Area teams compete at second JPC jamboree

By Ben Murphy

Cleaver Sportswriter

The second Jack Pine Conference jamboree of the season was held on Wednesday, Oct. 2, down at Shepherd. Clare, Harrison and Farwell all took part in the event, with the Lady Pioneers serving as the top local finishing squad with a second-place finish.

Host Shepherd won the girls side of things with 36 points, Clare was second with 78 and Bullock Creek was third with 88, Gladwin was next in fourth with 97 points and Meridian was fifth with 111 points. Farwell finished in seventh while Harrison was ninth out of 10 scoring teams.

The Clare girls were led by Sophia Buzzelli, as she had a solid second place finish on a time of 19:11. Leah Leis and Lauren Leis were 17^th and 18^th with times of 21:54 and 21:58, Olivia Forsberg was 20^th and Elizabeth Letherer was 21^st and they clocked out at 22:04 and 22:09. Next for the Pioneers was Ava Robinson, she was able to come in 23^rd with a 22:12. Emma Stotzel was 32^nd as she timed out at 22:39, Taylor Seibt ran a 23:46 to come in 39^th, Catherine Taft was 42^nd with a 23:53, Brooklinn Barcia placed 48^th at 24:14, Lily Fouts was 55^th at 25:12 and Annmarie Green brought in an 80^th place finish on a time of 36:09.

“I thought that our team ran really well,” head coach Kyle McKown said. “We had a lot of personal records on the day and there were so many great races to highlight.  Just a few examples are Sophia Buzzelli setting a career best time of 19:11, Ava Robinson running a personal record of 22:12, and person records from Olivia Forsberg and Elizabeth Letherer as they stepped up big for their team."

For the Lady Eagles, Isabelle Eppert was able to place seventh thanks to her run of 20:33. Ivy Frisch placed 35^th when she timed out at 23:15, Addyson Thormeir was 37^th at 23:40, Evalynne Bell placed 54^th on a time of  25:10 and Ryhlee Wladysiak was 81^st at 36:52.

As for the Lady Hornets, Arie Workman was 46^th on a run of 24:07, Hope Purvis was 65^th at 26:35, Madylynne Gross came in 68^th with a 28:54 and KyLeigh Briggs was able to come in 71^st at 30:25. Isabel Heath followed closely in 72^nd on a time of 30:28 and Kailee Eichorn placed 78^th with a 32:55.

Nine teams scored on the boys’ side. Shepherd took first with 40 points, Gladwin placed second with 48, Meridian was third with their 93 points, St. Louis had 95 points and was fourth and Clare placed fifth with 113. Harrison was able to come in eighth and Farwell rounded things out in ninth.

The Clare boys were led by Connor Schmidt; he placed 11^th and had a solid time of 17:20. Neiko Ketchum was 23^rd and Caidan Gaskill was 24^th as they had times of 18:19 and 18:20, Christian Villa-Bilton was 30^th with an 18:38 while in 31^st and 32^nd was Clayton Peacock and Joseph Haupt, as they had runs of 18:42 and 18:50. Carter Peacock wasn’t far behind in 34^th with an 18:52, Sutton Klaus had a 36^th place run with an 18:54, Kona Crump was 38^th at 18:59 and Ian Letherer was able to run a 20:13 and was 56^th.

Also, for Clare, Braydon Schmidt was 58^th at 20:27, Hogan Walter finished 62^nd at 20:39, Cole Grundy was 64^th at 20:49, Ayden Barcia added a 66^th place run with a 20:54 and Carter Champan was 84^th at 22:08.

Looking at the Hornets, Logan Young finished 33^rd at 18:51, Jacob Bowermaster placed 50^th after he timed out at 20:00, Malachi Coulson was 68^th with a 21:00, Sam Bennoit ran a 21:24 and was 75^th and Gavin Jensen was able to come in 86^th on his time of 22:09. Harrison also had Kaiden Eichorn placed 88^th with a 22:32, Cory Westbrook was 89^th at 22:36 and Eli Wing timed out at 22:43 and finished 91^st.

For the Farwell boys, Kegan Terrian placed 26^th at 18:25, Memphis Peever was 74^th at 21:23 and Matthew Firman was able to come in 78^th with a 21:27. Landon Barnett came in 79^th with his time of 21:37 and Timothy Pearson was 83^rd with a 21:50.

The final JPC jamboree is scheduled for Wednesday in Pinconning.

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