Lumen Christi Catholic High School runner Gene Hendrickson, right, battles Jonesville runner Carson Laney for the lead during the Jackson Invitational at Ella Sharp Park on Saturday. Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.
By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports
Hanover-Horton High School longtime cross country Coach Dean Blackledge said each time the Comets win an invitational or tournament, the team votes on who to give the trophy to.
H-H runner Richard Haislip was a deserving candidate on Saturday at the annual Jackson Invitational at Ella Sharp Park.
The Comets tied for first place in the Division 2 race with Haslett – a top program in Division 2 – and won on the tie-breaker of best sixth-man time.
Haislip defeated Haslett’s sixth man by two seconds to earn the top hardware.
Lumen Christi Catholic High School also won the title in the girls Division 3 race.
A number of Jackson-area runners also earned medals at the three-tier invitational.
Temperatures in the high 80s slowed runners Saturday morning and early afternoon.
Hanover-Horton moved up into Division 2 race despite the fact they are ranked No. 1 in Division 3.
“Moving up a division makes us stronger and gives us confidence,” Blackledge said. “It was a tough day to run due to the heat, but we competed well.”
The Comets finished with 53 points to tie Haslett in the Division 2 race. Western finished eighth with 178 points.
All five of the Comets’ top five runners finished in the top 16. Dean Reynolds was fourth for Hanover-Horton in 17 minutes, 4 seconds. Garrett Melling was eighth (17:12), Rogan Melling placed 12th (17:23), Andy Swihart was right behind him (17:24), and Logan Shepherd placed 16th (17:39).
Jacob Singleton of Western finished sixth in 17:08.
Lumen Christi won the girls’ Divisions 3-4 race with 86 points. Faith Smith finished fourth in 20:47 and teammate Renae Kutcha was seventh with a time of 21:25.
Hanover-Horton finished fourth as a team with 114 points, Napoleon placed seventh with 182, Grass Lake took 10th place with 201, Columbia Central was right behind the Warriors scoring 212 points, and Michigan Center was 12th with 219.
The Comets were led by Reagan Fazekas with an eighth-place finish in 21:39; Ann Joseph of Napoleon placed 31st in 24:07; Kailee Sandoval of Grass Lake was third in 20:35.; Hannah Hinkle of Columbia Central placed 17th in 22:58; and Anna Reynolds led Michigan Center with a 28th place finish in 23:55.
The top 30 runners in each race earned medals at the event.
Gene Hendrickson of Lumen Christi won the D-3/4 race in 16:40.
It was a dog fight for the two team trophies as Manchester won the event with 84 points, Napoleon was second with 87, and Jonesville was third at 88. Lumen Christi finished fifth with 134, Michigan Center was 10th at 285, Grass Lake was next with 290, East Jackson scored 300, and Columbia Central placed 13th scoring 313 points.
Manchester was led by Devin Mackenzie with a 12th-place finish in 18:34; Alex Darnell finished ninth for Napoleon in 18:05; Adam Derr placed 43rd to lead Michigan Center in 19:54; Andrew Rankin of Grass Lake was 24th with a time of 19:09; Donovan Cook led East Jackson with a 33rd-place finish in 19:31; and Caleb Ronders led Columbia Central with a 53rd-place finish with a time of 20:29.
Andrew Frohm of Vandercook Lake finished third overall in 17:10.
Western High School placed seventh in the girls’ Division 2 race and Northwest finished 13th.
Alyna Lewis of Western was eighth overall in the D-2 race with a time of 20:40. The Mounties were led by Mari Lamb who finished 53rd in 23:55.
In Division 1, Jackson High School was 20th in the girls’ event and 23rd in the boys’ race.
Nathaniel Hobbs placed 65th in the boys’ race for Jackson in 17:19. In the girls’ event, Jadyn Elliott placed 62nd with a time of 20:56.
