Portage Invitational

Sat., Oct. 4, 2008

For the first time this season, the Saline girls’ team did not bring home the championship trophy from an invitational meet – in this case the Portage Invitational.  Going up against 32 other Division I teams and 7 of the Top 10 ranked teams in the state, the Hornet runners finished 3rd behind first place Traverse City Central and runner up Rockford on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Running their fastest race of the season – and one of the fastest ever by a Saline team – the Hornets (109) fell 11 points short of Rockford (98) and 19 behind TC Central (90).  Saline was led by the ever dominant junior duo of Alex Leptich (5th) and Kate Carter (9th).  With two runners in the top 10, Saline was ahead of both Rockford and TC Central at this point in the scoring, but the depth of the other two school’s 3-4-5 runners proved to be the difference. 
With a combination of great competition, a fast course, and near perfect weather conditions, six of the Hornet runners turned in either their best time of the season or their best time ever.  Running all-time PR’s were Erin Dowling (19:18), Desi O’Brien (19:34), and Regan Johnston (20:41).  Alex Leptich, Kate Carter, and Rachel Jackson ran their best times of the season, and junior Chelsie Noble was just a few seconds away from hers.

Leptich, Carter, Dowling, Jackson, and O’Brien all won individual medals for finishing in the top 50 (out of a field of 244).  With only a few meets left to run, Saline will not see either Rockford or TC Central again until the State Meet at MIS on Nov. 1.

 

Leptich	5	5:33	11:31/5:58	18:23/6:52		Team Results	Score
Carter	9	5:36	11:51/6:15	18:42/6:51		1-TC Central	90
Dowling	28	5:48	12:17/6:29	19:18/7:01		2-Rockford	98
Jackson	34	5:54	12:25/6:31	19:30/7:05		3-Saline	109
OBrien	36	5:53	12:26/6:33	19:33/7:07		4-Grand Haven	133
Noble	99	6:04	13:03/6:59	20:36/7:33		5-East Kentwood	136
Johnston	103	6:22	13:11/6:49	20:40/7:29		6-Grandville	157
						7-Brighton	164
						8-Pinckney	235
						9-Cleveland St. Joseph	266
						10-Dundee Crown	303
						33	teams.
Top 3 Teams
TC Central	8	15	16	25	26
Rockford	11	17	19	22	29
Saline	5	9	27	33	35

Highlights
*We had 2 runners in the top 9 and 5 in the top 35.
*We brought home 5 individual medals and the 3rd place trophy.
*7 of the current Top 10 ranked teams were in the race
*Our 5th runner (Desi) beat the first runner from 20 teams in the race.
*33 teams in the race, which makes Portage a fair amount larger than the State Meet
*Our places at Portage over the past 7 years:  2002 – 3rd, 2003 – 4th, 2004 – 4th, 2005 – 3rd, 2006 – 3rd,
2007 – 1st, 2008 – 3rd.

How Fast Was It?
*Out of 244 runners ….. one person was under 18:00 (17:50), 16 people were under 19:00, and 68             people were under 20:00 (68th place was 19:59.7)
*Our fastest race ever at Portage:
2005    17:50   18:41   19:23   19:34   19:52
2008    18:23   18:42   19:18   19:30   19:33 (19:07 average)

Moving Up!
Alex is now 2nd on the All Time Junior List (18:23).
Kate is now 3rd on the All Time Junior List (18:42).
Erin is now 7th on the All Time Senior List (19:18).
Rachel  is now 10th on the All Time Senior List (19:30).
Erin is now 14th on the All Time Top 60 List.
Desi is now 18th on the All Time Top 60 List (19:33).