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CROSS-COUNTRY: Romeo, Stoney Creek earn regional titles; Lake Orion’s Novak, Nolan win individual crowns

Dan Stickradt | October 30, 2019 | Comments (0)

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

Twitter: @LocalSportsFans

GOODELLS, Mich. — As a heavy favorite, Sophie Novak still wanted to race against the clock.

Knowing there were not any likely runners that would hang with her in Saturday’s field, the Lake Orion junior still gutted it out unchallenged and reached her personal goal.

She clocked 17:59.9 over the 3.1-mile course at Goodells County Park near Port Huron, breaking the 18-minute barrier for the first time in her career and giving her the Division 1 regional individual title.

Lake Orion’s Andrew Nolan clocked an impressive 15:27.7 to win the Division 1 individual regional crown Saturday at Goodells County Park. Photo / Dan Stickradt

She was All-State during her sophomore and freshmen seasons but had not run that fast on a flat-course until this sterling performance.

“I know that time doesn’t really matter much in cross country unlike track, but I really wanted to go out and have a really good time and get some confidence,” smiled Novak, who was fifth at the state meet last season. “This season I set some different goals that I necessarily didn’t hit when I wanted to. But today I felt really good and had a good week of practice. I came up Thursday to get a good look at the course because it was new to us. I had a plan mapped out and did it well. I really wanted to break 18 minutes. I did it — barely, and I couldn’t be any happier. That should give me confidence for the state meet.

Romeo’s girls team also garnered another first of sorts, capturing the regional crown. After last year’s D-1 regional champion Clarkston was moved to a different regional — Clarkston was also the D-1 state champion last season — the Bulldogs slid into top spot in convincing fashion.

Romeo’s Jack Wilson ran second at the Division 1 regional to aid the Bulldogs’ runner-up team effort. Photo / Dan Stickradt

Romeo collected an impressive 46 points to win going away by 70 points. Only 19 points separated the second through sixth-place schools in the girls’ team standings.

“We returned virtually our whole team, so I knew we would have a great chance, especially with Clarkston in a different regional this season. I was not surprised that we won,” said Romeo coach Mike Buslepp. “We have been running very consistent, but early in the season we were missing our No. 1 runner (to injury). Once we got her back, we really have been running well. We won the MAC (Red Division) and Macomb County meet and have placed really high at a lot of meets. We felt if we all had a good day, then we could win the regional.”

ochester Stoney Creek’s Rob Cockfield (front) and Tristan Brandenburg finished fourth and fifth, respectively, to lead the state-ranked Cougars to the regional title. Photo / Dan Stickradt

Rochester Stoney Creek finished second with 116 points and Rochester Adams third with 117 points. The top three teams and top 15 individuals qualify for the Lower Peninsula Division 1 state finals Nov. 2 at Michigan Speedway near Brooklyn.

Rochester and Oxford both scored 120 points to miss out on state berths by a mere three points. Lake Orion was sixth and close to the picture with 135 points. Macomb Dakota (163), Utica Eisenhower (195), Utica (229) and Utica Ford (263) rounded out the top 10 in the 16-school field.

Senior Madelyn Malczewski finished second (18:33.8) to lead Romeo to the team title, as the Bulldogs had four top-10 finishers and all five point-scoring runners inside the top 20. Madison Clor (fifth, 19:09), Sarah Greb (ninth, 19:31.2), Rachel Felstow (10th, 19:31.7) and Barret Schettler (20th, 20:03.5) aided Romeo’s winning effort.

Lily Solek (eighth) and Kate Huthwaite (14th) paced Stoney Creek to the runner-up effort. Amanda Soldan (seventh) and Ally Soldan (16th) led Rochester Adams.

Rochester’s Camryn Remick (fourth) and Chloe Nixon (13th) led the Falcons, while Oxford’s Lauren Methner (sixth) aided the Wildcats. Annalee Misch of Eisenhower ran 11th overall and was one of eight individual qualifiers in the girls’ race.

Stoney Creek and Romeo’s boys teams have been ranked in the top 15 all season, with Romeo ranked second and Stoney Creek eighth heading into regional week.

The Cougars made a statement with its second regional crown in school history, collecting 43 points and narrowly edging the favored Bulldogs by three points.

