A little bit of rain wasn’t going to slow down the varsity boys and girls cross country teams on Saturday, Sept. 10 at the Brother Rice Invite at Kensington Metro Park.
Both the boys and girls shook off the early morning showers and dodged the puddles on their way to first places finishes. The girls won the event with 59 points, while the boys captured the meet with 51 points, finishing 46 points ahead of runner-up Dearborn Divine Child.
In addition to winning the invite, every runner for both teams went home a medalist.
Varsity cross country head coach Ray Sutherland said the boys and girls cross country race results were just ‘incredible.?
Leading the way for the boys was junior Ryan Gillespie, who finished in third place (17:35) for the Wildcats.
Other medalists for the Wildcats include senior Alec Smith, whose finishing time of 17:48 placed him fifth overall, sophomore Joey Uffola (seventh; 17:56), junior Ross Chapman (15th; 18:33), sophomore Noah Jenkins (21st; 18:48), sophomore Adam Kemp (23rd; 18:58) and sophomore Ricky Dvorak (31st; 19:08).
Once against Brooke Kovacic paced the way for the girls, finishing first overall with a time of 19:23, nearly 40 seconds ahead of second place Elena Miller of Bloomfield Hills Lahser.
Medaling for the girls were seniors Chelsea Johnson (6th place; 20:35), Brittany Johnson (ninth; 20:49), freshman Jenna Feeney (20th; 21:57), sophomore Alora McCoy (23rd; 22:02), freshman Sabrina Smith (24th; 22:12) and junior Abby Wrobel (32nd; 22:56).
The Wildcats faced their first Oakland Activities Association Red Division test of the season when they traveled down to Bloomer Park in Rochester on Tuesday, Sept. 13. Stay tuned for a full recap in next week’s issue.