PRIMED MERIDIAN
When it came time to end the Clare football team’s 34-game winning streak against Jack Pine Conference opposition, Meridian was primed.
The Mustangs ran their record to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the league with a 32-10 victory on the Pioneers’ home turf.
Senior quarterback Christian Petre passed for 160 yards yards, including a 27-yard scoring strike to his twin brother, Monte. He also ran for a touchdown. “Christian is a four-year starter for us,” said coach Mike Bilina. “He’s 1-3 against Clare now, but you can say that about a lot of our players.
“We have 27 kids on the team, and 22 of them are seniors, so we’re loaded with experience and some good talent.
“We’ve had some battles with Clare over the years and come up short, but this year we felt going in that it was our game to lose. We definitely mentioned the streak to the kids, and they responded to the challenge.”
Senior running back Matt Hoffman ran for two touchdowns and tacked on a pair of two-point conversions.
Senior Stryker O’Boyle had five catches on offense and a critical interception on the other side of the ball to set up the Mustangs’ first touchdown.
Senior outside linebacker Nick Arthur also had a big night on defense.
“It was a significant victory for us,” said Bilina, “but we were 8-3 last season with mostly juniors, so we are expecting a big year, and the kids are ready to move forward.”
BEAVERS PELT GLADWIN FOR CUP
The Cedar River keeps on flowing, but the Cedar River Cup is caught in a dam.
The Beaverton volleyball team beat rival Gladwin in a wild five-set battle to maintain possession of the Cup, which is up for grabs when the schools’ varsity girls’ teams go head-to-head.
“We’ve won it three or four times in a row for volleyball and, last winter, our basketball team kept it,” said Beavers coach Steve Evans. “We’ve had their number for a few years now, but they are right there with us. That match could have gone either way.”
Beaverton won 25-16, 21-25, 27-25, 20-25, 15-9, with a mix of experience and young talent that is obviously coming together nicely.
“We have six sophomores and five seniors, and those sophomores play major roles,” said Evans. “That was our 31st match of the season, and the experience helped us be mature, be smart, and play with confidence in a tight match. The girls trusted each other, and that may have been what separated two evenly-matched teams.”
Senior left side hitter Liz Andrews led the winners in kills, while senior libero Karly Longstreth kept the ball off the floor defensively.
“We rely on the seniors to lead by example,” Evans said, “and the sophomores are motivated to catch up with them. We’re playing great volleyball. I think the team is finally beginning to realize just how good we can be.”
The loss was a tough one for the Flying G’s, who had big ideas of raiding the Beavers’ trophy case and claiming the Cup for themselves.
“We had our opportunities, but we made a lot of unforced errors, and a good team like Beaverton is going to capitalize on those,” said Gladwin coach Bryan Randle. “They are one of the top teams around, and they were the better team that night, so they deserved it.”
Senior Ally Conley played well for the Flying G’s with her defense and serving.
“We’re still working on team chemistry,” said Randle, “and we ran into a better team on the wrong night.”
CLARE PAIR RUNNING FREE
Clare junior Jasmine Harper was all-state in each of her first two years on the cross country team, and she hasn’t lost a step.
The big news this season is that she has a new running mate.
Freshman Lainey Veenkant is picking them up and laying them down like a veteran.
Harper won the Division 3 race at the recent Nike Holly Duane Raffin Festival of Races at Springfield Oaks County Park with a time of 19:29. Veenkant was second in 19:45. Having the only two runners in the race who finished in less than 20 minutes lifted the Pioneers to a third-place finish overall, trailing only private school heavyweights Powers Catholic and Father Gabriel Richard.
“Jasmine has been our leader since she was a freshman, and she’s hoping this year will be her fastest yet,” said Clare coach Kyle McKown. “Lainey set many records in middle school, so we knew we were getting a very strong addition to our team.
“It’s nice to have those two working together to get better. They push each other, but they have a great working relationship.”
It was more of the same at the first Jack Pine Conference jamboree of the season at Eagle Glen Golf Course in Farwell.
Harper checked in first in 19:27 and Veenkant second in 19:58.
It took awhile for anyone else to cross the line, but the race for third was a good one, with Farwell’s Contessa Hammond finishing in 21:02, just one second ahead of Clare’s Olivia Herring. Gladwin’s Grace Volmering was fifth in 22:19, but the Pioneers soaked up the rest of the spotlight, claiming the next two spots to put five runners in the top seven and finish first as a team by a mile.
“We’ve got a winning tradition here,” McKown said, “and we’re hoping to build on that this season.”
HOUGHTON LAKE IS DEEP
A healthy football program will make any high school athletic director happy. That is particularly true at Houghton Lake, where athletic director Joe Holloway is in the middle of his second season as the head football coach.
“In a time when it’s become tough getting kids out for football, I’m really happy with where we’re at in terms of numbers,” said Holloway. “We’ve got 28 on the varsity and 44 on the JV, and 23 of those guys are freshmen.
“Our numbers were a little down last year, but having 72 kids in the program shows that there is renewed interest in football here at Houghton Lake, for sure.”
Holloway looks around at the Jack Pine Conference and knows he needs a hale and hearty program if he wants to be competitive.
“The perception of football in the Jack Pine and northern Michigan overall is not fair,” he said. “There is a lot of good football being played in our conference. It seems like we have teams going a couple rounds into the playoffs almost every year and, last season, we saw Gladwin go all the way to Menominee and put up 41 points against a team that made it to the semifinals.
“The competition is tough, but we think it’s only a matter of time before we are doing bigger and better things.”
FARWELL GOLFERS LINKED IN VIA FACEBOOK
Bria Colosky packed up her clubs and left to play at Central Michigan University after finishing second at the Division 4 state tournament last fall in her senior year at Farwell High School.
She didn’t leave much behind.
As this season approached, junior Haley Lewis was the only returning player to sign up for the team, which resulted in a predicament.
“Haley and three other girls qualified for the regional last year,” said Eagles coach Angie Pakledinaz. “Bria went on to CMU, another girl moved, and another decided not to come out for the team.
“We were down to just Haley, and we needed to get at least three more to keep the team going.”
Social media came to the rescue. “I didn’t know what else to do, so we posted a message on Facebook to see if we could get anybody interested, and we ended up with seven on the team,” said Pakledinaz.
Everyone but Lewis is new to high school golf, but that hasn’t stopped the Eagles. Lewis shot a career-best 48 in the team’s first dual meet, a victory over Sacred Heart Academy.
Sophomore Morghan Silvestro proved that Lewis is not a one-woman band in a recent tri-meet, earning team medalist honors with a 55. Lewis shot 58, Kourtney John had a 60, and Olivia Lake completed the scoring.
“Haley is definitely the team leader,” said Pakledinaz, “and she’s doing a good job taking care of the younger players. They’re all having a great time learning the game on a daily basis.”
IT’S A GIVEN, HARRISON WINS AGAIN
When it comes to the Harrison football team’s defense, it’s better to Given than receive.
Senior middle linebacker Jarod Given racked up 14 tackles to lead the Hornets to a 19-6 victory over Gladwin that kept them undefeated in Jack Pine Conference play.
Given, a three-year starter, was named Defensive Player of the Week by the Bay City Times for his exploits after cracking double figures in tackles for the third time in four games.
On the other side of the ball, Given helped power Harrison’s punishing ground game from his starting spot at guard
“We got the season off to a good start,” said Harrison athletic director Joe Ashcroft. “We’re not doing anything fancy. We’ve got guys like [senior running back] Blayne Fowler leading the rushing attack, and Jarod has been a beast on defense.”