Western High School runner Jacob Singleton (743) won the Marshall Barney Roy Cross Country Invitational on Thursday at Turkeyville USA. Marshall runner Adam Foreman, middle, was second and Noah Griffith of Olivet placed third. Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.
By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports
Stockbridge High School cross country runner Rylee Tolson spent some of her summer rehabbing an injury using some different training methods.
From the looks for things, the methods worked.
Tolson won the Marshall Barney Roy Cross Country Invitational Thursday night at Turkeyville USA by more than 40 seconds.
The defending Division 3 state champion finished the 5K course in 18 minutes, 34 second – only three seconds slower than her winning time at Michigan International Speedway last fall.
The win led the Panthers to a fourth-place finish at the invitational in the girls’ division. Marshall High School won the event with 52 points, Western was second scoring 76 points, Olivet placed third with 82, and Stockbridge was two point behind Olivet.
In the boys’ event, Jacob Singleton won the 5K run in 16:27 leading Western to a slim win over Stockbridge. Western finished with 45 points, Stockbridge was second with 48, Olivet placed third with 65, and Marshall scored 79 points.
Tolson’s time was the 13th fastest of the night – for boys or girls.
“It wasn’t my personal best time, but it was a step in the right direction for me,” Tolson said. “I did a lot of biking and swimming this summer.
“Swimming helps me with endurance and biking is a tradeoff for running.”
Tolson, a junior, would like to repeat as state champion and win the Greater Lansing Honor Roll meet.
“To win that (Greater Lansing) would be a huge goal,” Tolson said. “Just having the opportunity to run thrills me.”
In the girls’ event, Alyna Lewis of Western finished fourth overall in 19:58 and Brooklyn Rochow of Stockbridge earned a top-10 finish in 20:33.
Adam Foreman of Marshall was second in the boys’ race with a time of 16:44.
Western runners packed themselves into the top seven as Logan Coleman finished fifth (17:59), Cooper Singleton was right behind him (18:01), and Michael Rand was seventh (18:05).
Stockbridge runners Micah Bolton was 10th (18:29) and teammate Ben Chapman placed 11th (18:30).
