Cross Country: Regional wrap-up – Skyline girls, Huron’s Paliani land in State Finals

The Skyline girls’ cross country team is travelling across “country” next Saturday to the MHSAA Division 1 State Finals at MIS after finishing second at Saturday’s Regional at Huron Meadows Metropark. The Eagles finished with 117 points, second only to champion Brighton’s 63 points.

South Lyon East took third with 125 points, just two better than Howell (127) and 14 better than Dexter (139) in a tight race for that important third spot. The top three teams from each Regional qualifies for the State Finals, along with the top seven individuals from non-qualifying teams.

The Dreadnaughts had one runner just make it and another just miss the cut.

Dexter freshman Alena Blumberg qualified after finishing 13^th overall in 19:25.9 which put her seventh best from non-qualifying teams. Dexter senior Amanda McGill placed 16^th overall (19:47.2) and missed running next weekend by just two spots.

The Eagles had two runners, both juniors, land in the top 10 and three in the top 15. Caroline Vance was seventh (19:10.8) and Natalie Kessler finished ninth (19:13.6) while sophomore Allison Mayer was 15th (19:31.6).

Junior Lydia Cocciolone was 34th (20:17.0) and junior Annalisa DeGuzman was 53rd (21:15.1), sophomore Celia Begosso was 55th (21:20.2) and senior Caitlyn Donnelly was 61st (21:35.7).

Dexter also had strong runs from sophomore Kate Varitek (27th, 20:05.3), senior Hannah McComas (36th, 20:18.9), senior Annissa Sisson (47th, 20:58.8), senior Ashley Mitchell (74th, 22:11.6) and freshman Annabel O’Haver (81st, 22:33.2).

The Huron girls’ cross country team placed fifth at the Hudson Mills Regional with 161 points. Plymouth took first with 50 followed by Northville (58), Salem (82) and Canton (89).

Huron freshman Lucinda Paliani (above) took seventh overall in 19:36.80 to qualify for the State Finals.

Also running well for the River Rats were sophomore Sonya Shelgikar (20th, 20:42.30), freshman Kendra Bogan (40th, 21:52.30), freshman Jaya Shah (49th, 22:18.60), sophomore Sarah Conley (53rd, 22:37.70), junior Emily Ma (55th, 22:38.80) and junior Mia Solomon (50th, 23:00.50).

Boys

The Skyline boys’ team made a great run at third place but landed just short in a three-team race for the final state-qualifying spot. Brighton took first with 56 points followed by Hartland with 66.

East Lansing finished third with 102 points, just two points better than Okemos and four ahead of the Eagles. Dexter wasn’t far off pace either as the Dreadnaughts took sixth with 138 points in the 14-team field.

On the individual side, Skyline had two runners cross the finish line and into the state finals. Junior Nicolas Fry was fourth overall (16:22.1) and sophomore Luke Suliman was 18^th overall (16:58.6) to qualify for MIS.

Dexter sophomore Brandon Anderson crossed in eighth place (16:34.5) to also qualify for the State Finals.

Skyline also had strong runs from junior Christopher Van Lent      (22nd, 17:04.7), senior Sanjay Rao (25th, 17:10.4), sophomore Mason Jett (37th, 17:36.2), senior Alex Ball (55th, 18:05.4) and junior Eric VonBargen (64th, 18:30.7).

The Dreadnaughts had big finishes from senior Josh Lamb (23rd, 17:06.7), junior Owen Ackerman (29th, 17:16.8), senior Adam Hauser (33rd, 17:27.4), junior Alex Hoffman (45th, 17:51.5), senior Griffin Bentley (46th, 17:52.2) and senior Zachary Sawin (53rd, 18:04.6).

The Huron boys’ team placed seventh at the Hudson Mills Regional with 201 points. Northville ran first with 39 points followed by Churchill (84) and Plymouth (92).

The River Rats were led by senior Lev Nakamura (28th, 17:23.20), sophomore Lucas Weintraub (35th, 17:29.90), junior Adam Bigelow (38th, 17:40.30), freshman Walker Brose (48th, 17:58.81), senior Matthew Dowling (54th, 18:08.90), junior Aidan Behmer (65th, 18:24.0) and sophomore Henry Beard (76th, 18:47.40).