maloney 5 kills, 3 blocks, 6 aces with 96% serving, 7 digs; Karsyn Meyering 2 aces, 3 kills, 3 assist, 24 digs; Mia Bontekoe 6 kills, 2 blocks.
Kingsley: Grace Lewis 46 kills, 46 digs, 4 aces; Jenna Middleton 43 kills, 2 blocks, 22 digs; Sarah Wooer 3 kills, 100 assists, 30 digs; Olivia Reamer 20 kills, 3 blocks, 5 aces; Marisa Graham 6 kills, 4 blocks; Isabelle Seitz 63 digs, 4 aces; Avery Schichtel 7 kills, 1 block; Hannah Curtis 25 digs; Ellie Moran 35 digs.
Lake City: MacKenzie Bisballe 52 assists, 12 blocks, 51 kills, 47 digs; Ali Bisballe 47 assists, 14 blocks, 56 kills, 40 digs; Caleigh Schneider 16 digs; Hannah Vasieck 47 digs; Hailey Hamel 31 digs; Hannah Hern 12 kills, 52 digs; Zoe Butkovich 17 kills, 61 digs.
UP NEXT: The Stags host the ABCD Quad on Monday. The Ramblers travel to LeRoy Pine River on Tuesday. The Trojans host McBain NMC on Tuesday.
Comets wins Leland Invite
Scores: Leland def. Lake Leelanau St. Mary 25-21, 25-18; Leland def. Traverse City Christian 25-12, 25-19; St. Mary def. Glen Lake 25-21; 26-24; St. Mary def. Benzie Central 25-23, 27-25; Leland def. St. Mary 25-15; 25-20; Leland def. TC Christian 25-23, 25-15; Leland def. Suttons Bay 25-9; 25-10; Leland def. St. Mary 25-15, 25-20; St. Mary def Benzie Central 25-22; 25-21.
Leland: Abby Hicks 2 kills, 13 aces, 74 assists, 14 digs; Fiona Moord 20 kills, 2 aces, 13 digs; Kally Sluiter 1 kill, 1 ace, 25 digs; Kelsey Allen 22 kills, 5 aces, 1 assist, 14 digs, 1 block; Mallory Lowe 1 kill, 4 assists, 33 digs; Olive Ryder 27 kills, 2 assists, 39 digs; Shelby Plamondon 20 kills, 14 digs.
Lake Leelanau St. Mary: Leah Fleis 38 kills, 43 digs, 3 blocks; Cathryn Mikowski 19 kills, 30 digs, 6 aces, 2 blocks; Kyla Barnowski 17 kills, 26 digs, 4 aces; Maggie Ursu 7 kills, 28 digs, 5 aces; Natalie Albu 13 digs; Della Bunek 76 assists, 11 kills, 31 digs, 8 aces.
UP NEXT: The Comets (32-13-3) travel to Kingsley on Monday for the ABCD Quad. The Eagles (21-12-2) host Gaylord St. Mary on Tuesday.
CROSS COUNTRY
Trojans, Blazers, Elks win at Northern Michigan XC Championships
OSTSEGO — After winning the Big North Conference championship Tuesday, the Traverse City Central varsity boys cross country team won the large division of the Northern Michigan XC Championships at the Otsego Club on Saturday. The Trojan girls joined in on the winning fun, taking the team title Saturday as well.
The Trojan boys dominated with all five of their scorers finishing in the top 10, tallying 23 points to runner-up Gladwin’s 52.
Zack Truszkowski won the individual championship with a time of 16:10.43 followed by teammates Caleb Keller in second at 16:19.82, Luke Byland in fifth at 16:47.03, Ian Boss in sixth at 16:50.32, and Alex Morey in ninth at 17:04.12.
The TC Central girls finished with 30 points, besting runner-up Pontiac Notre Dame by 57 points. Gaylord was fifth with 128, and Grayling was eighth with 157.
Gaylord’s Katie Berkshire, fresh off her Big North championship win, brought home the individual goal with a time of 18:45.65.
The Trojans took second through fourth with Ella Kirkwood in second at 19:21.54, Alexis Ball in third at 19:29.07, and Sienna Cobb in fourth at 20:00.17. Ella DeBruyn was seventh at 20:41.38, and Annabelle Sketch took 14th at 21:22.62.
In the small division races, Kalkaska won the boys team title and Elk Rapids took the girls title. North Trails was runner-up in the boys race followed by Elk Rapids in third. The Blazers took second in the girls race, and North Trails was third.
North Trails’ Logan Detloff won the boys race at 16:43.76, and Elk Rapids’ Brynne Schulte took the girls championship at 20:10.42.
Titans, Glads take top 2 spots at Meet of Champions
CADILLAC — Diane Goss said Tuesday that a lot was going to be on the line for the Big North Champion Traverse City West Titans come Saturday.
Goss brought nine girls to the Northern Michigan Meet of Champions in Cadillac on Saturday, and she said the top seven would represent TC West at the upcoming regional meet in Shepherd on Friday.
