Jingle Bell Jog 5K 2011

The annual Jingle Bell Jog 5K, a fundraiser for Manistee area cross-country, is scheduled for December 3rd this year. The race will be held, once again, at New Kennedy Elementary, with a course through Manistee neighborhoods as we celebrate Victorian Christmas and Old Sleighbell weekend. Race time is 10 am, entry is $15 ($20 on race day.) Participants receive a specially designed stocking cap with entry.

Click here for a race form!

Race Map Here

4 medalists at Spartan Invite! (And 2 at West Shore!)

What a weekend! The majority of the Chippewa team made the trip to East Lansing on Friday, home of the MSU Spartan Invite and thousands of runners competing in an afternoon of races. After watching Manistee alum run the college mens' race, the Chip girls (minus Kelly) racing in the White race, made up of mostly D3 and D4 schools (though I saw a few class A schools mixed in there too!) After trailing 2 all-state runners for most of the meet, freshman Annie Fuller kicked it into high gear with 250 meters to go and emerged the champion in the race with an outstanding time of 18:26! Eva Guillen dropped her time by nearly 2 minutes and also took a medal, running 20:33! Ashley, Sophie, and Courtney also ran season bests, with Sarah not far behind. Minus team captain Kelly, the girls took 10th of 35 schools! Nice Job!

The boys didn't want to be outdone, as 6 of 7 guys also ran season best times, led by Jarret D's medal winning 15th place time of 16:59. Jonny, Tyler, Colin, Austin M, and Nick (broke 19!) ran SB's, with Bryce not far behind. The boys were 15th of 32 schools.

Finally, the girls elite race, with the top-ranked teams and runners in the state racing together. Kelly S ran a blistering time of 18:16, finishing 7th in the fastest race in Michigan so far this year. Way to go Chips!

On Saturday, Austin F and Zach K got their chance to race at the Ludington Invite, joined by 4 hearty guys who showed up to race for the second straight day. Despite pacing teammates for the first two miles, Tyler S and Jonny B ended up with medals, running even faster (by 30-40 seconds!) than they did on the same course last year. Austin F was 3 and a half minutes faster than last year. Nice improvement!

2nd place at Hill and Bale

The Chippewa teams hurdled the competition Saturday, with both boys and girls taking home second place trophies at the Fremont Hill and Bale Invitational. Kelly S and Annie F took home 1st and 2nd overall, respectively, while Eva G, Courtney S, Ashley T, and Sophie S also took home medals. For the boys, Jarret D led the way with an 8th place overall finish, while Jonny B and Tyler S placed with medals too.

Complete results on the Hill and Bale website. Next up - MSU on Friday, with Ludington Saturday!

Chips bring home hardware from Manton!

The MHS XC teams combined to take 2nd overall Wednesday at the Manton Fox & Hound Invitational, but they brought home the first place trophy! A scoring error led to the Chips initially being announced as meet champions, but after the jubilant Chips returned to the team bus the error was spotted. Out of the 12 schools racing, Manistee took 2nd behind GTA, besting Evart, Kingsley, Manton, and TCSF, to name a few teams.

All 8 girls racing finished with medals, with PR's from Annie Fuller (19:19), Eva Guillen (22:14), Sarah Chandler (22:57), Courtney Stefanski (23:02), and Julia Scherlin (24:36). Many boys ran their season best times, with PR's from Jonny Bailey (18:25), Nick Veine (19:01), Colin Bachinski (19:33), Bryce Cameron (20:11), and Zach Kopfman (22:05). Team results here.

Next up is the Fremont Hill & Bale on Saturday!

Soaked at Brethren

We only had a small MHS representation at the Brethren Days 5K this year, but it was a memorable race! A steady downpour and the rumble of thunder in the distance gave this race some extra character. Sophomore Nick Veine finished 4th overall in the annual 5K run in 19:41, finishing just 6 seconds behind coach Thuemmel. Coach Guzikowski was 13th, his time of 22:06 not too shabby considering he was in the middle of working 3 shifts in 32 hours! Several other Manistee grads and supporters got soaked racing as well. Next year is the 15th annual running of this Labor Day weekend event.

XC team - practice Monday at 4:30, school and our regular practice schedule starts Tuesday. Meets this week Wednesday (at Manton - girls race starts at 5pm) and Saturday (at Fremont - the Hill and Bale - girls run at 9am.) Link to info on the Fremont race here.

Records broken at opening meets

At least 3 cross-country records have been broken by Manistee's team in just the first two meets of the year!

Running in their opening meet at the 40-school Benzie Central Eldon "Pete" Moss Invitational, the Chippewa girls took 9th of 13 schools in the large school "Red" division, while the boys finished 13th of 14 schools in that same division.

Leading the way was Kelly Schubert with a time of 17:56, defeating defending D3 state champion Ali Weirsma of Allendale by 2 seconds. Both girls broke the 10 year-old previous course record of 18:02, held by a former D1 champion. Annie Fuller ran a great time of 19:50 to take 9th place. She was followed by Sophie Shriver (22:23), Sarah Chandler (23:00), Ashley Tomaszewski (23:10), Eva Guillen (23:25), Courtney Stefanski (23:40), and Julia Scherlin (25:10). 5 of those girls were running their first high school race! Complete girls varsity results here.

The boys were led by Jarret Deisch's 27th place finish (17:28). Jonny Bailey (18:37), Nick Veine (19:10), and Colin Bachinski (19:56) followed with PR times. Also running was Austin Fancher (20:07), Bryce Cameron (20:39), Austin Minx (20:41), Zak Kopfman (22:13), and Sander Karnazes (26:15). Complete boys varsity results here.

On August 30th, the teams opened their home season racing against Mason County Central and Mason County Eastern. The girls emerged victorious with a decisive victory as 7 girls finished in the top 10. Kelly Schubert's winning time of 19:42 was a new home course record (as well as a senior record), while Annie Fuller's 2nd place time of 20:57 broke Kelly's old freshman course record by 44 seconds.

The boys took 2nd of the 3 teams, narrowly being defeated by defending regional champ MCC by only 3 points. Manistee's top 5 runners finished before MCC's, but the Chips couldn't overcome MCC taking 1st, 3rd, and 5th individually. Leading the way with a strong 2nd place performance was Jarret Deisch (17:54), while senior Tyler Sievert was 4th in 19:30, his best showing on the MHS course.

Complete home results here.

Thanks to the Manistee News Advocate for the team pictures above - you can find all their pictures (and order copies) for Benzie and the home meet by clicking the links!

Labor Day weekend: Brethen Days 5K is Saturday 9am for those that are up for it! You may see coach Guz and coach Thuemmel there. We are off practice until Monday (4:30-6 pm, MHS), but you are not off training! Be sure to get a good long run in this weekend as well as several steady mid-distance (3-5 miles) runs. Don't forget school starts Tuesday!

MHS XC 2011 Season Begins!

The Manistee HS 2011 Cross-country season is underway! About 20 high school athletes from the Manistee area have been busy running the streets, beaches, and trails in the Manistee area for the last few weeks. Recently we attended our team camp at PJ Hoffmaster State Park near Muskegon - thanks to Mr. + Mrs. Deisch and Mr. Fancher for chaperoning, thanks to all parents who packed gear and drove kids to and from camp, and thanks especially to TES Filer for helping pay for camp! We had a great time!

In case you were wondering - the kids in the top pictures are busy playing the "frozen T-shirt" game!