“I really thought that this could be our best season, honestly,” said veteran Stoney Creek coach Jed Kramer. “We lost some runners from last season, but I think this year we have more front end depth. We have seven guys who can run 16:40 or better and 3-4 guys who are trying to break 16 minutes.

“Early in the season we had some sicknesses and some soreness to some kids,” continued Kramer. “We didn’t want to push it or overdo it early on. One of our goals was to be healthy going into the regional and state meet this year. I feel like we are healthy. I knew this could be a special season. We’re healthy and running our best right now.”

Romeo had the higher ranking and more success this season with several big-meet wins. Stoney Creek ran a little better in this round..

“I knew Stoney Creek was running really well and they were really close to Clarkston at the Oakland County meet,” noted Buslepp, whose team finished 14th at the state meet last season. “We were the MAC-Red champs and the Macomb County champs, but I don’t think we raced against the depth of teams until the regional. We are still kind of young. We returned our entire top seven from last season and our top 14 runners overall. TI still think we can be right up there (at the state finals). I really see this being a six-horse or seven-horse race with Brighton, Dexter, Clarkston, (Romeo), Stoney Creek and (Ann Arbor) Pioneer. I even think that (Novi) Detroit Catholic Central is running real well, too. There could be any number of teams that win the state title.”

Romeo’s 46 points was well ahead of the third-place finisher, where Port Huron Northern emerged from the heap of teams and collected 107 points. Lake Orion was fourth with 119 points, while Oxford (132), Rochester Adams (135), Dakota (183), Utica (197), New Baltimore Anchor Bay (216) and Rochester (286) rounding out the top 10.

Oxford’s Scott Masterson finished in sixth place at the Division 1 Goodells Park regional to qualify for the state finals as an individual. Photo/ San Stickradt

Stoney Creek landed four runners inside the top 10 and five in the top 17 to win the regional title. Rob Cockfield (fourth, 15:54.9), Tristan Brandenburg (fifth, 15:54.9), Sam Tarling (seventh, 16:05.4), Matt Medaugh (10th, 16:08.0) and Colin Hanson (17th, 16:21.4) paced the victorious Cougars, who also qualified for the third straight season.

Stoney Creek was second to Clarkston at last season’s regional.

Individually, Lake Orion senior Andrew Nolan pulled away from the field at the mile marker and won convincingly with a 15:27.7 clocking.

Lake Orion’s Sophie Novak clocked 17:59.9 in winning the individual regional crown. Photo / Dan Stickradt.

Romeo’s Jack Wilson (15:42.2) and Jack Kelly (15:48.2) were the next two finishers. Joseph Rinke (12th), Zander Cobb (14th) and Luke Schwartz (15th) helped the Bulldogs qualify for the third straight year and eighth time in past decade.

“My strategy was to go out and see what Jack Wilson was going to do in the first mile and see how I was feeling — kind of make a gamete decision when I was going to try to do and make my move,” said Nolan, who was 13th at the state as a junior, 14th as a sophomore and 172nd as a freshman. “After about a mile or so I could tell Wilson was slowing down a little bit. I was feeling good, so I either kept my pace or picked it up a little bit. I was hoping he would drop off and eventually he did. I felt strong the whole way.”

Oxford’s Scott Masterson (sixth) was one of four individual qualifiers in the boys race. Eisenhower, Rochester and Auburn Hills Avondale did not have any individual qualifiers.

Oxford’s Lauren Methner qualifies for the Division 1 state finals thanks to her sixth-place finish at the regional. Photo / Dan Stickradt

Rochester Adams freshman Amanda Soldan finished seventh overall and helped the Highlanders earn a coveted state finals berth . Photo / Dan Stickradt

Utica Eisenhower’s Annalee Misch placed 11th to become one of eight individual state qualifiers in the girls regional meet. Photo / Dan Stickradt

Rochester senior Camryn Remick placed
fourth overall at Saturday’s regional to qualify for the state meet as an individual. Photo / Dan Stickradt

Romeo senior Madelyn Malczewski finished second overall and led five top-20 finishers as the Bulldogs cruised to the Division 1 regional crown with 46 points. Photo / Dan Stickradt

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