Sports

Hornet Boys Win River Rat Cross Country Meet

Despite sitting their fastest runnders, Saline won the event by a comfortable margin.

Chances are, if you place three runners in the top 10, you'll win your cross country invitational meet. If you place all five scoring runners in the top 10, it's virtually guaranteed. Friday, at the River Run Invitational at Willow Metropark, Saline placed seven runners in the top 10—and that's with their top three runners on the sidelines.

Saline won the event with 22 points, just seven more than the lowest possible total.

Scoring for the Hornets were Grant Praschan (2nd, 16:55.24), Anthony Lamus (3rd, 16:59.53), Connor Phelps (4th, 16:59.82), Andrew Kitto (6th, 17:10.23) and Dylan Jennings (7th, 17:11.92). Jonathan Parker (8th, 17:17) and Kevin Hall (9th, 17:21.1) also had top 10 finishes. Matthew Dow (11th), Justin Henry (12th), Kevin Allport (14th), Sean Dew (15th), John Dolsen (17th), James Crowley (18th), Paul Chandler (23rd) and Riley McCune (26th) also placed in the top 30.

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Saline's top five ran as a pack for much of the race. Coach Carl Spina was glad to see Praschan run well.

"Praschan didn't race really well at Portage following his injury. Friday's race was good news because he ran about the same time as Portage and he said it felt pretty easy," Spina said.

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Phelps, meanwhile, finally put together a good race after a rough season.

"It's been a long fall for the senior and it's been tough to watch. I'm pretty excited to see him running so well again," Spina said.

Spina said Hall's seventh place finish was a big deal.

"He's a freshmen and one of the top-ten runners on a very deep team. He's doing a great job and he's going to be a big deal for us in the future," Spina said.

Spina said the team uses the race to sort out its lineup for the upcoming championship races.

"It's one more chance to get all of our top guys racing head to head to get a better idea of who are the seven fastest guys," said Spina.

Saline ran the event without top runners Nick Renberg, Spencer Bishop and Logan Wetzel.

"They know how to race and we know they will be on the starting-line for the championship races," Spina said. "Giving them a day off from racing is a nice mental break for those kids."

The Hornets run in the SEC Red Championship Thursday. Spina said it's the last race of the season for most of the team, so he was glad to see so many members of the team run season and career bests in the cold and windy conditions.

"It's good to see. It says that they are ready and focused, and that they are ready to run their best times on Thursday," Spina said. "Our top guys will be competing for a conference championship in Thursday's varsity race, but we also have a lot of guys that are running for their own personal goals in the reserve race. I don't know which race I'm more excited about."


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