The motivation proved fruitful as the Titans won the girls team championship, led by Ava King in third place at 19:02.1, Reese Smith in fourth at 19:11.1, Abby Veit in sixth at 19:12.7, Tessa Mascari in eighth at 19:14.2 and Bailey Wenzlick in 12th at 19:40.9. The other two Titans heading to regionals are sophomores Payton Lamb and Peyton Tucker.
West compiled 34 points as Traverse City St. Francis took second with 55. St. Francis’ Betsy Skendzel ran a 17:57.2 to finish second. Fellow Gladiator Molly Kate Hollandsworth was ninth at 19:26.2.
Buckley’s Aiden Harrand continued her remarkable senior campaign, running a 17:52.9 to win the individual title — her seventh win of the season.
The rest of the top 10 included Cadillac’s Brooklynn Brown in fourth at 19:10, Harbor Springs’ Stefi Reskevics in seventh at 19:12.9, and Manistee’s Cecilia Postma in 10th at 19:26.2.
In the boys division, Traverse City West won the team championship with 44 points to St. Francis’ 46. Willem DeGood, who won the Big North Conference title Tuesday, won the individual gold Saturday as well. The senior ran a 16:02.2.
Also scoring for the Titans were Liam Wierzba in third at 16:09.7, Sam King in ninth at 16:31.6, Ben Irwin in 13th at 16:48.3, and Aidan Simrau in 19th at 17:12.8.
The rest of the boys top 10 included St. Francis’ Leo Swager in second at 16:07, Bear Lake-Onekama’s Mason Sinke in fourth at 16:12.5, Cadillac’s Nolan Nixon in fifth at 16:20.8, Mesick’s Ty Redman and Kyle Redman in sixth and seventh, respectively, at 16:21.3 and 16:23.4, and St. Francis’ Josh Slocum in eighth and Lewis Walter in ninth with times of 16:30.6 and 16:33.5, respectively.
Leland’s Knudsen 2nd at Michigan Class D Championship
SHEPHERD — Leland junior Ella Knudsen finished second in the girls race at 19:42.80 at the Michigan Class D State Cross-Country Championship on Saturday in Shepherd.
Gaylord St. Mary’s senior Miriam Murrell placed fourth with a time of 19:52.80. Her time helped the Snowbirds place eighth overall (189). Frankfort sophomore Addison Chownyk finished 10th at 20:38.70, which helped the Panthers finish seventh overall with 163 points.
Frankfort finished ninth overall in the boys race with 219 points. Junior Carroll Robotham finished 18th overall with a time of 17:36.90. Leland senior Agustin Creamer placed 21st with a time of 17:44.10.
Boyne City, Petoskey tops at Charlevoix Muni 2 Mile
CHARLEVOIX — Petoskey’s boys and Boyne City’s girls cross country teams placed atop the overall standings in the Charlevoix Muni 2 Mile at Charlevoix Golf Club on Saturday.
Petoskey’s Shane Izzard placed first in the boys race at 10:10.40, and Petoskey St. Michael’s Jane Manthei finished first in the girls race (12:20.45).
Other notable finishers in the boys race were PSM sophomore Cody Bradley (second, 10:13.40) and Charlevoix freshman Hunter Eaton (third, 10:27.80).
Other notable finishers in the girls race were Boyne City sophomore Delaney Little (second, 12:53.54) and Charlevoix senior Katie Rohrer (third, 12:56.92).
Benzie Central’s Mylie Kelly places fourth at Late Season Warrior Invite
CHIPPEWA HILLS — Benzie Central’s senior Mylie Kelly continues to make a name for herself after placing fourth at the Late Season Warrior Invitational at Chippewa Hills on Saturday.
The McBain girls team finished fourth (136) and Benzie Central finished fifth overall with 156 points. The Huskies’ boys team compiled 185 points.
SWIMMING & DIVING
TC Tritons win Up North Invite
MANISTEE — The Traverse City Tritons co-op swim and dive team made huge splashes in multiple events on Saturday at the Manistee Up North Invitational.
The Tritons 200-yard medley team of Ella Cabbage, Kira Adams, Kayla Macnowski and Paige Schillinger took second place with a time of 1:51.58.
Other notable first-place finishers: Adams (individual 200 meters), Cabbage (100 backstroke), Lauren Johnson (200 and 500 freestyle).
The Tritons close out the season on Nov. 3-4 at the Coastal Conference Championships at the Paine Aquatic Center.
8-PLAYER FOOTBALL
Inland Lakes 36
Gaylord SM 30
UP NEXT: The Bulldogs (8-1) prepare for the playoffs. The Snowbirds (6-3) await their playoff fate.
Newberry 52
Manistee CC 14
UP NEXT: The Sabers (4-5) await their playoff fate.
Marion 1
Bellaire 0
UP NEXT: The Eagles forfeit and end the season 1-8.