Fisher, Daniels Pace Whiteford to TCC Title

The future looks bright. And the future is now .

The dynamic duo of freshman Rachel Fisher and sophomore Ashley Daniels finished 1-2 at the final Tri-County Conference meet of the season, hosted by Whitmore Lake.  Fisher and Daniels led Whiteford to its first TCC championship since 2006.

Whiteford entered the meet in a three-way tie for first with Madison and Clinton.

Fisher and Daniels finished 1-2 in all three TCC races this season. In Tuesday’s race, Fisher led from start to finish. Daniels was fourth about a mile into the race, but quickly made up ground and spent most the race about 20 seconds behind her teammate.

“I felt really good today. Ashley Daniels was really pushing me and Abby Carpenter was really pushing me,” said Fisher, who bounced back from an off-day at Hudson Saturday.

Fisher was thrilled with the team title.

“I feel really good about it. We did so well this year and we are so proud of ourselves.

Still, great races by Fisher (21:14) and Daniels (21:25) didn’t stop Whiteford from placing third at the second TCC meet.  The two Whiteford runners were followed in by three straight Madison runners.  Coach Jim Hojnacki needed strong performances from his supporting cast.

He got exactly what he needed.

 Grace Hojnacki (23:40), Taylor Kiefer (23:54) and Brandi Eischen (23:57) rushed in to the finish line to finish 11^th, 12^th and 13^th before the fourth Madison runner could score.

Devon Wilkerson, Marissa Brodbeck and Clairisse Rickert also had strong races.

The Bobcats now begin preparing for the regional.

Daniels, who was the lone Bobcat girl to qualify for the state meet last year, expects company at Michigan International Speedway.

“I think it would be a lot of fun because we’d all get the experience to run it instead of just being there to watch it,” Daniels said, who is excited about the future of her young team. “I think we have a real good chance of going to state every year.”

Fisher and Daniels both made first-team all-TCC. Hojnacki, Kiefer and Eischen made the second team.

Britton Deerfield’s Paige Goll was 16^th.

Whiteford’s boys were sixth in the league meet and final TCC standings. BD was seventh on both accounts.

Whiteford’s top runners were Elliot Wollam (25^th) and Dylan Wilkerson (27^th). BD’s Josh Hitt was 37t.