CROSS COUNTRY state finals at MIS

Blissfield’s lone representative to the meet, Brianna Yates crossed the finish line in 134th place in a time of 20:56.6 

The highest placing area athlete of-the day was Marisa Kimerer of Britton Deerfield who was 77th in the Division 4 race. The freshman posted her best time of the season running the course in 21:14.4 She was the 18th freshman to cross the race in a field of 56 first time contenders for the state title. 

She was followed by teammates Larissa Buckingham in 135th with a time of 22:16 and freshman Carrie Wielfaert who was 164th with a time of 22:46. 

The Whiteford Bobcats sent seven girls to the state meet after qualifying as a team in their region in Division 4. Out of 27 teams, Whiteford placed 21st with 503 points. Leading the way for the Bobcats was Rachel Fisher who crossed the finish line in 21:28 for 94th place which put her in 62nd place in the team competition. following her was Grace Hojnacki who was 119th overall and 78th in the team standings in a time of 21:58. Ashley Daniels was 127th overall and 84th in the team standings with a time of 22:04. Clairisse Rickert ran the 5K in 23:33 which put her in 185th place overall and 131st in the team standings. Next was Paige Long who ran a personal best time of 24:06 to place 148th in the team standings and 203rd overall. Also running for the Bobcats were Brandi Eischen who was 212th overall and 156th in the team standings in a time of 24:43 and Marissa Brodbeck who was 173rd in the team standings and 229th overall.

Two freshman boys also qualified for the state meet. Alexei Groff was 201st in a time of 19:38 and Garrett Crozier was 206th in a time of 19:48. 

Copyright 2011 River Raisin Publications, Inc. For the complete story by Melissa Burnor, and more photos, please see the Nov. 9, 2011, edition of The Advance.