Michigan Athletes Flourish At Portage
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No surprise here. The Portage Invitational lived up to expectations.
That isn't to say there was a major upset to speak of. Like the Michigan Lower Peninsula state championships, Portage was broken up into four class divisions, which meant that Michigan's top athletes all largely raced opposite each other in separate races.
But we did see a preview of that state race.
Probably most impressively was the way the Hart High School girls ran in Division 3. Led by winner Adelyn Ackley, who had the third fastest time of the day in 17:35.40, the Hart girls rolled with a 32-point win on behalf of a 19:10 average. The squad finished five runners in the top 11.
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Meanwhile, Division I was the most competitive. Rockford's Ericka Vanderlende took the individual title in 17:33.10, posting the second fastest time of the day, while Northville, ranked No. 21 on the MileSplit50, took the team crown.
The fastest effort on the day came by virtue of a freshman. Abby Vanderkooi, ranked No. 10 on the MileSplit50, scored a big win in 17:22.20. She was approximately 106 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.
Over in the boys races, two performances stood out.
As we suspected, Ann Arbor Pioneer's Nick Foster, ranked No. 2 on the MileSplit50, flourished in the Division I race, scoring a win in a time of 15:12.80. But he wasn't the fastest performer of the day.
That honor went to Otsego senior Alex Comerford, who rolled to the finish in 15:10.10.