Saline Boys First at Bath Invitational

Saline’s best boys’ cross country runners took first place at the Bath Invitational Saturday.

Saline entered its fastest seven runners in the event and finished with 31 points, 20 better than second place Rockford. Northville took third. Ann Arbor Huron was seventh.

Nick Renberg won the event. He completed the course in 15:49.

“Nick Renberg was ahead of the race the whole time. It was pretty awesome to watch. He'd go flying by, there'd be this big break, and then the rest of the race came along,” said coach Carl Spina.

The Hornets placed two more runners in the top five. Spencer Bishop was third in 16:27 and Logan Wetzel was fourth in 16:32.

“Spencer Bishop is bouncing back very well. It was hard to tell today, but he had some health issues this summer. He's almost his old self again,” Spina said. “Logan Wetzel makes these incredible mid-race moves. He went from 11th at the mile to fourth at two and a half miles. I don't know how he does it. It's fun to watch, because the kid will go into the woods in the middle of the pack and a mile later, he'll pop out and he'll be chasing down the leaders.”

Grant Praschan finished eighth in 16:41. Dylan Jennings rounded out the Hornet five, finishing in 16:41. Anthony Lamus (17th, 16:50) and Jonathan Parker (25th, 17:19) also ran for the Hornets.

 Spina said the team’s first mile was just about perfect.

“Those guys that were focusing on a certain split hit it and then some of the guys were just trying to be in a certain place. They did that part very well,” Spina said. “After the mile our 2-3-4 runners got split up and that pack fell apart. But our 5-6-7 guys just moved up and picked up the slack.”

Spina said the team is doing a good job jumping out to the front of the pack without expending all their energy in the first leg of the race.

“We are getting very good at that part of the race,” Spina said. Most years, I'm trying to teach them how to do that in mid-October.”

Spina said his Praschan showed him a lot today, running a more relaxed race.

“He fell back and got into trouble in the middle part of the race but dug his way back out. He did it without getting all tensed and crazy-faced,” Spina said. “That’s tough for him.”

Early in the season, Spina likes the look of his scoring five. Today, the 2-through-5 runners were 23 seconds apart.

“When Bishop is running as well as he is and our number five can still keep him that close, that will be a big difference in larger fields,” Spina said.

Overall, the Hornets’ best runners saw times dropping. And that’s important, Spina said.

“Cross country coaches know that times don't mean much, but emotionally, those kids need to run fast. They need to see their times dropping to feel good about the future,” Spina said. “They know that we can't have our number five guy running 17:25, which is where we were before today's race. Today they posted some fast times so they have to be feeling a little better about how they stack up against the other teams in the conference and state.”

The Hornets race Sept. 13 in the first SEC Jamboree at Willow Metropark.